The newest addition to the growing system of "pint-size lines" named after Southern in parks and amusement centers throughout the railway's territory made its debut last month at the Cincinnati Zoo in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Named the "Southern Railway Swan Lake Express," the six-car train, pulled by two back-to-back diesel-type "A" units (powered by a single tractor motor) , carries passengers on a half-mile scenic tour of the zoo.

A swan strikes a typically graceful pose at lower left as the "Southern Railway Swan Lake Express" crosses a trestle over the lake on its scenic tour of the Cincinnati Zoo.

The bright spot of the tour, especially for children, is the ride over a trestle crossing the zoo's Swan Lake. To add interest to the trip the ticket office offers for sale small bags of bread crumbs which the youngsters may feed ,to the swans, ducks and geese as the train rolls by.

An official dedication took place at the train site on April 22 with Southern's representative, General Traffic Manager Clyde C. Cox of Cincinnati, accepting a miniature gold-plated spike presented to the Southern for its help in providing roadway and station signs for the little railroad. The dedication. and a dinner that followed the late afternoon ceremony, was attended by city officials, members of the Cincinnati Zoological Society ( which operates the zoo) , and other guests.

While a TV cameraman photographs the event for an evening news program, Southern's General Traffic Manager Clyde C. Cox (in light coat), of Cincinnati, accepts a miniature gold - plated spike from Simon C. Nielsen, chairman of the zoo's maintenance committee, at a dedication ceremony. Shown between the two men are Gordon Rich (left), Cincinnati city councilman, and Gerrit I. Frederiks, president of the zoo.

The dedication was rounded out, appropriately enough, with a complimentary ride on the "Swan Lake Express."

Guests at the dedication learned about the pleasures of the Swan Lake tour at first hand following the ceremony.

The object of all this attention is the third miniature train installed at the railroad - conscious Cincinnati Zoo. A rubber-tired model named "Little Royal Palm" after one of Southern's trains (pictured in Ties in August, 1951), takes passengers on a tour over the zoo's walkways while a tiny rail model operates in the "kiddieland" section.

An unusual feature of both the "Swan Lake Express" and its rubber-tired zoo-mate is a running commentary over a speaker system on each of the trains which describes to the passengers the various exhibits they are passing. The narration was recorded on tape by a local radio and TV personality.

Grand Central Station is both the origin and destination of the little train.

Some of the flavor of its full - size brothers has been re-created in miniature on the little "Express." The clickety-clack of its wheels pounding on the 16-lb. rail (laid over 4" x 4" ties ), and the "blaaat" of the air horn lets zoo visitors know there's a train around.

On the other hand, the little train has a distinct flavor of is own. It would be hard to find a full-size railroad, in this - country anyway, where a blast of the engine horn is frequently answered by a lion's roar .

A couple of miniature passengers shyly meet "Chief Engineer" Carl Thesing after their ride. They are Linda and Kathy Strybel, ages 3 and 2, respectively, of Cincinnati.