Disneyland Railroad Breaks Down, Sends Us A Sign In Front Of Star Wars Land

[TP2000]

In what is widely believed to be a sign from the great beyond, the Ward Kimball locomotive snapped an axle this weekend and stranded a Disneyland Railroad passenger train on the trestle directly above the Star Wars Land entrance. Passengers were evacuated and forced to walk along the tracks to the Toontown Depot. The Disneyland Railroad remained closed for the rest of the day.



The passenger cars were uncoupled and towed back to the New Orleans Depot, but the Ward Kimball locomotive sat alone on the Star Wars trestle for the remainder of the day and refused to move, much like a very stubborn Basset Hound at bath time.

Quick History Lesson: Ward Kimball was a lifelong employee of Walt Disney, and was one of the famous Nine Old Men. Ward worked at Disney's animation studio from 1934 until the 1980's. Ward loved trains, and was one of the men who convinced Walt to take up the hobby of model railroading and in 1948 went with Walt to the 1948 Railroad Fair in Chicago and Henry Ford's Deerfield Village in Detroit, the trip that planted the seed in Walt's mind to create an amusement park of some sort. Ward passed away at age 88 back in 2002.

If there was anyone who might try and send us a sign from the great train depot in the sky, it is Ward Kimball.

 

[TROR]

The curse of the great orange spirits continues.

 

[brb1006]

Looks like the ghost of Walt Disney and Ward Kimball has been haunting and cursing Disneyland this Summer. Especially Ward Kimball who had a very unique sense of humor. I'm sure Ward must be having good laugh with Walt and Walt's Nine Old Men right about now.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

CURSE OF THE FALCON RAMP strikes again

 

[Kram Sacul]

You guys are reading way too much into it. The train wanted to go to Star Wars land.

 

[BrianLo]

I'm so sad I missed the beautiful ad that said something about THE LAUNCH OF GLAXAY'S Edge was sooo smooth.

It can never be re-created (or google ads will recreate it if I say Star Wars and Galaxy's Edge three times.

But instead it reloaded into this beauty.

@TP2000 No Longer Ahora... GET HERE, STAT!

 

[TP2000]

I'm so sad I missed the beautiful add that said something about THE LAUNCH OF GLAXAY'S Edge was sooo smooth.

It can never be re-created (or google ads will recreate it if I say Star Wars and Galaxy's Edge three times.

But instead it reloaded into this beauty.


View attachment 398130



@TP2000 No Longer Ahora... GET HERE, STAT!

They have given up on the Hispanic community, and are now targeting the Emergency Room Doctor community. STAT!

 

[BrianLo]

They have given up on the Hispanic community, and are now targeting the Emergency Room Doctor community. STAT!

........

Damn you google ads, stop targeting me!

 

[Rich T]

The poor thing isn't accustomed to turning left.

 

[josephinelcajon]

This is very shocking! Think about it! The train was already moving and crowds are light. What stress could brake a axle under normal conditions like this? These trains I hope are still under a separate contract! And they are maintained better than any attraction and inspected nightly! I do believe in spirits and thats one ed off ghost!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

 

[SirWillow]

Worked on the train at Silver Dollar City for 3 years. Unfortunately axles break sometimes. It's rare, but it does happen, especially on older engines and cars. And depending on the break, they probably had to come in with a special car to lift the engine and slowly tow it back to the roundhouse. Stinks when it happens

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

To the OP ,
Was the "widely believed sign from beyond" that the axle needed replacing ?

 

[Rich T]

To the OP ,
Was the "widely believed sign from beyond" that the axle needed replacing ?

Well, one could say this sort of thing should have been diagnosed and taken care of before it... y'know, happened in broad daylight with passengers aboard. There are multiple signs that something stinks at DL right now, and it's not just in Galaxy's Edge.

 

[Phroobar]

It's starting to be like the Pressler era where they run the rides until they break. Last time they did that guests died or where hurt badly.

 

[SirWillow]

Well, one could say this sort of thing should have been diagnosed and taken care of before it... y'know, happened in broad daylight with passengers aboard. There are multiple signs that something stinks at DL right now, and it's not just in Galaxy's Edge.

Except that depending on the cause of the break it may not have been something that would be easily detectable, even with a close inspection. If it is microfractures inside of the axle, for example, the only way to detect those is to pull the axles off of the engine and use specialized equipment- which is not something that's done on a regular basis but is part of a major overhaul of the engine.

as I said, it's something that is extremely rare, but does happen. And it's not something that can be readily or easily detected or prevented.

 

[Rich T]

Except that depending on the cause of the break it may not have been something that would be easily detectable, even with a close inspection. If it is microfractures inside of the axle, for example, the only way to detect those is to pull the axles off of the engine and use specialized equipment- which is not something that's done on a regular basis but is part of a major overhaul of the engine.

as I said, it's something that is extremely rare, but does happen. And it's not something that can be readily or easily detected or prevented.

Thank you; it's good to get the view of someone who's actually worked on a park railroad. I'm wondering if this has ever happened at a Disney park before.

 

[DrAlice]

It's starting to be like the Pressler era where they run the rides until they break. Last time they did that guests died or where hurt badly.

You don't have to look at the Pressler era. I'll remind you all of this:

Disneyland cooling tower was likely source of all 22 Legionnaires' cases, official testifies

A cooling tower at Disneyland was the likely source for all 22 cases in a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak last year near the theme park, an Orange County health official testified Tuesday.

www.latimes.com

I'm not sure what upsets me more: the fact that they caused the outbreak or their ridiculous denial of it.

Ok, sorry... back to the topic of faulty trains....

 

[Janir]

Worked on the train at Silver Dollar City for 3 years. Unfortunately axles break sometimes. It's rare, but it does happen, especially on older engines and cars. And depending on the break, they probably had to come in with a special car to lift the engine and slowly tow it back to the roundhouse. Stinks when it happens

Ever seen an older full coal car ( as in coal to a power plant) with a broken axle right at the hub? Not a pretty sight when the coal car is loaded and one axle breaks and the enighbor axle is so overloaded that it breaks as well and the cars are now jammed up and hard to disconnect just to get at the bad car.

 

[SirWillow]

Ever seen an older full coal car ( as in coal to a power plant) with a broken axle right at the hub? Not a pretty sight when the coal car is loaded and one axle breaks and the enighbor axle is so overloaded that it breaks as well and the cars are now jammed up and hard to disconnect just to get at the bad car.

Thankfully we didn't have coal cars at SDC, though I can imagine what a mess and headache that would have been. We did have an axle break on one of our passenger cars right as it was pulling into the station one time. Somehow actually held it's position, even though it was broken, so after unloading the decided the easiest way to try to deal with it was to slowly back it up the round house- and amazingly made it without the thing totally giving way.