The world’s smallest pacific locomotive — among standard-gauge equipment — is Little River Railroad 4-6-2 No. 110.
![Small black steam locomotive on tracks overgrown with grass.](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TRN_Smallest_4-6-2_10.2021_2731-scaled.jpg)
COLDWATER, Mich. — The world’s smallest standard gauge Pacific, No. 110, is alive and well at age 110.
The Little River Railroad 4-6-2 is running in south Michigan, fresh from a 15-year inspection and a rebuild that included a new door sheet. The work was completed in late 2020, so No. 110 is celebrating its 110th birthday this year with its latest overhaul and another 15-year operating period. The Bloom family, which saved the engine from scrap in the late 1960s, also added another touch this fall, repainting and re-lettering the 58-ton locomotive for the Smoky Mountain Railroad, a short line that was home to the engine starting in 1940 as its second owner. The first owner was Little River, another east Tennessee short line.
![Small black steam locomotive departs train station.](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TRN_Smallest_4-6-2_10.2021_2867-scaled.jpg)
No. 110 is right at home on regular 12-mile round trips between Coldwater, Mich., and Quincy, Mich., on a portion of the former New York Central Toledo-Elkhart “Old Road” that is now part of Indiana Northeastern Railroad. The train consists of a Chicago & Alton heavyweight combine, two former Milwaukee Road coaches, and a Baltimore & Ohio caboose. From time to time, No. 110 makes a 45-mile round trip to nearby Hillsdale, Mich., as it did on Oct. 3 to celebrate its birthday. Also used for Little River trains is 0-4-0T No. 1.
Around the shop, the world’s smallest pacific locomotive shows a lot of character for a locomotive with a passenger wheel arrangement and the size of a 2-6-2 or a 2-6-0. It rolls quietly, steams easily, and with its 47-inch drivers, it digs itself out of the shop with a long and heavy train against it. And now, with a long and storied history behind it, it can claim at age 110, a future as bright as its gleaming front number plate.
![The engineer in cab of the world's smallest pacific locomotive takes the small black steam locomotive and its train for excursion.](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TRN_Smallest_4-6-2_10.2021_2940-scaled.jpg)
My wife and I rode behind No. 110 in the early 1980s when the railroad was based in Pleasant Lake, Indiana. I am happy that it is still doing well.
Do you have any SIDE views which would show just HOW small the World’s Smallest is? Next question is: Why? Why build a small pacific? Sort of like why would the Maine Central have TWO Hudsons built? Yes, the MEC DID—maybe a vanity project by the MEC’s President–who was rumored to have paid for them himself! Those two Hudsons DID have clearance challenges at Salem MA on through service with the B&M!
It is amazing how those old locomotives keep chugging.
Great news of a fine southern steam locomotive. Although it’s not a “Southern” engine sure would be quite a sight on the Toccoa, Ga bridge, or The Loops in NC or…. pick your own favorite spot. Good that it has a place to stretch its legs, many thanks to all who keep it running.