page_title: Miniature Railway Company
section_title: Trans-Mississippi Exposition
hierarchical_section_title: Miniature Railway Company / Trans-Mississippi Exposition
caption_attribution_description: English: A Lilliputian Locomotive at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition at Omaha
context_page_description: The Miniature Railway Company on Broadway, New York, operated their ridable miniature railways at four World Expositions around 1900 and delivered them to many parks throughout the world.
context_section_description: The Miniature Railway Company obtained the probably smallest locomotive ever made for drawing passenger cars from Thomas E. McGarigle of Niagara Falls. This steam locomotive was used from June 1 to November 1 of 1898 at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska, and, in all, six locomotives were ordered by the company under one contract.
  The height of the locomotive from the surface of the rail to the top of the stack was 25 inches (635 mm), and the gauge was 12 ¹⁄₂ in (318 mm). The cylinders were 2 by 4 inches (51 mm × 102 mm). The boiler was made of steel, held 24 imperial gallons (29 US gal; 110 l) of water, had a capacity of 1 ¹⁄₂ hp (1.1 kW) and was tested to 300 pounds per square inch (21 bar). The firebox was 10 by 10 inches (254 mm × 254 mm). The weight of this little engine +1/was about 600 pounds (270 kg), and it ran on a ³⁄₄ square inch (4.8 cm²) rail. Hard coal was used as fuel. The capacity of the locomotive was 10 cars, each containing two persons, or about 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg). The locomotive was equipped with sandbox, bell, etc., and had a steam brake between the drivers. One man, whose position was on a seat on top of the tender, operated the engine. The scale on which the locomotive was built was about one-seventh that of one of the New York Central's largest engines, and as it stood in the shop it had a very businesslike appearance.
caption: 'A Lilliputian Locomotive' at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition
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