The Zilker Zephyr is getting a new name, and you can help decide what it is. Austin Parks Foundation has a running pole online till November 6th.
There are more than a handful of choices, among them, the Armadillo Express, the Bluebonnet Express, and the Moontower Rambler.
Official Statement:
Austin Parks Foundation (APF) announced the seven finalists of the Zilker train naming contest at their annual fundraiser, Party for the Parks on September 30. Throughout the month, Austinites were given the opportunity to participate in the naming of the future train. Over 750 names, drawings and ideas were submitted and of those, a committee of APF staff, board of directors, community members and children helped pick the finalists listed below.
The Armadillo Express
The Bluebonnet Express
Edwina Justus (First Black female engineer for Union Pacific Railroad)
The Lady Bird Flyer
The Moontower Rambler
The Zilker Eagle (Re-authorized by the owners of the original Zilker Train)
The Zilker Zanate (Spanish for grackle)
In an effort to make immediate and necessary improvements while Zilker Park undergoes a master planning process to build a new, long-term vision for the park, APF will operate the new Zilker train in the interim with proceeds benefiting the park. The new Zilker train, which is scheduled to run next summer, will be in the style of a 1940s passenger train but, for the first time ever, will be electric and ADA accessible. Austin Parks Foundation aims to raise over $525,000 to fund this project and to date has raised $81,000.
https://austinparks.org/zilker-train/
