Kitten rescued from locomotive smoke box at Fairmount Park in Riverside

A kitten that was trapped in a locomotive installation at Fairmount Park in Riverside was rescued and put up for adoption Thursday.

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services said its officers responded several times to the location and heard meowing from inside the old locomotive but could not access the smoke box, where the kitten had become trapped.

Expand

Ultimately, the officers removed the front door and placed two traps inside the smoke box.

On Wednesday, the kitten was discovered in one of the traps, according to John Welsh, an Animal Services spokesman.

“The ancient train was installed at Fairmount Park in the 1950s. Feral cats and kittens are known to frequent the area and the kitten, presumably climbed the exhaust stack before falling into the smoke box,” Welsh said.

Veterinary technicians at the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley examined the black kitten, who was nicknamed “Casey Jones” after the 19th-century locomotive engineer.

“He is very nervous and shy but we think he is young enough to become a sweet cat in the right loving home environment,” said Welsh.