No. 10745 #1134 4-4-2 "Atlantic" Type Steam Locomotive, heading up the" Columbian " Tinplate Heavyweight Passenger Train

 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

The 4-4-2 "Atlantic" type steam locomotive was built in large numbers in the United States from about 1896 to 1916. The 4-4-2 was used in high-speed passenger service; about 1,900 were put in service. This type was replaced in fast passenger service by the 4-6-2 "Pacific" type, built 1902-1930, which had greater tractive effort with its six driving wheels. 6,800 4-6-2 types were built.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad purchased a number of 4-4-2 "Atlantics" in the early 1900s to head up their finest passenger trains. Bridgeport (Connecticut)-based toy train manufacturer Ives modeled its Standard gauge No. 1134 4-4-2 steamer after B&O's 1927 "President Washington" 4-6-2 Class P-7 "Pacific"-type steamer in 1928-30 (see No. 10446), adding the four-car heavyweight passenger train in 1930 to make up B&O's prestige flagship flyer the "National Limited," an all-Pullman sleeper train with service established in 1925 between New York (Jersey City) and St. Louis through Washington and Cincinnati (see No. 10277).

The model train manufacturer MTH has designed a similar train, called the "Columbian," modeled after B&O's flagship flyer introduced in May, 1929, between New York and Washington. The locomotive, tender, and passenger car rooftops are finished with polished chrome-plated surfaces. This is an imaginary B&O flagship flyer that only suggests a real train--no pre-streamlining era steam train would feature a plated chrome finish as on this model.

The Ives Corporation of Bridgeport, was a famous American toy manufacturer dating from the nineteenth century (established 1868), producing quality toys and trains.  Ives was among the first to make electric trains after 1900, and entered the Standard gauge market in the 1920s (Ives referred to the gauge as "2 1/4-gauge," as Lionel had copyrighted the term "Standard"). Competitor New Jersey-based Lionel was the Standard gauge leader, but Ives was not far behind in designs and the variety of trains offered, and in some cases Ives was ahead of Lionel. In fact, Lionel did not have a steam outline locomotive in its lineup when Ives introduced its outstanding #1134 4-4-2 "Atlantic"-type steamer in 1926, and Lionel would not offer a steam locomotive during Lionel's classic period (1925-35) in Standard gauge until 1929. Ives also had a superior patented remote control reversing system that Lionel could not use until acquiring the rights to the bankrupt (in 1928) Ives name and patents in 1928(see next paragraph). 

The "Columbian" is modeled after the Lionel/Ives 1930 "National Limited," which was in fact a Lionel product, as when the Ives Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection in 1928, Lionel ended up in 1930 with the sole rights to the Ives name and tooling. The No. 1134 steam locomotive is of Ives design, but the coaches were designed by Lionel, with Ives trucks and couplers. The "Ives" cars are #247 Club Car, #248 Pullman, #246 Dining Car, and #249 Observation Car, enameled in black with chrome-plated roofs, riding on 6-wheel trucks. The Lionel cars from which this Lionel/Ives set was derived were Lionel's #419 Baggage/Parlor, #418 Pullman, #431 Dining Car, and #490 Observation Car, as seen in Lionel's 1927 catalog. The Ives #1134 is chrome-plated also, matching the car roofs. The four heavyweight passenger cars represent typical heavyweight cars of the pre-streamlining era, 1920s-1930s.