Oregon Zoo

Story

The Washington Park & Zoo Railway is a narrow gauge recreational railroad in Portland, Oregon's Washington Park with rolling stock built to 5/8 scale. Opened in three stages in 1958, 1959 and 1960, it provides transportation between the Oregon Zoo, Hoyt Arboretum, International Rose Test Garden, and the World Forestry Center. The extended line is about 2mi long. There is also a 1mi loop within the zoo grounds. The railway carries about 350,000 passengers per year.The railroad is operational year-round, but the extended line is used only on weekends in the spring and daily only in summer months. Special events occur during the Christmas holidays. As of 2012, the price of a ticket was up to $5.00 for the full line, $3.50 for the short "Zoo Loop", but zoo admission was also required.Zoo officials announced in September 2013 that the line would be closed for about one year for construction, with the last day of service scheduled to be September 22. The temporary closure was necessitated by the construction of the zoo's new Elephant Lands exhibit, which will also include remodeling of other parts of the zoo grounds. The short-loop route through the southwest part of the zoo grounds was scheduled to be removed permanently, and during the one-year suspension of service a new section of track was to be laid to create a replacement for the short loop. Train operations returned running on the new Zoo Loop line as of November 22, 2014.