The Busch Gardens Railway is a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

railroad attraction located within

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly known as Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a amusement park located in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Located approximately northwest of Virgini ...

amusement park in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...

. Opened in 1975, the railway is long, and has stations in the Heatherdowns, Festa Italia, and

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

sections of the park. It features three trains pulled by

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s manufactured by

Crown Metal Products Crown Metal Products was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock based in Wyano, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Ken Williams in 1946 and initially sold pot cleaners and then electric fence wires and other products. In 1959, the compan ...

Description

The railway consists of a loop of . Trains run in a clockwise direction, with a complete round trip taking approximately 20 minutes. There are two major bridges on the line, the Rhine River Trestle and the Loch Ness Trestle. The trains are inspected, serviced, and fueled at the Caribou Train Station in New France, which also contains two storage tracks to hold trains not currently in use. Caribou Station also has a water supply that the engine crews use to top off the locomotive's tenders every two laps of operation. The railway operates three locomotives, each with their own train consisting of open-sided passenger coaches with a livery matching the locomotive.

History

The railway opened in 1975, the same year as the park. It initially operated with two stations at Heatherdowns and New France. The line initially operated with two locomotives, ''Balmoral Castle'' and ''Der Hochbeinige''. In 1987, the park expanded, adding the Festa Italia area, and with it the

infill In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban mar ...

Festa Station, the third (and final) station on the line. In 1997, a third locomotive was acquired from a defunct amusement park, and given an Alpine theme to match the newly-opened

Alpengeist Alpengeist is an inverted roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Alpengeist has an Alpine mountain region theme and opened in 1997 as the tallest inverted coaster in ...

roller coaster. On August 16, 2018, the ''Balmoral Castle'' caught on fire. One employee received minor injuries. The locomotive was subsequently repaired and returned to service.

Locomotives

All three locomotives are propane-fueled steam engines.

References

External links

* {{Virginia railroads 1975 establishments in Virginia 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Heritage railroads in Virginia Narrow gauge railroads in Virginia Passenger rail transportation in Virginia Railroads of amusement parks in the United States Railway lines opened in 1975 Transportation in Williamsburg, Virginia

Description

History

Locomotives

See also

References

External links