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Between three and six weeks depending on the piece, and longer between September and November. Every piece is made to order — nothing sits on a shelf waiting to be picked. You get a firm build date in writing with your quote, not a range.

A locomotive is about eleven hours of one person's time, and most of that is sanding and waiting between coats of oil. The materials are solid North American hardwood, brass and steel rather than moulded plastic. Putting another maker on another bench does not make a locomotive any quicker to build — the hours in your piece are the same whether the shop ships twelve in a month or two hundred and fifty.

Three years and up. These pieces contain small parts — turned wheels, brass couplers, loose logs and letter blocks — and are not intended for children under three. That age grading is based on the small parts, not on how hard the toy is to play with.

The finish is a plant-based hardwax oil with no lacquer or polyurethane film, and it is fully cured before anything leaves the shop. It is the same class of finish used on wooden kitchen utensils and butcher blocks. Untreated, non-toxic and film-free was the whole reason for choosing it.

Yes. Every car uses the same brass hook coupler at the same height, and that dimension is fixed for good. A caboose bought years from now will still couple to a locomotive from the first production run.