A lot of cities and even small towns had a zoo or other attraction with a “Kiddieland” where kids of all ages could either ride the rides or dream about the good ol’ days when they were kids and could ride the rides. Adults can fit into miniature trains built for amusement parks, but unless you’re with a child or grandchild, it may feel a little awkward to ride the rails on one like this Miniature Train Company G-12 Amusement Train shown here. The seller has it listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Franklin, Ohio and the seller is asking $12,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Sam61 for the tip!
As almost always, the photos are bordering on embarrassing, there are literally two photos, one horizontal and one vertical, and a very short vertical video. I must seriously be the only last living human who doesn’t live and die by looking at their smartphone 24/7. I want to see HORIZONTAL vehicles in a HORIZONTAL format. I can turn my phone 90 degrees. It isn’t that hard. I don’t understand it at all, but I know I’m preaching to the choir, and it just comes up all the time, so my apologies for that. The pixelated photo above is a screenshot of the tiny, vertical video enlarged so you aren’t just looking at other vehicles and pallets.
The seller has this train listed as an Allan Herschell Company train, but it was actually manufactured by Miniature Train Company out of Renassalaer, Indiana, and operated between 1932 and 1956, when it was sold to Allan Herschell Company, a juggernaut in the amusement industry. Herschell sold trains made under the Miniature Train Co. name until 1963 and we don’t know the date of this train or really any detailed information at all. The train cars should be around 18 inches wide and 16 inches high. The engine car should be just over 10 feet long, and the passenger cars should be around 8 feet long each.
This is literally it for photos showing the train up close, but it looks promising. I sure wish the seller had taken two dozen photos, which would have been free, showing the inside and out, the underside, serial numbers, etc. But they didn’t, so you have to give them a call at the number listed in their ad for more information. A really nice one sold at a Mecum Auction in 2023 for $4,720, but we don’t know if it was operational or not or if it included the track. They say it comes with approximately 30 yards of track (G-12 means a 12-inch gauge, or track width), it runs good, and will hold 15 people. It sure would be nice to have at least one photo of the engine powering this train. It would be incredibly fun to own something like this if a person had a nice climate and a big yard. Did any of you ride on miniature trains as a kid?
Thanks Scotty. Anything and practically everything train related makes for great reading. 👍
Ditto on the phone pix comment!! :-)
I second what Stan said. Keep them coming!!!
This is really great Scotty. If only I had an acre or so of property to run the tracks on it. Thanks for all the work getting the pictures that you were able to get out of the listing. I just dont understand why people can’t take more and better pictures.
There is a kiddieland train operation run by volunteers where I live. The grey hairs like me who have an interest in trains and run it are slowly dying out and there aren’t enough left to keep it open. It was a monthly event for me, but now only once a year as days seem to have gotten much shorter (why is that?) When it went from live steam to Honds powered, I lost interest.
Hard to believe, it is free to ride and is packed with parents and kids, none of whom seem to want to help keep it open (or pay for a ride), but just enough leave a a donation to let it continue for a bit.
I think it is a time thing, where folks are struggling just to make ends meet. And its going to get a lot worse with tariffs. ( hopefully this isn’t a political comment?)
Anyways, a set like this is really neat, a complete setup for a backyard for a train buff to give rides to family or kiddos. Probably has a 2 or 3 HP lawn mower engine in it? I think the auction shows us where prices are on these and I very much doubt this will bring much more.
I do love these interesting BF posts!
Fun with I had more land to set it up.
People in our town had something like this 50 years or so ago. They also had old steam engines and held a threshing festival in the fall. Both very cool. Time marches on.
For anyone interested, go to Gypse Hill Park Staunton Va, click on Gypse Express which will take you to a 20 minute documentry about their G16, built by the Miniture Train Co, which is still in operation to day (the train ,not the co). If you’re ever in Va and have the desire to be a kid again ride it and enjoy the flashback!
Tiny Town in Morrison CO should look into this it would be a great addition!
I’ve got to admit it; this is one of the strangest things that I have seen on Barn Finds in a bit. Would seem to me that it is going to take that one special person to plunk down 12K for this thing, and I would be willing to bet that one person is going to pretty darn hard to find.
These were great when I was a kid the local amusement park had one went around the edge of the property was free to kids.
If you are interested in riding a miniature train, Southgate Michigan has given space in one of their parks, to a live steamer group.These guys build their own engines and cars, then bring them to the park, to run them and give rides to kids and some adults . I’m not sure when they start the rides in the spring, but I’ll be glad to find out if you PM me.
They had one of these at the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk in the 30’s or 40’s , in-between the small live steam one circa 1910 that ended up at the San Francisco Zoo and the Air powered Cave train that is there now.
Scotty, that one made my day! When I was a kid, we had a place with amusement rides in Nashville called Fair Park, and they had a small train that went around the entire place. It’s pretty great that somebody put this very old video on YT that shows the train in motion at least three times:
https://youtu.be/JQHNMJVSII8?si=xb8MZMuvDeQJ8V9w
Based on the cars in the lot, I’d guess this short film is maybe from the early sixties. I had the cool dad that would take me and other kids from our neighborhood there frequently, and they got some better and more adult type rides after this video was made, like a Scrambler, Tilt A Whirl, Mad Mouse, and Skydiver. Even after I was too cool to go there with my father, I still went with friends a few times through the early eighties.
From what I remember, the train was there until this place closed in 1986 or 1987. I remember a friend I worked with at the time got word on when the last day was, and she and I went and were among the very last people to ride the Skyliner roller coaster before it was torn down.
Great post, and I would love to hear more stories from readers who have memories of mini-trains like these from their childhood.
proably never these G12 or 16. The ones that are bigger, no track, run the road and I would call G24 w/o knowing if there is such a thing (again, no track). A big park (of any kind) would run them around the site for kids (not sure if the charged), use for ‘parking lot shuttle’, or just tired folk…
There seemed to be one of these kinds on the Cape near Plymouth (where The Rock is so high traffic flow). I’d sweat it was G16. Only saw it from the road driving by – ina flash. As it went round the track only the kids shoulders up could be seen…
This would be a great addition for Tiny Town in Indian Hills CO. they already have the track.
There are several in Geneva and Saybrook Ohio on private land, one is owned by a friend of mine and runs back through the woods, across trestles, really cool. Burton Ohio has one in the old village that I believe is quite long, through the woods etc. Ashtabula had one in a park and Geneva On The Lake had one in a little amusement park, both long gone
I think he may have missed the mark on his track length. 30 yards is not very much track.
During the 1950’s, Orville Seals, a New Jersey plumber, built his own scale Steam kiddie ride train. He got tech support from the Supt. of Locomotive shops @ the CRR of NJ.(the latter gent was instrumental in donating the CRR of NJ’s #592 Camelback to the B&O Museum in Baltimore in 1954). Seals had problems getting State permits for the steam loco.
Mr. Seals had HO and O gauge electric trains in his home running room to room. I was told that his wife couldn’t take his expanding train hobby and left. He then ran a spur track into the bedroom. I had seen his layout when he was still adding trackage for his kiddie ride train. When he passed, she returned and sold all the trains. I understand that the steam loco was bought by someone in Ohio or Indiana.
Lots of comments about knowing where something like this exists, but zero about anyone even remotely interested in purchasing it. Wonder why.