A Coastal Highlight:
The Santa Barbara Zoo Trains
Santa Barbara, California
Located just off of California's famous and scenic Highway One sits a little coastal highlight, the Santa Barbara Zoo! This small zoo features over 400 animals within the 30-acre property along with elaborate botanical gardens and beautiful mountain views. Surrounding one of the world's most beautiful zoos is the Santa Barbara Zoo Railroad!
The Santa Barbara Zoo was built on the former Child Estate which was gifted to the city for to be used as a city park. In 1963, the Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens officially opened its doors. While the zoo is known for it's diverse animal collection, it is also known for the beautiful botanical gardens that overlook the Santa Ynez mountain range.
The Santa Barbara Zoo Railroad opened in 1968, following one of the zoo's original goals of being a place for children: full of play areas, animals, and gardens. The new miniature railroad tracks encircled the zoological gardens and featured steep grades since the zoo is built on the top of a hill.
An early postcard shows C.P. Huntington #66 traversing the trestle at the Santa Barbara Zoo.
Chosen as the highlight of the Santa Barbara Zoo Railroad would be a 24-inch gauge Chance C.P. Huntington train, known as Engine #66. This gasoline-powered "little engine that could" would pull 3 open-air cars up and down the hills of the Santa Barbara Zoological Garden. Engine #66, the 66th C.P. Huntington locomotive manufactured by Chance Rides Manufacturing, was the main workhorse of the railroad for the next 20-years.
An early photo shows Engine #66 in what is believed to be train's original paint scheme.
In 1986, as the Santa Barbara Zoo Railroad continued to grow in popularity, the zoo saw the need to purchase a second train. The zoo purchased another Chance C.P. Huntington train which was numbered 208. No. 208 also pulled three passenger cars with one of the cars featuring a wheel-chair accessible space. By adding a second train, the zoo was now able to run a two-train operation on busy days. This also provided more opportunities for routine maintenance on the locomotives on slower days by only operating one train without closing the railroad and disappointing riders.
A recent photo of #208 parked in the Santa Barbara Zoo Railroad station.
The little red and green locomotives, No. 66 and No. 208, continued to work together, pulling excited zoo visitors around the tracks for the next 17 years. At this point, Engine #66 was showing it's age. In 2003, Santa Barbara Zoo decided to retire Engine #66 and purchase a brand new Chance C.P. Huntington locomotive. The old red and green locomotive was put up for sale and was eventually sold to a private owner believed to be somewhere in the Midwest. Since then, the current whereabouts of Engine #66 are still unknown and is not believed to have operated anywhere since it's days at the Santa Barbara Zoo.
Engine #66 as it appeared prior to being sold. At some point it was repainted to match Engine #208. One of it's coaches that has already been painted blue to match the new locomotive can be seen behind it.
The replacement C.P. Huntington is No. 327, painted in a lavish blue color scheme. No. 327 pulls Engine #66's original three coaches from 1968. The coaches were repainted blue to match the new shiny locomotive! No. 327 was originally going to be painted in the same red and green color scheme as No. 208. However, at the time 327 was being built, Chance was also building the blue C.P. Huntington trains for the new Landry's Downtown Aquarium in Houston, Texas. The zoo liked this new blue paint scheme so much that they decided to have No. 327 painted the same way.
#327 pulling the original 1968 coaches that are now painted blue.
#327 chugging across the trestle with a beautiful view of the mountains in the background.
The little red and blue trains continued to joy riders with scenic views of the zoo and the Santa Ynez mountains and still remain one of the most popular attractions at the zoo. In 2012, the zoo decided to add an additional locomotive to the roster. Chance C.P. Huntington #371 became the newest member of the Santa Barbara Zoo railroad! The new locomotive was sponsored by The Duncan Family and Rusty's Pizza Parlors who also received naming rights for the locomotives. The new red, black, and silver locomotive, No. 371, was named Emmett. No. 208 earned the name Victor and No. 327 was named Kate. The locomotives now wear both their names and numbers proudly!
Emmett #371 is now assigned to pull #208 Victor's original red coaches. They were repainted black and red to match Emmett. Occasionally Victor is assigned to pull this set of coaches when Emmett needs a break! The three miniature trains, Emmett, Kate, and Victor, continue to serve the railroad proudly, pulling happy passengers around the zoo.
#208 Victor can be seen giving Emmett a break pulling the newly repainted black and red cars.
The Santa Barbara Zoo Railroad starts out on "Zoo Train Lane" which leads to the train station, complete with a train-themed gift shop. The train leaves the station and chugs down a steep hill towards the zoo's main entrance. While on the train, riders can then get a behind the scenes glimpse of the zoo's veterinary hospital area. When passing over the trestle and marsh, riders get a beautiful view of the mountains and some natural wildlife including waterfowl. The train then passes several animal exhibits where passengers may get a nice view of the African Lion or even the giraffe's getting fed an afternoon snack! After the peaceful journey past the animals, the zoo train picks up speed to begin its steep climb up the hill and through the tunnel before returning to the train station.
Kate #327 can be seen pulling the blue train while a giraffe can be seen awaiting a snack during the giraffe feeding experience.
The Santa Barbara Zoo Railroad celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2018. The zoo's pride in its miniature railroad shows as they celebrated their three miniature trains. It's quite clear that the zoo visitor's love taking a ride behind Emmett, Kate, and Victor as a line of people often await to ride the zoo train! The Santa Barbara Zoo is definitely a unique zoo experience to be had by all. A day at the Santa Barbara Zoo is a great way to take a peaceful walk through the gardens, possibly feed a giraffe, and visit exotic animals. But the day wouldn't be complete without a scenic train ride around the zoo, learning about the zoo's history and it's animals!
A note from the blogger:
The Santa Barbara Zoo is definitely one of my favorite zoos I've ever been to! I was lucky enough to visit the Santa Barbara Zoo several times when I lived in California. When we drove to Santa Barbara, the zoo was always the first thing on our list! Whether you're a train buff, animal lover, or just enjoy a beautiful scenic walk, I highly recommend a visit to the Santa Barbara Zoo because it will not disappoint!
