Voltamp Interurban circa 1912

that is absolutely awesome

Carey, where do you find this stuff?

I have a few naive questions:

1. What is the gauge of this unit?
   
   
2. If the original power was "6-8 Volts Battery Current" (according to the ad), how do you power it today?  With a battery or an DC transformer at a low setting?

Great looking piece.

Steven J. Serenska

I believe it was 2" gauge, I think a dc powerpack should work. 

Wow!It appears to have sprung suspension and runs very smoothly.Is it hard to find the track?

That's another pretty one! Thanks Carey, I enjoyed that. 

That's a really nice unit that runs very nicely!

Thanks for sharing!

Hello all 

Yes 2" gauge was the "standard" gauge of American electric trains till that upstart Josh guy stole market share with his "standard" gauge ..tipping the scales by 1910-12 period ....leaving 2" in the history books by 1923 .

The early motors ( for the most part) can run DC or AC..... originally batteries  of various types were used  ...main line DC with a reducer or AC mains with a transformer.....1910 Thordarson lead the way with an affordable reliable transformer that exploded the practical use of electric toy trains in the home . 

The Voltamp is running with a Lionel Z transformer but would be just as happy with a DC source .

Voltamp track ...like all things Voltamp ... it's not common but it is out there .... the rails are much more flimsy than Lionel ..and with a wood base cracking and breakage is the norm ... but if you like the original look  it is a must .

Voltamp offered 5 different diameter  of track  30"( only very early) , 40", 50",60" and 80" .......finding a matched circle can be a challenge .... they also offered at least 4 lengths of straights  to match with the curves ..and   switches  in the 4 larger diameters  .... match your radius with the Voltamp train you have, bigger the engine ..bigger the radius needed.

Interurban is running on a 60" diameter ....outer loop on the video is 80" Boucher track ... 

Cheers Carey

That's pretty cool!

What is that steam locomotive that's on the front right side of the layout? Looks interesting too.

Hello all ..front right is the Voltamp 2222 circa 1914 ...you'll see photos and a video under a separate posting 

Really nice Carey.