1970s film of Zooline Railroad at the Saint Louis Zoo

Описание: The Emerson Zooline Railroad—the nation's largest miniature rail line—celebrates its 50th year in 2013. The rail line has carried nearly 35 million riders since its first trip on August 30, 1963. Here's film of a train ride in the 1970s.

The Zooline Railroad became the Emerson Zooline Railroad in 2010 when the Zoo received a $5 million, multi-year gift from Emerson.

The railroad's 20 minutes of fun and 50 years of history have made it one of the Zoo's top attractions. Visitors who ride the train are significantly more likely to rate their overall satisfaction as excellent versus those who did not.

The Zooline's engines are a one-third size replica of the original C. P. Huntington, a famous steam locomotive first built in 1863. Known as the "Iron Horse," the C. P. Huntington helped build the first transcontinental railway.

Though the Zooline is gasoline-powered, it has the bells and whistles of a steam engine. Carrying passengers over 1 ½ miles of track that includes 8,638 railroad ties, the railroad can reach a top speed of seven miles per hour. Six locomotives, each weighing an impressive 6,600 pounds, pulling five trains of six coaches each, bring Zooline seating capacity to 78 adult passengers. Each train was fitted in 1995 with a special coach to accommodate riders who use wheelchairs.

The rail line's 20-minute narrated ride, starting from the Wild Station, moves past the Bear Bluffs, The Living World, Monsanto Insectarium, the Emerson Children's Zoo and along a 225-foot-long trestle. The train moves into River's Edge, passing the cheetahs and elephants, moving under a waterfall, through two underground tunnels, then past tigers, birds, and apes and finally back to the Wild Station.

See more about the Saint Louis Zoo at http://www.stlzoo.org
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