Home  

A LILLIPUTIAN LOCOMOTIVE AND TRAIN.
Scientific American—October 1, 1898

The diminutive train which forms the subject of this illustration was constructed by Thomas E. McGarigle, of Niagara Falls, who claims that it is the smallest train ever built for the conveyance of passengers in seated cars. It was built for use in the grounds of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition at Omaha, the space devoted to the miniature railroad being located in the main thoroughfare, where it extends for over 1,000 feet.

The greatest interest naturally centers in the locomotive, which is in every respect a faithful reproduction of the parts and working of a full-sized passenger locomotive. It is of the standard eight-wheeled American type, with a leading truck, four coupled drivers, and a tender carried on two trucks. The gage of the track is 12½ inches, the top of the smokestack is 25 inches above the rails, and the total length from the point of the pilot to the end of the tender is 7 feet 3 inches.

Steam to drive the little fellow is raised in a wagon-top boiler 10 inches in diameter, in which are 11 one-inch tubes 24 inches in length. The grate-surface is 54 square inches and the steam pressure is 125 pounds. The boiler is built of steel and was tested to 300 pounds pressure to the square inch. It is equipped with two injectors and holds 12 gallons of water.

The driving wheels are 10 inches and the wheels of the truck 5 inches in diameter. The cylinders are 2 inches in diameter, with a stroke of 4 inches. The weight of the engine is 600 pounds. The fire-box is 10 inches in depth and 10 inches in width, and hard coal is used as fuel. The fittings of the locomotive are all complete, and include sand box, bell, whistle, and even a steam brake between the drivers. The engineer has to utilize the whole tender as a foot plate, and he must, perforce, remain at all times seated in order to get at the throttle, reversing lever, etc. The tender is of the two-truck type. Its wheels are 5 inches in diameter and its capacity is 15 gallons of water.

Passengers are carried in two-seated cars of the design shown in the illustration, and the hauling capacity of the locomotive is ton such cars, conveying twenty passengers, a total load of about 4,000 pounds. The scale on which the locomotive is built is about one-seventh of the size of one of the largest engines of the New York Central Railroad.


Oddities | Contents Page

Home
Do you have any information you'd like to share on this subject? Please email me!
The Catskill Archive website and all contents, unless otherwise specified,
are ©1996-2010 Timothy J. Mallery