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Pictures to Go: Build Your Own Train

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Get your scissors, glue, and a lot of patience ready, because today I bring you a D.I.Y. project from the 19th century. (A basic grasp of French – or access to an online translator – might also come in handy!)

Petites constructions. Locomotive et tender / Imagerie d'Épinal. Hand-colored lithograph, printed by Pellerin & Cie, between 1870 and 1900. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.04018
Petites constructions. Locomotive et tender / Imagerie d’Épinal. Hand-colored lithograph, printed by Pellerin & Cie, between 1870 and 1900. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.04018

Part of a series of “Petites Constructions” created by the French company Pellerin & Cie, the colorful and detailed sheet provides instructions to start building your own paper train model, starting with the locomotive and tender. And below we have the “Wagons” or train cars, so you can add on to your train.

Petites constructions. Wagons / Imagerie d'Épinal. Hand-colored lithograph, printed by Pellerin & Cie, between 1870 and 1900. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.04019
Petites constructions. Wagons / Imagerie d’Épinal. Hand-colored lithograph, printed by Pellerin & Cie, between 1870 and 1900. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.04019

And if you’re still feeling crafty, you can also construct this French company’s vision of an American train station in Maryland, complete with people to populate the station.

Gare Américaine a Maryland. Lithograph printed by Pellerin & Cie, between 1870 and 1920. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g02355
Gare Américaine a Maryland. Lithograph printed by Pellerin & Cie, between 1870 and 1920. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g02355
Locomotive building #2. Photo by Waldon Fawcett, 1904. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a30743
Locomotive building #2. Photo by Waldon Fawcett, 1904. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a30743

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