Daily camera., 1898-02-18
THESMALLEST RAILROAD
Built by a Denver Business Man
as a PaStime.
A LiIlfputian Engine and Train Com
plete in Every Detail and
Capable of Carrying Sew
eral People.

Begun in an idle moment in order to
amuse myself, the Lilliputian train that
has caused so much curious comment
throughout the country grew to be a
practical working model that is good
deal more than toy. 1t took long time
to grow, for l had not been long anus
ing myself in the building of the train
before the occupation palled upon me
and l threw it aside, half finished.
y year later came across the locomo-
tive pining itself to pieces in corner
of my workshop, and decided to con-
tinue my first incomplete effort at en-
CINE making and see what would come
of it. l made the patterns carefully and
had them cast Then put them togeth-
er, built miniature track, filled the
boiler with water, lighted the fire in the
furnace, and away went my little en-
CINE under a full headway of steam,
putting and blowing and screeching,
like real live fuil-grown locomotive.
If Stephenson felt half as happy over
his clumsy locomotives as did over my
neat little miniature one, then he must
have been considerably elated.
But an engine without cars is use
less piece of machinery, and began tc
have a glmmer of hope that my toy
was destined to be of some value. SO l
set about constructing a regular train
of cars. When | had them finished |
found that my locomotive was capable
(.f II oifrht and fIr,t hnr
that the cars could be loaded with pas
sengers, and my little engine could still
pull them along at good speed. Then
| extended my track, giving the engine
and cars a run of 400 feet in a circle.
Each of my cars could carry three chi,-
dren or two adults, SO you will see that
the locomotive built in my spare time
was no slouch when it came TO drawing g
power. l have carried as many as IS
passengers in one load, and the locomo-
tive has shown no signs of being over
burdened.
The weight of the engine is 450
pounds, the size of the cylinder 1Ax2A
inches. The size of the drive wheel is
s inches, and the length OF the engine
and tender feet 71a inches. Eight cars
make full train.
The cars are IA inches wide and 42
inches long. The sides are four inches
high, with a seat at each end. Two of
the cars are 81 inches long and are pro-
vided with three seats. The total
weight of the train, including the cars,
is about 900 pounds. The gauge of the
rack is Sa4 inches. The tank of the
locomotive holds six gallons of water,
and the boiler is capable of standing a
pressure of from $50 to IT'S pounds.
| am manager, engineer, ticket agent
and conductor of the train, and have
got to know the peculiarities of the
little locomotive so well that the crea-
ton of my own hands seems to me to be
the best friend / have in the world. l
often wish that l could reduce myself
to so small compass as to be able to
enter the diminutive caboose and run
the engine, as does the engineer of an
ordinary sized train. 1t is an odd fam
cy, but it seems to me that should be-
come so much more closely acquainted
with my baby locomotive, and the clos
er l become acquainted with it the bet
ter | like it. But this being an impos-
sibility, l get as close as can by occu-
kneeling here 1 start and stop the
train and regulate her speed.
There was never railroad more pop
ular than mine. Judging from the
crowds that flock around me every time
| go out to my little railroad track, it
looks as though there were more fun
to be gotten out of my 400 feet of rails
and 900 pounds of train than from any
style of travel yet invented. 1t might
be supposed that only children would
be amused by the Lilliputian train, but
on the contrary adults seem to find
more amusement in ride on ore of
my little cars than do the children.
am never short of passengers. The diff
Guilty is to accommodate the enormous
number of people that come clamoring
for ride from nowhere to nowhere and
back again on train that isn't any
earthly use, except to furnish amuse-
ment to women and children.
AS we can't have too much of good
thing, have decided to build second
Lilliputian train which viii be an exact
duplicate of the first, with the exception
of the cylinder, which l intend to i'm
prove by making it three-sixteenths
larger in the bore. Then l will make
4 fresh train of cars and hire another
engineer, elect myself president and
board of directors of the enlarged rail
road, and at the end of six months, il
business keeps up as it has done in the
past, I shall be able to declare hand
some dividend and add further to the
rolling stock of the Lilliputian Train
company. Fl. Schriver, in N. Y. Har-
aid.