“It’s the best job for anyone who wants to be around children,” Cameron said. “When I see kids smile and laugh, that makes my day.”

Cameron, of Minot, has had many experiences with zoo visitors as driver of the Roosevelt Park Zoo Express train that was purchased/sponsored by the Greater Minot Zoological Society.

He said one day he thought he was putting his money in his pocket but it slipped out and was laying on the ground.

“One of the little boys in the back said, ‘Conductor, conductor. You dropped some money on the ground.’ I said, ‘OK’ and I went and got it. I gave him one of my train whistles. He said, ‘Well, thank you.’ I said, ‘All good deeds get something like this.'”

Eloise Ogden/MDN Jim Cameron pulls up the Roosevelt Park Zoo Express train to start his day driving visitors through the zoo.

“We have fun and I ask the kids questions along the way. Along the way they get the question and we cheer for them. Whatever I can do to make kids happy,” he said.

Cameron has been a zoo train driver for five years. Until more recently, he was the only train driver. Now he’s trained three more people as drivers.

He drives the train for four hours from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and sometimes longer during a day. He said driving the train through the zoo requires paying close attention to the children and other zoo visitors.

Cameron said the train is a big attraction at the zoo and it’s a fun train.

“This is built for kids,” he said. But he said the train isn’t just for kids.

“We have a wheelchair ramp in the back,” he said. If someone in a wheelchair isn’t sure about taking the train or feels they might be a burden, Cameron said he tells them, ‘Why don’t you just ride and enjoy the ride.’ I’ll put them on the wheelchair ramp and all of a sudden they’re going, ‘Hey, this is fun,'” he said.

He said the train carries about 18-20 people and one wheelchair. He said the Shriners donated the cab on the back for a wheelchair.

Due to the construction for flood control at the zoo, the route for the train has changed this year.

“I used to go all the way around the zebras and that area but my route’s kind of short now,” he said.

Cameron never thought about becoming a train driver at the zoo.

“I’m a retired electrician. I don’t even know how it happened but somebody said they needed somebody to run the train. I’m retired, I’m just sitting around the house and thought it sounded like fun. I have grandkids in Texas, New Jersey and Ohio. I don’t get to see them. So what I do now is I live my life through all these kids. They get on the train and they’re fun – just being around them as a great grandpa. My youngest great-granddaughter is 21,” he said.

He said the train runs well.

“I’ve never had trouble with it. The only thing that doesn’t work is the smoke,” he said.

He said when the children get in, he’ll blow the horn.

“Some of them I’ll say, ‘Polar Express’ and they’ll go, ‘All aboard, Polar Express’ and they’ll just light up. They just have so much fun. It just makes my day. When the kids go home happy, it’s good,” he said.

Cameron said the train is a major attraction for the zoo.

“Believe it or not, when the kids come here, they want to ride the train. That’s one of their things. I just make it fun for them. I ask them questions. I ask all the kids. No parents now – just the kids. And when a kid comes up with the right answer, they just feel proud.”

Cameron encourages older people visiting the zoo to ride the train.

“If a grandma and grandpa are walking, I’ll go, ‘Take the train.’ They’ll say, ‘Oh, that’s a kid train’ and I’ll say, ‘It’s a grandma and grandpa train’ and they get on, and they just love it,” he said.

The train operates from spring to fall.

“It depends on the weather. If the weather changes fast, the train will be put away,” he said.

“I just enjoy this so much. This is not a job. To me, it’s not a job. When you go to work and you love your work, it’s not a job,” Cameron said. “I thrive on it. I miss little kids being around me. This fulfills me.”