The Zoo railway equipment was built in the Wisconsin Dells by Sandley Light
Railway Equipment Works.

The Milwaukee Journal donated the first trains to the Zoo in 1958.
Our trains operate just like full-size trains and are approximately one-quarter scale in size.
Our two diesel locomotives run with diesel engines and hydraulic motors.
Locomotive 1916 was completed in 1961 and rebuilt in 2006. It weighs approximately 5 tons.
Locomotive 1924, built in the mid-1970s, arrived here in 1977. Its ready-to-run weight is about 8 tons. Our trains use West Virginia coal (for the steam engines), diesel fuel, lubricating oils, hydraulic fluid and chemically treated water.

The trains are maintained by the Zoo's trained staff and inspected annually by the state boiler inspector with additional specialized work done by local contractors.

The Zoo owns two coal-burning steam locomotives.

They consume an average of 250 gallons of water and 220 pounds of coal per day during the busy season!

At the end of the day, the trains are returned to the train garage at the south end of the Zoo.

The trains generate income for the Zoo and carry thousands of riders each year. As of 2010, nearly 17 million people have ridden our trains!

The trains travel a little more than a mile on every loop around the Zoo. At a speed of 5-7 mph, they travel about 25 miles per day and up to 6,000 miles in one season! "Whew!"