Q: I received this four-part train set from a friend. It is in excellent condition with all the parts, including the track and the original box. The engine is spring-wound. Can you tell me anything about the Unique Art Manufacturing Co. and its trains?

A: Unique Art Manufacturing Co. of Newark, New Jersey, was founded in 1916. The company made inexpensive toys, including lithographed tin mechanical toys. One of its first popular products was a wind-up toy with two tin boxers. In 1945 it introduced the L’il Abner Dogpatch Band. Unique Art also made the wind-up Howdy Doody band, Gertie the Galloping Goose and Kiddy Cyclist. Unique’s first mechanical trains, introduced in 1949, used a clockwork mechanism. They were sold in boxed sets. Electric trains soon followed. It also produced a circus train set that was distributed by the Jewel Tea Co. car by car. Facing stiff competition from Louis Marx and Co., Unique Art Co. stopped making train sets in 1951. It seems to have stopped operating altogether by 1952. Individual cars are worth about $60, the engine and tender $90. Your set in the box could sell for $300 to $350.

Four-part train set from Unique Art Manufacturing Co. of Newark, New Jersey