Scorpion
Manufactured by: Model Engineering Products Co., Sydney
Located in Lilyfield early on, then moving to Annadale.
Production Period: 1944 - 1956
Production ceased due to competition from imported toys.
Originally produced for "Walther and Stevenson", a large Sydney based hobby shop. Then also sold through other hobby stores later on.
They produced a variety of steam models:
* Horizontal Engine
* Vertical Engine
* 0-4-0 Locomotive
* Goods Wagons
* 4-4-0 Locomotive with a tender
* Steam Lorry
Horizontal
The first "Scorpion" engine produced was a self contained horizintal boiler & engine which could be used to power other small toys.
Vertical
The second engine model that they produced was a vertical engine. It's though that this may have been their most popular selling model as these engines still come up for sale quite regularly.
There were a number of manufacturing changes that occurred to these engines during their production life. These included different shaped cast iron bases, changes to the material used to make the boiler, the engine frame and whistle.
We've tried to document some of these changes here.
Boiler material
The first boilers were made from a tube of brass (possibly war surplus brass gun shells as was common with other toy engines manufacturers from that time.) The brass in these early tube boilers is much thicker than later boilers. Later boilers were made from a rolled brass sheet and are easily spotted by the seam running the height of the boiler.
The engine to the left shows the seam of the later style rolled brass boilers, while the engine on the right is an early brass tube boiler.
Bases
One of the more distinctive changes was the cast iron base. Four different shaped bases are know to have been used.
The following photos show the bases in order of production.
Style 1
Style 2
Style 3
Style 4
Whistles
Three versions of the whistle are know to have been used. The first type which is easily identified by it's plain straight handle was only used on early engines with a tube boiler. Later whistles had a shaped handle as well as some other minor changes from manufacturing and material changes.
Piston Rods
Two types of piston rod have been observed on these engines.
The image on the left shows the more commonly seen piston rods being a steel rod with a brass end.
The image on the right shows the flat steel piston rod
Crankshafts
There are two versions of the crankshaft.
The first version was a straight steel shaft with a brass crank attached to it.
The later type was simply a single piece bent steel rod. Changing to this style would have simplified the manufacturing process. (Examples of these can be seen below in the engine frame photos.)
Engine Frames
Several different material & manufacturing techniques were used for the engine frames over the course of production.
Brass strips - Steel and Brass strips - Cast Brass
Burner
As was typical of steam toy manufacturers, items such as the burner were made from readily available containers such as these small paint tins.
0-4-0 Loco
0-4-0 Tank locomotive for running on 0 gauge track, however it should be noted that the pairs of wheels were not coupled.
The safety valve was set for 28psi.
Production of these began around 1948/9 and like the other engines in the Scorpion product range, the locomotive saw a number of minor changes take place over time due to manufacturing and material changes.
Early locos had the boilers made from a solid brass tube, while later engines had their boilers made from rolled brass sheet.
Early locos used a vaporising burner, this was soon replaced with a better working 2 wick burner.
Three different four wheeled goods wagons were also produced for use with the locomotive.The locos were painted green with yellow pinstriping and the number "1077" on the tanks.
Youtube Video by: Paul C
4-4-0 Loco with tender
Around 1952 Scorpion released a 4-4-0 type loco with a six wheel tender. It was basically a stretched version of the 0-4-0 loco.
Painted green with a black chassis, and the number "6363" painted on the sides of the cab.
Steam Lorry
The final engine that they introduced in 1954 was a Steam Lorry of the "Sentinel" type with a vertical boiler in the drivers cabin. The engine was also located in the cabin behind the boiler and powered the rear wheels.
Youtube Video by: Corey Rich