American, early 20th century. Made by James E. Ford, three railroad model locomotives includes: The B & O "George Washington" #4500 engine and tender; ht. 15, lg. 80 in., the "Tom Thumb", and the "Atlantic" steam locomotives and cargo; ht. 18, lg. 56 in., along with an archive of documents and each displayed on a platform with railroad track.
James E. Ford worked for the B&O Railroad as did his father in the early 20th century, in Chillicothe, Ohio, which was the first inter connecting train station. James was a conductor and as a hobby he spent his spare time hand working the parts for these scale model trains in his home workshop. His young son remembers accompanying his father to the train yard to measure as he figured out his scale size for his models.