This was a very entertaining surprise about my hometown! I found your channel as I’ve been scouring RU-vid for Northeast Corridor and SEPTA history. You make great videos, thank you!
Very interesting find! Never knew this existed until now. There's a South African Garratt on a private narrow gauge railroad in Hempstead, TX (which I covered in my American Railroad Iceberg video)
Awesome video! Jus subbed, really enjoying your content. When it comes to railroad topics it doesn’t get any better than hearing things from a engineers point of view. Nice coverage on the Omaha zoo train. I’ve seen that little steamer 100s of times. I prefer 119 but still a very cool piece of history
Fantastic video! Really enjoyed the history of some of the European Narrow Gauge Railways and its great to see a zoo operating a really steam train as opposed to sham steam locomotive powered by diesel like you see on most zoo railways! I've subscribed!
I have done some research on this Austrian made steam engine here is what I found. After WWI the Austrian steam engine was given to Poland as war reoperations. The Poles didn't have a railroad it would run on so they used the steam engine to power a Zeppelin that patrolled the Danzig Corridor. At the start of WWII the Austrian steam engine powered Polish Zeppelin was flown to Belgium, to avoid being taken by the Germans, but was blown off course by a tornado while crossing Alps. The Zeppelin's compass broke in the tornado, causing the crew to become disorientated, which lead to them crossing the Atlantic Ocean and landing in Omaha Nebraska. The Austrian steam engine powered Zeppelin was hidden in a barn on the outskirts of town until the end of WWII when the US government decided to sell it as war surplus to a local scrap dealer. It was at the scrap yard that Austrian immigrant Lukas Huber rediscovered the steam engine he knew and loved as a boy, bought it for the then outrageous sum of $57, and restored it to its original condition. Lukas Huber could be seen ridding his restored Austrian steam engine every year at Omaha's annual Blutwurst Festival until his death when the Austrian steam engine was donated to the Henry Doorly Zoo.
Realy cool, i live near Linz. Austria has realy great trains and now is digging tunnels throu the alps. Brenner 64km, Semmering 27km and Koralmtunnel 32km. You would love it 😀
Loved this find on your channel. Grew up in Western Iowa (Carroll) and just returned to the Henry Dorley Zoo this spring on a visit to family. Sadly the trains weren’t running but my little guy had a blast and we had a great time reliving memories of our childhood. Can’t wait to come back and see this steamer!
