Sold October 2017 Back to Archive

We've some pretty weird and wonderful things pass through the doors here over the years, but this is the first Congreve clock-mounted train set that's come our way. The work of a prolific engineer who had already built a 3 1/2 inch gauge "Rob Roy" and 5 inch gauge Stirling single, he next turned his attention to clocks, in particular Congreve - or "rolling ball" - clocks. Starting out with John Wilding's design, he produced three examples, each displaying a further degree of whimsy - this is No.3, about as whimsical as it gets.

Fabricated pretty much entirely in brass, the station building houses the clock movement itself, the chapter rings mounted on the front wall. The station concourse comprises three roads, tilting with trains thereon - I suspect they are intended to do something interesting on the hour. Or half hour. Or (from experience of my own Congreve clock), at some random interval.

Complete with a plexiglass case.