The Zilker Zephyr as seen in 2005. Image: Wikimedia Commons
After tooting around since 1997, the much-loved miniature train at Zilker Park known as the Zilker Zephyr is no more, thanks to erosion from a number of heavy rainstorms at the park washing out its tracks in 2019 — but the Austin Parks Foundation will bring the experience of riding tiny rails to a new generation of Austinites in Summer 2021, as the operators of a brand new Zilker train.
That’s the news today from the Foundation, which will handle upgrades to the train system and operations for the time being until the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department can complete a more detailed master plan for the future of Zilker Park — and what we’re calling that train is up to Austin, with a naming contest accepting submissions until September 21:
Austin Parks Foundation is committed to preserving the spirit of Austin’s past while completing much-needed upgrades to one of Austin’s most treasured outdoor family activities. Because of the organization’s partnership with the City’s Parks & Recreation Department (PARD) and nearly 30 years of proven results, APF was contacted to help find an interim solution for the train while Zilker Park undergoes a master planning process to build a new, long-term vision for the park. APF will operate the Zilker train with proceeds benefiting Zilker Park, while the community has a chance to determine how the train fits into the new vision for the park.
“The decision from City Council and PARD for Austin Parks Foundation to take on the operations of the train during this time, versus another concession vendor, will allow us to put proceeds from the train directly back into Zilker and Austin’s parks system while the master planning takes place,” says Austin Parks Foundation’s Chief Mission Officer Ladye Anne Wofford. “We deeply understand the importance that parks play in our lives as Austinites. We are ready to give Austin a train named by them, for them.”
— Austin Parks Foundation Press Release, September 1, 2020
The Foundation says the new train arriving next year will be built in the style of a 1940s locomotive, but run on electricity and be both shaded and ADA-accessible for the first time — the old train ran on gasoline, so it’ll be interesting to see if a battery-operated system has a smoother ride.
This isn’t the first time Austinites have had the opportunity to name Zilker’s train — though the Zilker Eagle was the first pint-sized locomotive to chug through the park in 1961, the Zephyr got its name from a city contest in 1997. (The Zilker Zephyrs, for the record, were originally a South Austin baseball team in the 1950s.)
A 1961 clipping from the Austin American-Statesman showing off the new Zilker Eagle, the park’s original train modeled after an 1885 locomotive rather than the slightly more modern-looking Zephyr. Image: Austin History Center
A 1955 clipping from the Statesman showing the origin of the Zilker Zephyrs name, originally belonging to a South Austin baseball team that lost here to the employee team of the local Seven Up soda bottling company. Image: Austin History Center
This new model really needs a name as catchy as the Zilker Zephyr, and that’s a pretty hard act to follow considering the lack of “Z-words” in the dictionary. As amusing as we find “The Zilker Zoomer,” we’re aware that the new name doesn’t have to start with the letter Z. How about the Moontower Express? The McConaughey Limited?
A photo of the original Zilker Eagle train taken around the 1960s. Image: Austin History Center
Click here to enter the contest, and try to come up with something good — it’s not every day we’re given the opportunity, however small, to define a piece of Austin’s future for a generation to come. The Foundation is also accepting submissions via the printable coloring sheet below, which appears to show the new train’s appearance and will likely help kids get their ideas running wild:
Click for a larger view. Image: Austin Parks Foundation
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