The Omaha Zoo Railroad (OZRR) is the name of a narrow-gauge heritage railroad located in the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska. The railroad offers a narrow gauge excursion train for zoo visitors hauled by a steam locomotive. The train loads passengers at two stations within the zoo. Annual ridership of the Omaha Zoo Railroad is over 200,000 people. History The Omaha Zoo Railroad was one of the first major attractions added after the zoo's 1963 re-incorporation as the Henry Doorly Zoo. As part of its centennial celebration, the Omaha-based Union Pacific Railroad decided to sponsor the construction of a ridable miniature railroad at the zoo. The zoo's railroad initially had just over of narrow gauge track (roughly half the width of standard mainline railroad tracks) in the form of a twisted oval with a connecting track through the middle. Two wyes (Y-shaped track arrangements enabling the train to reverse direction) were constructed at the intersections of the connecting track and the main oval. The track was laid using rail from the Union Pacific's Encampment branch in Wyoming. Due to the hilly terrain of the zoo's riverside location, grades of up to 6% (for most railroads 2% is considered steep) were required and some of the curves were well under in radius. Track crews from the Union Pacific were brought in to lay the track, and operation commenced on July 22, 1968, under the supervision of UP Roadmaster Robert Kovar. Fitting for a railroad attraction sponsored by the Union Pacific, the Omaha Zoo Railroad was initially themed after the UP's First transcontinental railroad route, for which Omaha was the eastern terminus. Passengers boarded at the "Omaha train depot" located in the Aksarben Nature Kingdom (today known as Red Barn Park) and rode to "Promontory Junction" at the south end of the zoo's lagoon, where they had the option of disembarking at the small depot and catching a later train back to Omaha. The ride also featured a climb up the 6% grade of "Sherman Hill", named for the Union Pacific's own grade over the continental divide in Wyoming. The steam locomotive was painted and decorated to resemble Union Pacific's No. 119, the famous locomotive used in the laying of the real "Golden spike" marking the transcontinental line's completion, and the four coaches were given names significant to the UP's history. The UP influence was perhaps most evident in