It's HO, so I'll have to test it on my son's HO track, and I'll probably only put it on a shelf to display but I thought it was interesting.
This little loco as delivered to the Camden and Amboy RR in 1831 started life as a 0-4-0 and was originally named the Stevens, after the C&A's first President. It was quickly converted to a 4-2-0 (the first set of big wheels was disconnected) by installing a pilot truck affixed to the leading axle stubs. As delivered it had no tender, so a 4 wheel flatcar was topped with a whiskey barrel to suffice. Railroad crews referred to it as the John Bull due to its English birthplace and the name stuck. The C&A also installed the bell, headlight, cow-catcher and a cab to the locomotive before it was acquired with the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company assets by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The Pennsy never used the John Bull in mainline service, but was quick to realize the PR value of operating and displaying the vintage locomotive. They "backdated" its looks by replacing the balloon stack that had been added sometime in the loco's history with a straight stack, removing the cab, and installing the porch roof on the tender structure. They ran the loco for a while as an exhibition before selling it to the Smithsonian in 1885, borrowing it from time to time in exchange for upkeep and a caretaker in the person of medically retired civil engineer J. Elfreth Watkins.
The original tender had deteriorated beyond repair and was dismantled in 1910, so a reproduction was built in 1927. The Smithsonian further restored the "originality" of the loco in 1930 by having the PRR build a second reproduction tender using the fittings salvaged from the original in 1910 and minus the structure (thus restoring it to its C&A appearance), and a few years later the Pennsy built an operating replica (with the tender structure) which is still on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The John Bull was put into steam for the last time in September 1981, making it simultaneously the world's oldest steam locomotive in operation and the oldest self-propelled vehicle. It is now on display at the National Museum of American History.
The model appears to be the John Bull circa 1885 after the PRR had "backdated" it before it was transferred to the Smithsonian. I think the tender shed is backwards though, the porch roof should be over the locomotive side to shelter the engine crew, but it could just be the tender is turned around in the picture. It also appears to be missing the tender vent and coupler. I'll know more about it when it gets here.
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