This toy train, well over a hundred years old, still operates. (An adjustable twelve-volt power supply does the job.) It picks up electricity from two metal rails, just as modern electric trains do. The wooden rails in the picture are for display only.

The large cogwheel is made of soft iron. It has a small attached switch to turn the magnets ON when a cog is near and approaching, and OFF as that same cog leaves the vicinity of the magnet. Often, this train engine must be pushed to start the cog motor; but it runs nicely once started.

This toy train is from the earliest days of the electric motor, when many different kinds of operation were being experimented with. Later electric motors are more sophisticated and efficient.

The 1848 Catalog of Daniel Davis Jr. of Boston had a model train available for $35, which was a week's wage at the time. Early electrical toys were expensive. They were likely to be purchased by adults or educational institutions, not given to kids.

Museum Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 to 5
Thursdays 10 am to  8pm 
Closed Major Holidays
Library Hours: Monday - Friday 9 to 4:30

Admission: $7 Adults; $5 Students & Seniors; Children 3 and under are FREE!

© The Bakken Updated: April 6, 2007