SANFORD, Fla. — For any kiddo, the sounds of a choo-choo train can be super exciting. It’s even better if they get to hop aboard.

For the first time in a few years, the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford has an operating mini-train, and the man at the wheel says he couldn’t be more excited about the gig.

1. Justin Dempsey is the train engineer at the Central Florida Zoo. Before this job, he was a plumber for 15 years, but admits that he was “miserable.”

2. The money was good, but Justin said he needed a life pivot. He applied for a job at the zoo and got it. “Never in a million years did I think this is what I’d be doing for a living,” he said. 

3. Dempsey drives the zoo’s brand new train, called The Champion. It’s modeled after an Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Streamliner. (The old train was damaged when Hurricane Ian whipped on through.)

4. “It’s one thing to be able to make people smile and make people happy,” he said, of taking kids and parents around the tracks. “It’s another to be able to do it in the community I grew up in.”

5. The train ride costs $5. It’s about six minutes long and departs about every 30 minutes. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” he said. “It really is.”