Miniature Railway at Silver Lake, Ohio

The ridable miniature railway was hauled by a scaled-down steam locomotive, but the open passenger cars had no role model.

The small locomotive was built around 1901 by the Armitage-Herschell Company of North Tonawanda in Niagara County, New York, as park railways became increasingly popular.

The Ohio Steel Company of Cuyahoga Falls made miniature rails with the unusually large weight of 16 lb/yd (7.9 kg/m), twice as heavy as those for other park railways, as well as switches and their flange-bearing frogs for $42/t.

This original route allowed the passengers a view of the lake and the zoo animals, which made the menagerie quickly known.

In his uniform with a shiny lantern on his left arm and his ticket punch in his right hand, he was an attractive little conductor.

[2] In 1904, he built a more powerful locomotive, which was eventually called the Little General and is now on display in Travel Town Museum.

Since William Lodge could not find another buyer, he bought the rails and rolling stock for $1,000 and stored them on his farm.