The train has pulled in at the Metro Richmond Zoo, and soon it'll be taking passengers behind the wire that separates the spectators from the animal specimens.

Starting sometime next week, a bright-red engine will pull two cars painted with animal themes inside a chain-link fence for a safarilike ride through a new 8-acre animal enclosure.

Inside the enclosure, visitors will see about 28 specimens of eight species: Grant's gazelle, Addra gazelle, gemsbok, waterbuck, kudu, eland, nyala and ostrich. Except for the ostrich, all are varieties of antelope.

The new attraction is part of a $250,000 expansion at the zoo this year, said owner and operator Jim Andelin.

Also new this year are a coconut-climb variation on a climbing wall and a walk-in aviary that will hold 400 colorful budgerigars. The coconut trees are already attracting climbers, while construction continues on the aviary. When it's finished, the aviary will offer seed-coated Popsicle sticks that people can buy to attract the birds to perch and feed.

"Our whole focus has been on trying to get people to have close interactions with the animals," Andelin said. "We have an area where you can feed the giraffes. You can get close to the animals, but the animals can get away if they want to."

The safari area is the most ambitious of the three projects. Zoo workers dug two ponds inside the enclosure, ideally to contain pygmy hippopotamuses in the future, Andelin said. Islands within the ponds will likely be homes for primates.

Animals for the new exhibit were brought in from such places as the Wild Animal Park at San Diego, the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla., and the Miami Metrozoo.

A loop road has been graded and covered with gravel for the train, which runs on a car engine geared down to 15 mph. Tours are 15 to 20 minutes long and will feature commentary from the engineer.

"Each one will be different," Andelin said, depending on what the animals are doing.

During a preview ride, the animals were still wary of the new contraption. They stayed ahead of it and kept an eye on it.

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or kcalos@timesdispatch.com.