<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Erie Zoo<\/p>\n
Visitors of the Erie Zoo can once again climb aboard locomotive 344, which has officially returned to service after undergoing a three-year conversion from a gas-powered train to an electric locomotive.<\/p>\n
The train returned to Erie after being sent to North Carolina for the extensive conversion project. Zoo officials announced that the locomotive is now operating and carrying passengers for the first time since the upgrade.<\/p>\n
“We are very excited to share that train 344 is back in Erie and officially running,” said Erie Zoo President and CEO Roo Kojancie. “We are the first in Pennsylvania to convert a gas locomotive to an electric one. We have been working diligently with the Pennsylvania State Ride Inspectors throughout this three-year process.”<\/p>\n
The conversion is part of the zoo’s ongoing efforts to adopt more environmentally friendly practices while enhancing the visitor experience. Officials say the electric locomotive is not only a practical improvement but also aligns with the organization’s mission of promoting conservation and sustainability.<\/p>\n
Public rides on locomotive 344 began June 5, and will operate daily during daytime hours, weather permitting, for the first several weeks. Following that introductory period, the train is expected to be available during evening events, including Glow Wild, Wild Wednesdays, and ZooBOO.<\/p>\n
Train rides cost $5 for non-members and $4 for Erie Zoo members. Children 23 months old and younger ride free. Tickets can be purchased online in advance or at the zoo’s admission gate and gift shop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy of Erie Zoo Visitors of the Erie Zoo can once again climb aboard locomotive 344, which has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13819,92837,136,138,137,3466,92838,1128],"class_list":["post-211692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-conservation","tag-electric-train","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-erie-zoo","tag-locomotive-344","tag-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}