diff --git a/lib/tilelive/tile.js b/lib/tilelive/tile.js
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/lib/tilelive/tile.js
+++ b/lib/tilelive/tile.js
@@ -71,4 +71,12 @@ Tile.prototype.render = function(callback) {
     );
 };
 
+Tile.prototype.getMap = function(callback) {
+    Pool.acquire(this.type, this.datasource, this.options, function (err,map) {
+        if (err) throw err;
+        callback(null,map);
+    });
+};
+
+
 module.exports = Tile;
expose a function to get the map for a given tile