C.P. Huntington Trains

There are not many 20" gaugers out there. Chance stopped offering it in the 1970s I believe.

The St. Louis Zoo has an extensive CPH operation. They have 5 complete trains (5 cars each) and 1 extra locomotive. Their fleet is all up to date. Their oldest locomotive is a 1988. They have had 28 CPHs I believe since their operation opened.

This afternoon I will post all of the locations I have of the CPHs.

Chris

I've got Chance catalogs from the mid 80's that offer the 20" gauge option. As we have ascertained there haven't been many takers.

That is good to know.

The earliest Chance CPH brochure I have is from the 70s and then I have the current one.

I know that CPH #3 was built in 20" gauge. It is/was for sale. Storyland was trying to purchase it but the company went out of business that was selling it so we are not sure where it is now.

Wild West Town, IL also had a 20" gauger. That park was sold and I am not sure if the train will be sold or is still in storage there.

There is anotehr 20" for sale right now that does not look to be in good condition. It was stack chopped at one point and then they tried to put the original stack back on by using pieces of metal and nits/bolts.

how do you obtain a brouchure?

You write them and ask for one. You can look at their website http://www.chancemorgan.com/ . It hasn't been updated in a while, due I think to the reorganization.

Or you can call them at 1-800-CHANCE-1 and press 0 for the operator. Then ask them to talk to someone to send you a brochure on the C.P. Huntingotn train.

Chris

Here's some pix of Bonfante Garden's 2 trains:

http://www.emcit.com/bigphoto.php?Bonf_05.jpg&All%20Aboard

http://www.themeparkadventure.com/bgtrain.jpg

And Eric, you do need to check out the State Railroad Museum, really amazing well done exhibits!

*** Edited 1/15/2005 1:43:05 AM UTC by jomo***

In the current Chance Brochure, there is a picture of Bonfante Gardens' black train #31.

Here is another picture of #31.

http://image06.webshots.com/6/3/94/60/78339460HlNdWZ_ph.jpg

I was talking to my wife about going to The Good Zoo at Oglebay Park tomorrow(1-16). If we do go, I'll take the camera and get a few shots of the trains there. It's been years since I've been there and I can't remember if there are 2 or 3 trains.

On the subject of accidents, I believe there was a minor accident at the Pittsburgh Zoo years ago. I can't remember if it was 10, 15, or 20 years ago. I just remember seeing it on the news a long time ago. I think they have a blue and a red train. All of The Good Zoo's trains were all red, I think.

The Good ZOo has two trains: #138 & #152. You can see the train not being used in the tunnel when you go by. Both of them are red.

We at the Pittsburgh Zoo have two trains. #44 was red and #55 was blue. Now they are both red/green. There are photos of them at: http://www.railroadforums.com/photos/index.php?cat=601

Chris

Chris, I have film (now on video) of both of the Zooliners. It was called the Highland Park Zoo back then. The conversion over to the Huntingtons was in the mid 1960's as I recall.

I would love to see the footage of our old Zooliners. I would be glad to pay you to make copies for me. I only have seen a few photos of our old trains. We still have the MTC 16" gauge frogs in 5 of our 7 switches.

We got our first C.P. Huntington (#44) in 1965. The railraod opened on June 23, 1965. This year we will have had the railroad open for 40 years. We received our second C.P. Huntington (#55) in 1966. #44 was painted red with dark blue/light blue trim and #55 was blue with yellow trim.

In 1997 we repainted the trains because the conveinent store CoGo's sponsored us. #44 was red/green and #55 was purple and green. Then in 1999 they were repained again to look exactly the same in the burnt red/green paint scheme.

I only have a few photos of the trains in their original color scheme. Most from old zoo postcards.

"On the subject of accidents, I believe there was a minor accident at the Pittsburgh Zoo years ago. I can't remember if it was 10, 15, or 20 years ago. I just remember seeing it on the news a long time ago."

What do you remember about the accident?

Chris

I vaguely remember the accident. A tree fell on the canopy of of one of the cars of the blue train during a sudden rain storm one summer. I don't think anyone was seriously hurt, but it did make the news. The wreckage made it look worse than the accident really was, I think.

There was a fatal accident during the mid-1980s at the now defunct White Swan Park in nearby Coraopolis on their C.P. Huntington train ride. Two young boys in the last car kept jumping on and off the train while in motion. One of the boys fell underneath the car and was run over and tragically died. I'm not sure of the outcome of the investigation and any possible lawsuits that may have developed, but it had nothing to do with the park's eventual closing in 1989. *** Edited 1/16/2005 4:32:56 PM UTC by Brother Dave***

Wow. I haven't heard about the accident with the tree falling on #55. She's our tough little train though. Our line is all through the woods so it doesn't surprise me that one would have fallen on a train. I will have to hit the library and see if I can find any photos of that accident.

That's the second fatality I have heard of with C.P. Huntingtons. You would think the engineer or someone would have seen them. We are constantly turning our heads to make sure everyone is riding safely.

I typed up my list of C.P. Huntingtons and put them in a spreadsheet in Excel. There are too many of them to post but I would be glad to email it to anyone who would like it.

My email is cc14424@aol.com. If anyone knows of more that I do not have, please let me know. I also have pictures of 90% of these trains so if there are specifics that you want to see photos of I can email you those as well.

Chris

Chris, ever toy with the idea of putting up the list/pics on a website? I'm sure a number of people would be interested.

That's not a bad idea. I will have to look around and find a free one where I can post pictures and text.

I will look into it!

Thanks!

Chris

A new one that may -- or may not be -- on those sites yet is Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. It opened last month with a C.P. Huntington train.

are all of u talkin about the C.P and L.E railway?

No, there is life outside of Cedar Point. C.P. Huntington manufactures locomotives.