The next time you visit the Saint Louis Zoo, plunk down the $8 to ride the Emerson Zooline Railroad and keep your eyes peeled for the zoo’s newest train, a bright green electric locomotive named after abolitionist Mary Meachum.
“March is Women’s History Month, and we couldn’t imagine a more fitting time to announce Mary Meachum as the name of the newest train,” said Michael Macek, director of the Saint Louis Zoo, in a release. The train, developed by Chance Rides in Wichita, Kansas, officially made its debut March 28.
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The zoo’s railroad is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and features trains named after important St. Louis historical figures: Daniel Boone, Pierre Laclede, Lewis & Clark, Ulysses S. Grant, Charlton Tandy, and Emerson. The Mary Meachum train is the first in the zoo’s fleet named after a woman.
Meachum and her husband, Reverend John Berry Meachum, owned a home on Fourth Street in St. Louis that acted as a safe house on the Underground Railroad. The couple helped enslaved people escape from Missouri and other slave states into Illinois, where slavery was outlawed. The Reverend Meachum started the First African Baptist Church, the first Black congregation in St. Louis, and ran a school out of its basement at a time when educating Black people was forbidden. The Meachums moved that school to a steamboat on the Mississippi River, where that law couldn’t be enforced, and continued to educate Black St. Louisans.
Watch a video of the train’s unveiling below:
The zoo sees the move to electric transportation as a commitment to the environment and sustainability. “As the trains at the zoo begin to age, replacing the locomotives with a much greener approach will set us up for a better future,” Macek said. “We are excited as we look ahead to the future of the Emerson Zooline Railroad and will continue to help create memories that will last a lifetime.”
To read tips and tricks for visiting the Saint Louis Zoo, see our story here.
