Right next to the Cherry Festival grounds is an area that used to house the Traverse City Zoo. The zoo was sold and the animals relocated to other zoos because it was too cold next to Lake Michigan and too expensive to keep open. There is however a remnant of the zoo which is a small steam engine train which goes around the area where the zoo was located that you can ride.
The engine was painted a dark green and pulled several open multi-colored cars in which the passengers sit and enjoy the ride. These cars have small benches slightly wider than the track and an adult and small child can sit on the bench. HW2 sat with Christian and Jonny with his dad. I got a seat all to myself, and although a bit lonely, did enjoy the trip, two times around the park. The engineer was a big man and there was no room at all on his seat for another passenger. He blew the whistle and we were off on our circular travel. We crossed roads where the traffic was blocked by other train employees and we got to wave at all the people at the Cherry Festival. What fun!!!
I have 'G' gage or garden trains which have been erected either in a backyard or basement at various times when we were not full time on the road. To have a real steam engine that you could ride on would be even better, but, where would I put it. The ride was much enjoyed by us all.
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