Buffalo cast iron floor train leaving the station track #1 ..1892-6

Hello Tin Plate world ... cast iron floor trains began to roll across the floor in the early 1880's . Rick Ralston wrote a wonderful book covering the amazing world of cast iron trains. As in all fields there are the good , the bad and the less fortunate. Cast iron floor trains were cheap to produce and many were made covering a long span of years. Cast iron trains were still being made in the 1920's and few into the 30's. Yes some of the "lower" end items could be described as globs of molten metal ..but some were very artist and have a charm all to themselves . The "King" of the cast iron floor trains was the Buffalo brand, " Vestibule Express " ..made by Pratt and Letchworth foundry of Buffalo, NY. Pratt and Letchworth produced a huge array of heavy commercial items ...cast iron trains was but a side line. The Vestibule Express is huge ... the 3 car train is 84" long ...cars weigh 8 pounds each ... child's toy??? Size comparison bigger than Lionel standard gauge. Buffalo offered the vestibule express 1892 -96 ...later the molds were re- worked by Kenton and produced in the early 1900's

Great fun getting to have a 7' long train to roll in a straight line ..cast iron train wheels ...are round sorta ..and yes they have axles ..as there were never intended to roll on track  the trucks are fixed and not always  straight ..the wheels are punch but not always in the center ( some folks are like that too..) ... so I cheated by using a O gauge Snyder shelf center as a guide to keep the train more or less straight for the spine tingling video ...

Cheers Carey