Railfanning the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo Railroad on March 29, 2024

June 2024 update: 306 returned to service on May 29, 2024!
March 30, 2024, the upload date of this video, marks five years since the opening of the current Turtle Back Zoo Railroad route and tunnel. As part of the renovation, parts of the route within the station were rerouted, now going past the giraffe exhibit. A brand new tunnel was also built, replacing Turtle Tunnel and therefore improving maintenance of the trains. These changes were the first major changes made to the railroad since its grand opening with the rest of the zoo in June 1963. In order to celebrate this significant milestone in the railroad’s history, here’s a railfanning compilation from the day prior, with 199 and 382 in charge. As usual, videos were filmed from the Lion Parking Deck and the Orange Reservoir walking path.
As stated in a prior video, 199 and 382 are the only locomotives operating at this time, due to 306 still undergoing an overhaul. Back on March 11 and 14, 2024, 199 was notably allowed to pull the red train while 382 had some minor work done. After the Errington Express returned on March 15, the Essex Express moved back to the blue train. This is how the setup will be until 306’s return, and as of right now, the Blue Comet is still waiting on some parts before the overhaul resumes. I’m currently predicting that 306 will return in either the summer or fall of this year, but it all depends on what work still needs to be done. Once 306 does return, however, 382 is expected to be overhauled next, which will then leave 199 and 306 on their own. In that case, 199 will probably move to the red train again while 306 takes charge of its blue train. Again, time will tell what happens, but these are my current expectations. Until then, enjoy this video of yet another round of Turtle Back Zoo Railfanning!