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Steaming Ahead, the 180-Year-Old Toy Train that’s the Oldest in the World

A rudimentary model of Stephenson’s Rocket that was made by a father for his son after seeing it chug past their home has emerged as the oldest toy train in the world. The simple wooden toy was hand-crafted out of scraps of wood by the loving dad who whittled them into the shape of the legendary steam locomotive.

Made from sight in the late 1820s or early 1830s, the model is almost as old as the first real locomotives. The ten-inch long toy has four wheels attached to a block of wood, a cylindrical piece that may have been a stair banister for the boiler and a chair leg for the iconic blast pipe. (Daily Mail Reporter)