AUSTIN (KXAN) — A battle over a beloved Zilker Park mini train is going off the rails — and into a lawsuit.

On Friday Jan. 31, the City of Austin filed a lawsuit against the company that until recently operated the Zilker Zephyr train, which chugged through Zilker Park for 22 years.

BACKGROUND: Current operators of Zilker Zephyr say goodbye after 22 years

In the lawsuit, the City says that now that the Texas Special company is no longer operating the train, ownership of the track reverted to the City — which the City says was laid out in the original terms of the 1996 contract signed by both sides.

This became a problem, the suit claims, when on Jan. 31, Texas Special removed about 100 bolts from the tracks in Zilker Park before an Austin Police Department officer reportedly told them to stop.

The City of Austin says not only do the tracks belong to it, but any further possible pulling of tracks could damage Zilker Park.

“The ground has eroded under the tracks, and there could be potential additional erosion impact from pulling up the track,” the lawsuit reads.

The City is requesting a restraining order to prevent further track removal.

“We regret it’s come to this but when we learned the contractor was attempting to remove the track, which would limit our ability to bring in a new operator, we had no choice but to ask the courts to confirm the City’s ownership and protect the train infrastructure,” the city said in a statement to KXAN.

“The Zilker train is part of Austin history and our Parks and Recreation Department is working as quickly as possible to find a new vendor.”

KXAN also reached out to Texas Special for a statement on the lawsuit, but they have not responded yet.