All models

How to fold an origami steam train

A real project. Fold and cut a red engine with a tall cab and a window, add a funnel, a puff of steam, a cowcatcher and big and small wheels. Then fold a tender heaped with coal and a yellow carriage with a row of windows, glue the three in a row and stand the train on its wheels.

You need: 15 cm red square, 15 x 10 cm yellow piece, 10 cm blue square, 9 black and white pieces (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, black pen, white gel pen. Challenge, 47 steps, about 50 minutes.

Steps

  1. Engine: fold in half. Start with the engine: a 15 cm red square, white side up. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. The fold is the bottom of the engine.
  2. Engine: mark the cab. Fold the right end over to the left on a crease 5 cm from the left end.
  3. Engine: open it again. Fold it back out. Left of the crease is the cab, right of it the boiler.
  4. Engine: cut the boiler. Snip down the crease from the top edge to halfway down. Cut from there straight along to the right end: the boiler is now half as tall as the cab.
  5. Engine: cut the front layer. Cut the front layer of the cab down 3 cm, straight across. Leave the back layer whole: its white inside now shows above the cut.
  6. Engine: fold the roof down. Fold the back layer's top edge down towards you by 1 cm. That red band is the roof, and the white strip left between it and the front layer is the cab window.
  7. Engine: round the corners. Snip the two top corners off the cab, and round the front top corner of the boiler with two small snips.
  8. Funnel: new sheet. Set the engine aside. Take a 3 x 5 cm black piece, black side up, short edges at the top and bottom.
  9. Funnel: fold in half. Fold the left edge over to the right edge.
  10. Funnel: cut a slant. Cut a slant through both layers, from the open edge 1.6 cm below the top down to the bottom edge 0.5 cm from the fold.
  11. Funnel: open it. Unfold it: wide at the top like a funnel, with a straight cap.
  12. Funnel: pleat a rim. Fold the top edge down 0.75 cm, so white shows.
  13. Funnel: fold the edge back. Fold that edge back up about 0.25 cm. A thin white rim is left along the top of the funnel.
  14. Steam: new sheet. Set the funnel aside. Take a 7 x 4 cm piece of white paper.
  15. Steam: fold the corners behind. Fold the four corners behind, about 1.2 cm along each edge.
  16. Steam: and again. Fold the eight new corners behind, just a little, so it is round and puffy like a cloud.
  17. Driving wheels: new sheet. Set the steam aside. Take a 9 x 4.5 cm black strip, black side up, long edges at the top and bottom.
  18. Driving wheels: fold in half. Fold the left edge over to the right edge, making a square.
  19. Driving wheels: cut the corners. Cut the four corners off the square, 1.3 cm along each edge. Cut through both layers.
  20. Driving wheels: open it. Open it out: two big wheels, joined in the middle.
  21. Front wheel: new sheet. Set the driving wheels aside. Take a 3 cm black square, black side up.
  22. Front wheel: fold the corners behind. Fold the four corners behind, about 1 cm along each edge, so the wheel is nearly round.
  23. Cowcatcher: new sheet. Set the wheel aside. Take a 3.5 cm black square, white side up.
  24. Cowcatcher: fold a triangle. Fold the top right corner down onto the bottom left corner. The long fold is the sloping front of the cowcatcher.
  25. Cowcatcher: blunt the tip. Fold the sharp right tip behind, about 0.7 cm.
  26. Engine: glue it together. Glue the funnel behind the boiler near the front, steam behind its top, big wheels on the front across the bottom edge, small wheel ahead, cowcatcher in front.
  27. Tender: new sheet. Set the engine aside. Now the tender, which carries the coal: a 10 cm blue square, white side up.
  28. Tender: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge.
  29. Tender: fold out a rim. Fold the two top edges out by 0.6 cm: the front one down towards you, the back one down behind. A thin white rim shows along the top.
  30. Coal: new sheet. Set the tender aside. Take a 7.5 x 3 cm black piece, white side up, long edges at the top and bottom.
  31. Coal: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge, so it is black on both sides.
  32. Coal: cut a heap. Cut the top corners off on a slant, then snip the new corners, so the coal is piled up in the middle.
  33. Tender wheels: new sheet. Set the coal aside. Take a 6 x 3 cm black strip, black side up, long edges at the top and bottom.
  34. Tender wheels: fold in half. Fold the left edge over to the right edge.
  35. Tender wheels: cut the corners. Cut the four corners off, 0.9 cm along each edge, through both layers.
  36. Tender wheels: open it. Open it out: two small wheels joined in the middle, like the driving wheels.
  37. Tender: glue and couple it. Glue the coal behind the tender's top so the heap peeps over the rim, and the wheels under it. Glue the tender's front edge behind the cab, bottoms level.
  38. Carriage: new sheet. Set the train aside. Now the carriage: a 15 x 10 cm yellow piece, white side up, long edges at the top and bottom.
  39. Carriage: top edge down. Fold the top edge down until it is 1.5 cm above the middle. This is the roof.
  40. Carriage: bottom edge up. Fold the bottom edge up until it stops 1 cm short of the roof's edge. The white strip left between them is the row of windows.
  41. Carriage: round the ends. Fold the two top corners behind, 1 cm along each edge, and just the tips of the bottom corners.
  42. Carriage wheel: new sheet. Set the carriage aside. Take a 3 cm black square, black side up.
  43. Carriage wheel: fold the corners behind. Fold the corners behind, like the engine's front wheel.
  44. Second wheel: new sheet. Set it aside and take one more 3 cm black square.
  45. Second wheel: fold the corners behind. Fold the corners behind the same way.
  46. Carriage: glue and couple it. Glue a wheel under each end of the carriage. Glue its front edge behind the tender's back edge, bottoms level, so the three cars make one long train.
  47. Stand it up. Bend the train gently where the cars are glued, both bends the same way so it curves like a train rounding a bend, and stand it on its wheels.

All aboard!

Draw the wheel hubs and rods, slats on the cowcatcher and window frames. Curve it round a bend and send it puffing along the table!

What to fold next