For decades, the Pioneer Park train engine #2355 was a playground for Mesa's children, but a fence went up around it in the early 1990s as it slowly decayed. The Mesa City Council gave residents two months to come up with a solution, or watch the rusting hulk be disposed of. Mesa resident Rene'  Wood has headed up a fundraising committee to save the historic icon.

     The first goal is to restore the train and have it moved to the front of the park and set up as a historical landmark. This would cost approximately $400,000. The second option is to have the train moved to the RR Museum in Chandler. There, the Arizona Railway Museum would restore the engine and display it indefinitely. This would cost $30,000. In either case $15,000 is needed by May 29 to show the City Council that the people want to keep the 1912 locomotive either in Mesa or at a Chandler railroad museum.

Read About The Trains History Here