Toys Under the Christmas Tree - Day 3

This early train (ca. 1850) was made in the town of Olbernhau in the Erzgebirge region of Germany.  As with so many fragile early pieces, not many of these have survived.   The brightly colored train cars are made of hard paper with wooden wheels; the engine's smokestacks and even the "smoke" are also of wood.  Passengers inside the cars are of papier-mache.   I found the train stored in the beautiful early hand painted bentwood box, and although it is German as well, it comes from a different region in Germany than the train.  I was fortunate to have been able to visit the Olbernhau town museum several years ago and was allowed to look through their two original sample books, hand sketched and hand painted, showing the various models of trains for sale in the 1850s, but not even the Olbernhau town museum had an original train to display in its cases.   It no doubt was a most special toy for a little boy in its time.