The Sad Monkey Railroad

The railroad ran inside a park the state began assembling in 1933, when Texas bought land in the upper canyon. Palo Duro Canyon State Park opened in 1934. Over the following decades it became, with the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, one of the two attractions the Handbook of Texas credits with enhancing Canyon's tourism, helped by the summer outdoor drama Texas staged in the canyon. A herd of longhorns, courtesy of the JA Ranch, roams the park.

What the plaque says

The Sad Monkey Railroad Located in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, the Sad Monkey Railroad served as a tourist attraction for the many travelers to the park for more than 40 years. In 1953, J.H. Buchanan, owner of the Ford dealership in Canyon, purchased a narrow-gauge passenger train from a drive-in theater in Illinois. Harold E. Grear and James M. Bailey installed the railroad on the floor of the canyon, operated under a contract with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Named for a rock formation on a cliff in the canyon, which is said to resemble a sad monkey, the railroad began operation in June 1953. Earl Burtz of Canyon purchased the railroad in 1964 and operated the attraction for more than 12 years until his son took over. Traveling along a two-mile route, the train took park guests on a 20-minute ride through the canyon. Conductors recited a narrative that educated and entertained, including history, geology, ecology and folklore. Although visitors and residents regarded the railroad as a local and state treasure, insurance costs and requirements ultimately resulted in the closure of the railroad in 1996. After its removal, the train and several passenger cars sat on the highway leading into the park, welcoming travelers. Community efforts to restore the railroad began and the engine, tender and one seven-row passenger car were installed at Neblett Park for display in 2017. For decades, the Sad Monkey Railroad served as one of the memorable and significant attractions for residents and travelers, contributing to the visitor experience at Palo Duro State Park. (2019)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum — 0.6 mi
  The Panhandle's great collection, some two million objects behind a 1933 Art Deco hall carved with cattle brands, closed to the public since March 2025 over fire-safety violations.
• Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge — 11 mi
  A 1938 Depression-era lake on Tierra Blanca Creek that has gone dry, now 7,664 acres of shortgrass, cottonwood canyon and a prairie dog town on the High Plains south of Umbarger.
• Palo Duro Canyon State Park — 13 mi
  The upper end of the canyon the state bought in 1933, where CCC crews built the road to the floor and the army burned the winter camps of the Comanche, Kiowa and Cheyenne in 1874.
• TEXAS Outdoor Musical — 14 mi
  A summer pageant of Panhandle settler life staged since 1966 in the Pioneer Amphitheater, built into a basin of Palo Duro Canyon below a 600-foot cliff.

More markers nearby

• Neblett Hospital and Clinic — steps away
• Clyde & Grace Warwick — steps away
• The Canyon News — steps away
• Smith Building (Palace Hotel) — steps away