| Louis "Mac" MacDermot was caught up in society’s fascination with progress. What better symbol of progress than the great steam-hauled express trains pulled by the mighty Pacific locomotives? The 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco would be incomplete without miniature steam-powered excursion trains saluting man’s greatest invention. MacDermot combined this vision with native mechanical abilities and a wealthy indulgent parent. The family estate became a factory, complete with a design/pattern shop and machine shop. “Mac” soon made two pivotal decisions. His railway would be one-third scale, an unusual 19-inch gauge. The standard high-speed “flyer” engine was the 4-6-2 Pacific type. The once sluggish Pacifics had evolved into fast, powerful, economical locomotives (the Pacifics were destined to be further upgraded in the 1920s). “Mac’s” Pacifics were more modern and innovative in design than the locomotives which Southern Pacific was acquiring for its fleet! They were the answers to his quest for locomotive power that promoted the perfection of contemporary industrial design. Accordingly, the Pacifics drew the assignment to power The Panama-Pacific International Exposition’s Overfair Railway. Soon, MacDermot’s Oakland work force was hard at work crafting five exact miniature steam locomotives. They built four superior-crafted Pacifics; however, No. 1912, No. 1913 and No. 1914 were the only engines ever to operate. The No. 1915 was destined never to have a fire lit in its firebox. The fifth locomotive, No. 1500, was an 0-6-0T switch engine, built primarily to construct the line at the Exposition site. |