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The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) is a 3-foot () narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction located within the
Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...
theme park of
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
in
Bay Lake, Florida Bay Lake is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29 at the 2020 census. It is named after a lake that lies east of the Magic Kingdom. All four of the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks, and one of Walt Disney W ...
, in the United States. Its route is in length and encircles most of the park, with
train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...
s in three different park areas. The rail line, constructed by WED Enterprises, operates with four historic steam locomotives originally built by
Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
. It takes about 20 minutes for each train to complete a round trip on the WDWRR's
main line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
loop. On a typical day, the railroad has two trains in operation; on busy days, it has three trains. The WDWRR's development was led by
Roger E. Broggie Roger Edward Broggie (October 2, 1908 – November 4, 1991) was an American mechanical engineer who worked with Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Company. He is considered the first Disney Imagineer. Early life Broggie was born in 1908, in Pittsf ...
, who also oversaw the construction of the Disneyland Railroad in
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
in
Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
. The attraction's locomotives were acquired from the
Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatán Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatán (UdeY) was a narrow gauge railroad that operated in the states of Yucatán and Campeche in Mexico from 1902 to 1975. History The Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatán (United Railways of Yucatan) was founded on Novem ...
, a narrow-gauge railroad system in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. After being shipped to the United States, they were altered to resemble locomotives built in the 1880s and restored to operating condition. Each locomotive was also given a set of passenger cars, which were built from scratch. The WDWRR opened to the public for the first time on October 1, 1971, the same day that the Magic Kingdom park opened. Since then, the WDWRR has become one of the world's most popular steam-powered railroads, with about 3.7 million passengers each year.


History


Discovery in Mexico

The development of the Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) from the late 1960s to its opening in 1971 was overseen by Roger E. Broggie, vice president and general manager of Mapo, Inc., WED Enterprises' research and manufacturing branch.. Broggie previously supervised the building of the Disneyland Railroad in Disneyland in Anaheim, California.. From his experience with the railroad at Disneyland, Broggie determined that it was better to use existing steam locomotives, rather than building them entirely from scratch like the Disneyland Railroad's first two locomotives. In 1968, he contacted rail historian Gerald M. Best who recently wrote ''Mexican Narrow Gauge'', a book containing information about locomotives that could be obtained from a railroad boneyard in
Mérida, Yucatán Mérida () is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the eponymous Municipality. It is located in the northwest corner of the Yucatán Peninsula, about 35 km (22 ...
, Mexico, owned by the Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatán... This was a narrow-gauge system, the same gauge as the Disneyland Railroad. In 1969, Broggie, along with fellow Disney employee and railroad-building expert Earl Vilmer, went to Mérida to investigate. They determined that four locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works could potentially be salvaged, along with a fifth locomotive built by
Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works The Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works was a railroad equipment manufacturing company founded by Andrew Carnegie and T.N. Miller in 1865. It was located in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh and since 1907 part of that city. It repa ...
, which was on display in front of the railroad company's headquarters. Broggie paid a total of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
32,750 for all five locomotives ($8,000 for each of the four locomotives in the boneyard plus an additional $750 for the fifth locomotive).. The locomotives, along with an assortment of brass fittings and other spare parts given away for free, were immediately shipped by rail back to the United States..


Restoration in Florida

The five locomotives and spare parts acquired by Roger Broggie were sent to the Tampa Ship Repair & Dry Dock Company in
Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, to receive the aesthetic and mechanical restorations necessary to run on the planned WDWRR. At the time, this was the closest facility to the Walt Disney World site in Bay Lake, Florida with the space and equipment needed to accommodate full-size railroad
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
. Here, Transportation Superintendent Earl Vilmer, who had accompanied Broggie on his trip to Mexico, along with Project Engineer Bob Harpur and the facility's Machinist Supervisor George Britton, were tasked with the project's completion... The general idea for the restoration was to make the locomotives appear as if they were built in the 1880s.. The original, dilapidated
boilers A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
of the four locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works were replaced with new, smaller boilers built by Dixon Boiler Works.. Their worn-out wood and steel cabs were replaced with new ones made of
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
, and they were given new tenders, which used the
trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
from the originals. Many of the smaller original parts on the locomotives such as the domes and brass bells on top of the boilers, the
frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
s, the
wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
s, and the side rods were successfully refurbished and retained. The locomotives' fireboxes were also modified to burn
diesel oil Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...
. Replicas of their
builder's plate A builder's plate is usually a metal plate that is attached to railway locomotives and rolling stock, bogies, construction equipment, trucks, automobiles, large household appliances, bridges, ships and more. It gives such information as the name of ...
s were also made to replace the originals. The restoration cost for the four Baldwin locomotives and their tenders was around $125,000 each. The Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works locomotive acquired along with them could not be restored. Built in 1902, this locomotive was the oldest of the five locomotives purchased and was determined to have too many problems to be rebuilt. Some of its parts were salvaged to help restore the four Baldwin locomotives, including its
smokestack A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...
, which was fitted to the WDWRR's No. 4 locomotive.. Afterwards, the remains of the Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works locomotive were stored out of use at WED Enterprises in
Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
before being sold to an unknown locomotive broker in the mid 1980s.


Opening to present day

The restoration of the WDWRR's four locomotives, as well as the construction of five new open-air Narragansett-style excursion cars for each of them (twenty in total), was completed in less than two years.. The first completed set of five passenger cars was delivered to the Magic Kingdom park during April 1971 and the first completed locomotive arrived on May 15, 1971, several months before the park's opening.. Like the steam trains running on the Disneyland Railroad during Disneyland's opening day on July 17, 1955, the steam trains for the WDWRR were the first attraction in the Magic Kingdom park to be finished, and they have been operating in the park ever since it opened on October 1, 1971.. D tickets were required to ride on the WDWRR until 1982 when they were discontinued in favor of the pay-one-price admission system, allowing visitors to experience all of the park's attractions, including the WDWRR. George Britton, who was instrumental in getting the WDWRR's locomotives refurbished, became the railroad's foreman from the time the railroad opened until his retirement on April 6, 2006. The WDWRR would eventually become one of the most popular steam-powered railroads in the world with about 3.7 million passengers each year. For the first few months after the WDWRR opened to the public, Main Street, U.S.A. Station at the Magic Kingdom park's entrance, modeled after the former Victorian-style
Saratoga Springs station Saratoga Springs station is a train station owned by the Capital District Transportation Authority and operated by Amtrak in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is situated along the Canadian Pacific Railway. Saratoga Springs is served by Amtrak's ' ...
in
Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
, was the only stop for passengers along its route, making only complete round trips possible.. On May 1, 1972, the first Frontierland Station opened near the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café in the Frontierland section on the park's western edge. It was one of the last changes made to the WDWRR prior to the retirement of Roger Broggie on October 1, 1973.. Frontierland Station was demolished in November 1990 to make way for the new
Splash Mountain Splash Mountain is a log flume at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Magic Kingdom, based on the animated sequences of the 1946 Disney film ''Song of the South''. Although there are variations in the story and features between the three locatio ...
attraction and was replaced by the current Frontierland Station, which opened in December 1991 just north of the original station site. During construction of the Splash Mountain attraction and the current Frontierland Station, the WDWRR was temporarily renamed ''Backtrack Express'' and operated a single train in a shuttle mode along the section of track between the Main Street, U.S.A. and Mickey's Starland sections. Between 1976 and 1977, the Auto-Train Corporation sponsored the WDWRR.. The WDWRR's third station, Mickey's Birthdayland Station, opened on June 18, 1988, in the Magic Kingdom park's brand-new Mickey's Birthdayland section adjacent to the Fantasyland section in the park's northeast corner, and the railroad was briefly renamed ''Mickey's Birthdayland Express'' to promote it. When the Mickey's Birthdayland section was renamed ''Mickey's Starland'' in 1990, ''Mickey's Toyland'' in late 1995, and Mickey's ''Toontown Fair'' in 1996, the signage for its WDWRR station changed both times, but the station's structure remained the same.. In mid 2004, the station was demolished and completely rebuilt with a much shorter canopy. On February 11, 2011, the Mickey's Toontown Fair section closed to make way for the new Storybook Circus area, part of a new expansion of the Fantasyland section.. The current Fantasyland Station, built on the site of the former Mickey's Toontown Fair Station, opened on March 12, 2012. In April 2012, the
water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
and maintenance buildings adjacent to Fantasyland Station were re-themed to match the station's new design. These were the last additions made to the WDWRR before the death of Bob Harpur in November 2012. On December 3, 2018, the WDWRR temporarily closed to accommodate construction of the Tron Lightcycle Run
roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...
attraction in the Tomorrowland section. On December 23, 2022, the WDWRR reopened with a new tunnel that goes underneath the elevated walkway of the Tron attraction. Additionally, many of the wooden railroad ties along the route were replaced with composite plastic ties for another 25 years of
track maintenance A railway track (British English and International Union of Railways, UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a Rail transport, railway or railroad consisting of ...
. The stations in the Main Street, U.S.A. and Frontierland sections were completely refurbished and repainted with new colors.


Ride experience

Beginning at Main Street, U.S.A. Station adjacent to the Magic Kingdom park's entrance, the trains of the WDWRR travel along its single track in a clockwise direction on its circular route, which spans around the park. It takes about 20 minutes for each train to complete a round trip on the WDWRR's main line and each of them arrives at each station every 4-10 minutes. On any given day, either two or three trains run, with two running on a typical day.. Each train is operated by an
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
and fireman in the locomotive, as well as a conductor at the rear of the train who supervises the passengers. The speed limit of the WDWRR is . As the train departs Main Street, U.S.A. Station, it crosses an access road in the Adventureland section, travels over a small bridge, enters a small tunnel, then crosses a second access road in the Frontierland section.. After entering a tunnel through the Splash Mountain log flume attraction, the train stops at Frontierland Station. While the train is awaiting to depart, a sound effect of a
telegraph operator A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Royal ...
using a
telegraph key A telegraph key is a specialized electrical switch used by a trained operator to transmit text messages in Morse code in a telegraphy system. Keys are used in all forms of electrical telegraph systems, including landline (also called wire) t ...
to enter
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
can be heard at the station, transmitting
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's 1955 Disneyland dedication speech.. Continuing down the line, the train passes the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad mine train roller coaster attraction and traverses a fully functional swing bridge, which crosses a canal connecting the Rivers of America to a
dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
area and the Seven Seas Lagoon.. This bridge was originally located in Wabasso, Florida, and was previously owned by the
Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a pr ...
.. The train then runs through an area where numerous static and
Audio-Animatronic Audio-Animatronics (also known as simply Animatronics, and sometimes shortened to AAs) is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequent ...
displays of Native Americans and wild animals can be seen. After that, the train goes under an
overpass An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...
, passes the spur line leading to the WDWRR's roundhouse where its trains are stored and maintained, and arrives at its next stop at Fantasyland Station.. In the final segment of the train's journey around the park, it goes through a tunnel underneath the elevated walkway of the Tron Lightcycle Run roller coaster attraction. Afterwards, the train passes the Space Mountain roller coaster attraction in the Tomorrowland section and travels over a small bridge before it arrives back at Main Street, U.S.A. Station.. This completes what the park refers to as ''The Grand Circle Tour''. File:WDWRR - Main Street, U.S.A. Station Entrance.jpg, alt=An old-fashioned railroad station building with a flagpole on its roof, Main Street, U.S.A. Station File:WDWRR - Frontierland Station Entrance.jpg, alt=An old-fashioned railroad station building with a chimney on its roof, Frontierland Station File:WDWRR - Fantasyland Station Entrance.jpg, alt=An old-fashioned railroad station building with a weather vane on its roof, Fantasyland Station The WDWRR closes each night during fireworks shows, given that its track runs close to the fireworks staging area. It also closes temporarily during heavy
thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s.. During
parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
events, the trains are halted due to
parade floats A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle like a truck or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Carnival in São Paulo, the Carnival of Viareggio, the M ...
crossing over the WDWRR tracks in the Frontierland section. Personal
strollers Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...
,
wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
s and electric conveyance vehicles were allowed on board the train, excluding rental Disney strollers. Since August 1999, a separately-priced tour of the WDWRR named ''Disney's The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour'' has been available once daily, and includes access to the railroad's otherwise-restricted roundhouse. At the end of the tour, the guests were originally given free
railroad spike A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties (North America) or sleepers (British Isles, Australasia, and Africa). The terms ''rail anchors'', ''tie plates'', ''chairs'' and ''track fasteners'' are used to refer to parts ...
s as
souvenir A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...
s, but due to the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in 2001, the spikes were dropped in favor of the
enamel pin A lapel pin, also known as an enamel pin, is a small pin worn on clothing, often on the lapel of a jacket, attached to a bag, or displayed on a piece of fabric. Lapel pins can be ornamental or can indicate the wearer's affiliation with an organiza ...
s.


Rolling stock

When working on the line, each WDWRR locomotive consumes of fuel and of water per hour, and each tender can hold of fuel and of water.. Each of the four locomotives takes on water at Fantasyland Station every three trips and pulls a set of five passenger cars with seating capacity for 75 passengers per car, for a total of 375 passengers per train. Occasionally, locomotives and their passenger car sets will be switched when either one is out of service.. The locomotives do not contain
brakes A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...
, but the passenger cars do. In the past, all four locomotives received overhauls at the Tweetsie Railroad in
Blowing Rock, North Carolina Blowing Rock is a town in Watauga and Caldwell counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 1,397 at the 2021 census. The Caldwell County portion of Blowing Rock is part of the Hickory–Lenoir– Morganton Metropolita ...
.. Overhauling services currently take place at the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.


Block signals

The WDWRR uses block signals to notify the engineers, firemen, and conductors on each train whether the track segments along the railroad's of main-line track are clear or occupied by other trains. They are also used to notify WDWRR personnel when Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's transfer track is swung over the WDWRR's track to transfer trains on and off the roller coaster. The WDWRR's track is divided into seven such segments, or blocks, and each block has a track-side block signal to communicate its status.. Block signals are located at each of the three stations, alongside the three main-line blocks between the stations, and alongside the spur line connecting the WDWRR's roundhouse to the main line.


See also

*
Hogwarts Express (Universal Orlando Resort) The Hogwarts Express is an broad gauge cable railway, people mover, and attraction within the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, United States. The route runs between Hogsmeade station in the Islands of Adventure theme park and Ki ...
* Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts *
Serengeti Express The Serengeti Express, formerly known as the Trans Veldt Railway, is a narrow gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction located within the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay amusement park in Tampa, Florida. Opened on July 3, 1971, the railw ...
* Sugar Express * TECO Line Streetcar


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * *


External links

* * {{Florida railroads 1971 establishments in Florida 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Fantasyland Frontierland Heritage railroads in Florida Magic Kingdom Main Street, U.S.A. Narrow gauge railroads in Florida Passenger rail transportation in Florida Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Railroads of amusement parks in the United States Railway lines opened in 1971 Transportation in Orange County, Florida Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Walt Disney World transit