EXTREMELY RARE BRITAINS EARLY TOY 'The Rotary Railway Express' 6
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EXTREMELY RARE BRITAINS EARLY TOY 'The Rotary Railway Express'
green and gold painted hollowcast metal 2-2-2 locomotive and tender, two four-wheel passenger coaches 30cm (11 3/4in) long overall approx., wire rotary arm, attachment screw, shaped weight containing clockwork mechanism and key, all in original hinged wooden box with picture label and instructions on lid (G, rotary arm attachment loop on engine and one pair of wheels from one coach missing, spring to mechanism broken, mechanism re-sealed with solder on underside) (6)
Sold for £937 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • PRODUCTION NOTE

    This novelty train, of which only a few examples are known still to exist, is in all likelihood one of the earliest toys made by the Britains family, dating perhaps from around 1870. As with other examples (Opie G, page 6), the Britains logo does not appear on the label, and the toy predates the '1880' catalogue, in which it does not appear. The rotary mechanism is also used in other Britains toys.

    INSTRUCTIONS AS PRINTED ON BOX LABEL

    'Having placed the weight containing the mechanism in the centre of a smooth table attach the Engine to the weight by means of the wire, wind up the mechanism and the train will run a distance of about 150 ft. to be considered the first station; detach one of the carriages and it will again proceed about 50 ft. (the second station;) detach the other carriage, and the Engine and tender will run a considerable distance further; making a total of nearly 300 ft'

Category: Collectibles / Toys and Dolls

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Contacts

James Opie Bonhams
Work
Unit 1, Sovereign Park
London, NW10 7QP
United Kingdom
Work +44 20 8963 2836
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Specialist - Toys and Dolls