Artist/Maker Märklin (German, founded 1859)

Locomotive and tender

1906

Various metals, paint

Part (a): 9 × 9 1/4 × 2 3/4 in. (22.9 × 23.5 × 7 cm)
Part (b): 5 × 5 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (12.7 × 14 × 6.4 cm)

Jerni Collection, acquired with generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Richard Gilder, and an anonymous donor

2014.31.1289.1ab

Märklin’s Rocket train set commemorates the steam locomotive prizewinner of 1829. Briton George Stephenson’s Rocket won the Liverpool and Manchester Railway’s competition for its new passenger line, hauling 13 tons over 35 miles at an average speed of 29 miles per hour. The jaunty toy version, modeled in 1-gauge, was the company’s first historical replica. Previous products had loosely mimicked real locomotive engineering, while the hand painted toy Rocket was close to a working model of the legendary train. Unfortunately sales flopped. Perhaps toy train buyers were not yet nostalgic. The Jerni Collection’s Rocket is among a small handful of surviving examples of Märklin’s failed toy.

Description"Rocket" locomotive (a) and tender (b). Live steam. Maroon and black locomotive with tall smokestack. Green, yellow, and orange tender with faux coal and yellow barrel, four wheels. 2-0-2.

MarkingsOn side: "1829"

ClassificationsTOYS

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