The Hesston Steam Museum. Hesston Indiana USA. Sunday, September 12th,2010.

The Hesston Steam Museum. Hesston Indiana USA. Sunday, September 12th, 2010., a photo by Eddie from Chicago on Flickr.

What ever happened to the 2 foot narrow guage steam train that used to operate at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo?

The Brookfield Zoo's own Brookfield, Salt Creek & Western Railroad, operated from May of 1967, until the Labor Day weekend in September of 1985.

The zoo railroad, was officially taken out of service and dismantled in stages over the next few years. The locomotives and rolling stock, was put in to storage inside a warehouse garage building owned by the Cook County Forest Preserve District at an undisclosed location, and sat there for 17 years.

In 2002, after being unsuccessful in trying to find a buyer for the complete railroad, the equipment was officially donated to The Hesston Steam Museum in northwest Indiana near Michigan City.

Seen here inside a "New" carbarn building that was built in 2002, is the Brookfield Zoo's World War 1 era German meter guage 0-8-0, that was cosmetically Americanized, and painted to look like a Milwaukee Road passenger locomotive. This engine is slowly undergoing a mechanical restoration.

For more information about The Hesston Steam Museum, log on to www.hesston.org