Dual-axle locomotive

This is a scale model of one of the first two dual-axle Planet locomotives, introduced in France in 1833 to serve as examples for the Chaillot Workshops, the Périer brothers' former factory. The goal was for French manufacturers to base their locomotives on designs from England, especially by the trailblazing engineer George Stephenson, who made a name for himself during the 1829 Rainhill locomotive trials on the Liverpool-Manchester line. Meanwhile, illustrator César Nicolas Louis Leblanc drew four plans of the machine for the Portefeuille industrial du Conservatoire (inv. 13571.752). The model and drawings were presented at the same time that steam locomotives began operating on the Lyon-Saint-Étienne line, four years before the opening of the first Paris railway to Le Pecq, which was later extended to Saint-Germain-en-Laye.