American-Type Locomotive of about 1900
Through the bequest in 1955 of John Semple Clarke, a model ([figure 70]) formerly lent by him to the Museum has been added to the collection (USNM 314615). A 4-4-0 of exquisite workmanship in brass and steel, the model is 21 inches long and has a gauge of 2½ inches.
It was constructed during the 7-year period from 1907 to 1914 by George Boshart, a toolmaker of Brookline, near Philadelphia, Pa. All rotating and reciprocating parts are operable, though the boiler is apparently not capable of generating steam. There is no tender with the locomotive, none having been built.
It is not definitely known what, if any, original locomotive the model represents, but some of its details are similar to those of locomotives built at the turn of the century by the Schenectady Locomotive Works. While it has been stated that Boshart patterned the model after a Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive with which he was familiar, in certain of its details the model does not appear to justify this claim. The number on the model represents the year in which its construction was started.
Figure 70.—Model of an American-type locomotive of about 1900.
British Locomotive of about 1905
In the national collection is an operable model ([figure 71]) of a British locomotive of the period of about 1905. Made by the well known English model makers Carson and Co., and given in 1933 to the Museum by Frank A. Wardlaw and Frank A. Wardlaw, Jr., the model (USNM 310584) represents the Caledonian Railway Co. No. 903, a 4-6-0 with inside cylinders. The length of the locomotive and the 6-wheeled tender is 45 inches and the gauge is 3¼ inches. A locomotive of similar appearance, though not necessarily identical, is described and illustrated in the British technical journal “Engineering” for August 31, 1906 (p. 299).
The elder Wardlaw stated that the model was built by Carson for Sir Henry Lopes, and that he acquired it from Carson when Sir Henry turned it in on a new one. Wardlaw believed this gasoline-fueled model to have been the first model locomotive ever built with a flash boiler.
A letter from James C. Crebbin in the July 27, 1933, issue of the British journal “The Model Engineer and Practical Electrician,” contains the following statement: