Guide to Arizona's Miniature Railroads
Featuring
The Freestone Park Railroad
The Freestone Park Railroad in Gilbert, Arizona
Freestone Park located in Gilbert, Arizona encompasses more than 65 acres. The park is
home to softball fields, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, batting cages,
soccer fields, a skateboard park, and walking trails around 2 lakes that house several well
fed waterfoul. The best part of a trip to Freestone Park has always been the miniature train.
Over the years there have been three different operations in place.
The original miniature train concession was installed in 1992. It consisted of a 15" Crown
steam locomotive that pulled one open coach and two Sandley coaches. The half mile of track
circled the north lake and had a 75 foot trestle that crossed the water on the return to
the depot. The 1/2 mile ride lasted nearly 5 minutes and cost riders $1.00.
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By the summer of 1996 the concession was being run by highschool kids who were more interested
in playing loud music at the depot and performing skateboard tricks than they were in running
the train. The atmosphere scared away many families who would have taken the train ride. As
a result the concession became less profitable and the fare increased to $1.50. After the Crown engine
became too damaged to operate, a powered tender was purchased from J&R enterprises to push the crown
engine and pull the coaches.
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As the track work was not particularly good (the curves were more kinked than curved), derails
were frequent and detracted from the ride. The concession went out of business in 1998 after
small profits turned to losses and vandals damaged the powered tender. The Town of Gilbert
tried to purchase the concession, but unrealistic expectations by the owner resulted in the
removal of the tracks in 1998.
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The town of Gilbert wanted to have a miniature train back in Freestone park. They contacted J&R enterprises
who at the time ran a park train concession for the nearby city of Chandler, Arizona and a sign was soon posted
on the depot saying that the Freestone Railroad would re-open in October of 2000.
In the fall of 2000, Bill Capell became involved. He's the amusement ride entrepreneur who's
family owned the 60 acre "Legend City" amusement park in Tempe, Arizona in the 1960's through the mid 80's.
He currently owns the
Enchanted Island amusement concession in Encanto Park in nearby Phoenix, Arizona.
Bill had just recently become a resident of Gilbert and contacted the city after realizing it didn't look like
a railroad concession would be opening in October of 2000. A partnership was formed and a new grand opening date was
set for October of 2001. Sadly, October 2001 came and went without a train returning to Freestone Park. On March 30, 2002
the Town of Gilbert held "Kid's Spring Fair and Expo" at Freestone Park and a temporary train and a few amusement rides
were opened to visitors.
The concession wasn't completely finished and wasn't scheduled to have it's "grand opening" until
Fall of 2002, but it didn't stop hundreds of riders from enjoying the train. A few areas of track
were not ballasted yet, one of the 5 sidewalk crossings was waiting for concrete to be poured,
and the depot still had chickenwire sides awaiting the skins. The motive power on that first
day was a J&R diesel engine that pulled two open cars.
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The following week a blue J&R real steam engine from Desert Breeze Park was running at Freestone Park. The ~5 minute ride covered 3300 feet of 16" gauge track that circles two lakes and cost riders a $2.00 fare. A merry-go-round and a few other rides were installed near the depot for children to enjoy while they wait for the train to return.
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By January of 2003 J&R Enterprises abandoned their Desert Breeze concession in Chandler and pulled their
equipment from Freestone Park. Bill Capell took over sole ownership of the concession and began searching
for a new 16" train. On July 4th, 2003 an antique 1951 Allan Herschell carousel, mini Ferris wheel, Wave Runner ride and
snack bar were opened. On October 4th, 2003 a train returned to Freestone Park.
The entire concession is very family friendly. Each trip starts with the engineer calling out "All aboard for destination Freestone station". On my ride the engineer rang the bell, blew the whistle and returned waives much to the delight of every little kid we passed along the tracks in the park.
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For ticket prices, days and hours of operation visit the Freestone Park website.