The Fleishhacker Playfield Limited, or "Little Puffer," has been at the San Francisco Zoo since 1925.

In the upcoming Summer 2015 issue of Preservation, we feature the Zooliner and the Centennial, two beloved miniature vintage trains at the Oregon Zoo that were restored and are now fully functional. In today’s post, we encourage you to hop aboard three additional historic trains and take a ride through history at the San Francisco Zoo, Detroit Zoo, and St. Louis Zoo.

San Francisco Zoo’s Little Puffer

The Fleishhacker Playfield Limited -- popularly known as the “Little Puffer” -- has helped shape many fond memories at the San Francisco Zoo for multiple generations of visitors. The Little Puffer was purchased by entrepreneur Herbert Fleishhacker in 1925 and installed in the Fleishhacker Zoo (which was renamed the San Francisco Zoo in 1941). For the next 53 years the train carried passengers on daily excursions around the property.

In 1965, the Little Puffer received some well-deserved rest when the Western Pacific Railroad sponsored its restoration. Though the train and its tracks were restored, the Little Puffer was disassembled and packed away 13 years later to make room for a new exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo.

The Little Puffer sat in storage until 1997 when the Zoo received money from the Richard and Rhonda Goldman Fund and the California Federal Bank to restore it. With these funds the San Francisco Zoo sent the train to the Golden Gate Railroad Museum (GGRM) for restoration while they laid down a new set of tracks.

Today, the Little Puffer is fully restored and can continue to shape cherished memories for visitors for many generations to come.

Detroit Zoo’s Tauber Family Railroad

The Tauber Family Railroad and its replica steam locomotives were donated to the Detroit Zoo by the Detroit News in May of 1931. There was, however, a condition to the Detroit News’ donation: They stipulated that any revenue collected from the train rides could only be used within the Zoo. As it turned out, this stipulation was more of a benefit than a burden as the train fares became a vital source of emergency funds.

The replica steam locomotives chugged their way around the Zoo carrying passengers from one exhibit to another until the 1950s when they fell into disuse. At that point, the Chrysler Corporation donated two new diesel-powered miniature trains. These trains --refurbished in the 1980s and again in 2008 -- are still running today, picking up passengers at the Chrysler Main Station at the front of the Zoo and the Africa station in the northwest corner.

The miniature locomotives on the Emerson Zooline Railroad have been part of the St. Louis Zoo since 1963.

St. Louis Zoo’s Emerson Zooline Railroad

The Emerson Zooline Railroad (originally the Zooline Railroad) has been tracking smiles for over 50 years. The one-third-size replicas of the C.P. Huntington locomotive took their first trip around the St. Louis Zoo on August 30, 1963. Since then, the trains have provided a comfortable and enjoyable way to travel around the 90-acre Zoo for millions of visitors.

In 2010, the Emerson Electric Company donated $5 million as a multi-year gift to the St. Louis Zoo. In gratitude, the Zoo renamed it the Emerson Zooline Railroad. Today, the railroad and locomotives remain an integral part of making visitors' experiences memorable.