Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - April 39, 1984
By Maurice H. Burke Sr.
Vigo County Historical Society

Trains were favorite toys

The treasure of the week from the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is a 1906 Ives train made by Edward Ives. It is a wind-up train, with a O gauge track. It consists of an engine, tender and coach, decorated with lithographed design, with EE No. 1 on the tender. No doubt this train had given many years of pleasure to more than just one boy.

From the first moment that railroads became means of travel and freight transportation, the dawn of a new era was born.

No sooner did the most primitive of locomotives set their wheels to the rails than toymakers, both here and abroad, began producing miniature trains.

In the beginning, miniature trains consisted of wooden block affairs, commonly called floor trains, which our great-great-grandfathers pushed or pulled along the floor. No doubt these emitted some form of "choo choo" or "woo woo" sound.

Then came the development of stamped metal units, some with friction drive. When pushed, the large friction wheel contained within the metal car would develop enough momentum to run a few yards under its own power.

This was followed by a few jewelers and clockmakers who fashioned mechanisms small enough to fit the miniature locomotives, and thus the wind-up train came into being.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.