How do I get tickets to CP Huntington Train?

Tickets and current schedules are available on the operator's official website at https://www.kemahboardwalk.com/all-rides.

Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

CP Huntington Train

4.2· 128 Google reviews

Share:🔗f 𝕏 💬

Upcoming Events

No ticketed events are currently listed for CP Huntington Train. Many heritage operators publish schedules seasonally or run on regular open hours instead of dated events.

Check the operator’s website for current hours and special runs, or subscribe to event alerts and we’ll email you when something is scheduled.

About CP Huntington Train

This boardwalk train ride puts families behind a replica of one of railroading's founding locomotives — the C. P. Huntington, the Southern Pacific's No. 1, whose look even inspired storybook versions of The Little Engine That Could. Chance Rides has produced more than 400 of these miniature trains, making them America's most popular park railroad, and this one rolls at the Kemah Boardwalk, a 60-acre amusement complex on Galveston Bay.

🌐 Visit Website

History

The ride takes its name from one of American railroading's founding machines. The original C. P. Huntington, a 4-2-4RT steam locomotive, was bought by the Central Pacific Railroad in 1863 as its No. 3 and went to work in April 1864 during construction of the western portion of the first transcontinental railroad. The Southern Pacific acquired it in 1871 and made it that railroad's No. 1 — its very first locomotive — honoring Collis P. Huntington of the founding Big Four; the engine survives on static display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, where it has sat since 1981. In 1961, amusement manufacturer Chance Rides began fabricating two-foot-gauge working replicas of the engine, and with more than 400 examples built as of 2024, the C. P. Huntington has become the most popular park train in America — the design running at parks, zoos, and boardwalks across the country, including this listing's home at the Kemah Boardwalk, which opened to the public in 1998.

The Trains

Chance Rides C. P. Huntington trains run on 2-foot narrow gauge track and are styled after the 1863 original. The tall drivers are decorative: the drive wheels are unpowered and simply roll along the rails while false side rods cycle in and out of dummy cylinders, with real propulsion supplied by the powered front and rear trucks. The locomotives have been offered with gasoline, diesel, propane, or electric drive — as of 2025 only the electric version remains in production — and operators can have locomotives and coaches customized; some owners even remove the false drive wheels to simplify maintenance.