History
The Buffalo Model Company located at 1121 Broadway, Buffalo, NY. advertised a 2 1/8" gauge
Simplex Electric Locomotive in Popular Mechanics magazine circa 1928. The ad also mentioned 24" pullman cars.
Buffalo Model Co. and later the Buffalo Model and Supply Co. were General model makers. They made all kinds
of models, blueprints, and parts. There is some question about whether they ever actually manufactured a large model
locomotive called the Simplex Electric Locomotive and some cars to go with the engine. The best description is that from
Louis H. Hertz's 1958 book, Collecting Model Trains, (Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., NY. pages 318-319):
"...the 2 1/8" gauge 4-4-4-4 New York Central R. R. electric type locomotive and cars, made by the Buffalo
Model Co., subsequently the Buffalo Model and Supply Co., in Buffalo NY, around 1926 and 1927. According to the literature,
the locomotive, known as the "Simplex Electric Locomotive," was 19 3/4" long, powered by two motors, and a later circular
(ad) features a working air whistle on the locomotive. The cars are specified as being 25 3/4" long, and fitted with four
lights and real glass in the windows. Although some collectors have inclined to doubt that these models ever actually were
manufactured, a photo of the train has been seen, and according to R. Donald Barr, the man behind the Buffalo Model Co., a
few locomotives and cars actually were produced."
The company also offered blueprints so one could "build it at comparatively little cost by either
making the parts yourself or getting some or all of them from us" the Buffalo Model Company (Popular Mechanics Magazine
advertising, April 1926, page 168
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