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News Tomorrowland Speedway and Walt Disney World Railroad to be impacted by TRON construction at the Magic Kingdom
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
"Disney isn’t ready to holler “all aboard” for guests yet. But the park plans to start using a steam locomotive along select segments of the new track Wednesday, Disney confirmed. A return-to-service date for the public has not been announced."
Cast members have used the extended downtime for repairs, maintenance and refurbishment on the attraction, which debuted on the theme park’s opening day in 1971.
“We’re doing a lot of things that either haven’t been done since Walt Disney World opened, or just kind of really revolutionary things,” said Greg Kelsaris, a project planner with the facility asset management department at WDW.
That goes from the rail to the roof of the locomotives, which are more than 90 years old.
“It was the first time that we actually took everything apart for the railroad. And we’re able to say, ‘OK, we have everything down to the bare bones. What can we do to either improve the guest experience with the ride, or bring it back to where it was, kind of, in the ‘70s when it first started?’” Kelsaris said.
Among the updates: The wooden railroad ties are being replaced with composite ties.
“The wooden railroad ties had about a three- to five-year life span,” Kelsaris said. For composites, the life span is about 25 years, he said.
The path of the track has had minor changes, Kelsaris said.
“Here and there, it’s moved a few inches up and down, left and right,” he said.
“What we’re looking to test is basically the elevation of the track to make sure the grading is correct … and kind of do all the adjustments that we’ll need to do before we open to guests again,” Kelsaris said. The entire track is not ready for testing yet, he said."
www.orlandosentinel.com
Cast members have used the extended downtime for repairs, maintenance and refurbishment on the attraction, which debuted on the theme park’s opening day in 1971.
“We’re doing a lot of things that either haven’t been done since Walt Disney World opened, or just kind of really revolutionary things,” said Greg Kelsaris, a project planner with the facility asset management department at WDW.
That goes from the rail to the roof of the locomotives, which are more than 90 years old.
“It was the first time that we actually took everything apart for the railroad. And we’re able to say, ‘OK, we have everything down to the bare bones. What can we do to either improve the guest experience with the ride, or bring it back to where it was, kind of, in the ‘70s when it first started?’” Kelsaris said.
Among the updates: The wooden railroad ties are being replaced with composite ties.
“The wooden railroad ties had about a three- to five-year life span,” Kelsaris said. For composites, the life span is about 25 years, he said.
The path of the track has had minor changes, Kelsaris said.
“Here and there, it’s moved a few inches up and down, left and right,” he said.
“What we’re looking to test is basically the elevation of the track to make sure the grading is correct … and kind of do all the adjustments that we’ll need to do before we open to guests again,” Kelsaris said. The entire track is not ready for testing yet, he said."
Training runs: Walt Disney World Railroad begins testing stage at Magic Kingdom
The Walt Disney World Railroad has been silent for years. The railway that rings Magic Kingdom theme park has been closed since December 2018, thanks to construction on the Tron ride in Tomorrowlan…
www.orlandosentinel.com
ppete1975
Well-Known Member
that makes me think we might have a train in 6 months or less... hopefully nov 2022!!
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I’m not that confident but it should reopen by next Christmas.
Disone
Well-Known Member
Honest inquiry here. The tracks are not laid down yet. What will the testing look like. They're going to be running back and forth from Main Street to frontierland? Frontierland to Fantasyland and back? I realize there's probably no option here where the guests will be riding at but it would still be lovely to actually see a train pulling to Main Street Station, even if it is in reverse.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Yes, they will be checking the grade and trackbed and I suspect doing some training. My understanding is the signal system was replaced as well so they have to be sure it is working as designed.
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
I have heard a spring reopening. Take that with a massive grain of salt. They have lots of work to do finishing the track, restaffing, training, etc before reopening.
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
I think it's DISGUSTING it's taken this long to get the train running again. I realize a lot of people think the route isn't as great as DLR. But, it's OUR ROUTE. Besides CoP, it's the only real connection to Walt and his passion. MK is sad; it's missing it's live entertainment and the trains' whistle around the parks. It didn't have to be this way.
networkpro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Smoking was also one of Walts' passions, the one that killed him, and it's banned inside the parks. If you're being deliberately obtuse, there's the matter of a small attraction that's being constructed across the path of the rail line based on Tron which requires construction work to implement. There's also the matter of replacing all of the wooden crossties with composite ones so that they don't have to be replaced every 5 or so years.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Absolutely nothing prevented Disney from prioritizing the railroad and getting it open well before TRON. The Resort and Express monorails continued to operate while the entire Polynesian Station was replaced.
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
Not being obtuse. And, you know what I'm talking about. The WDWRR isn't about smoking. It's about about running a beloved attraction. It's been down for over 3 years now. It doesn't take that long to replace trestles; we don't even know whether they needed to replace them (composite ones have been available over 30 years now). The "tunnel" could have been installed as part of site preparation and any grade or trestle work done during that time. There's really no excuse for this.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
The would not have built the Tron track and canopy over an operating train. Even if they built the tunnel first the train would have been closed for most of the work.
networkpro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
They are crossties or sleepers, not trestles as the path passes the Tron site at grade. All wooden crossties have to be replaced. How long they last depend on the climate and if the path they are emplaced on is straight or curved. Curved sections place more stress on the crosstie than a straight section.
If you're going around the whole circuit replacing wood ties with composites, you'd absolutely be looking at the multiple trestles along the line, repairing or replacing them as necessary.
I don't know about making them out of composites, but I'm sure they'd consider it if the engineering is sound and the price point reasonable.
Before you jump in, I know others have installed composite trestles (https://www.pocketlist.com/railroad-bridge-recycled-plastic-installed-fort-eustis-virginia) but I don't get a warm fuzzy putting passenger traffic over a recycled plastic bridge...
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Those bridges were ordered by the army and the army transportation museum is at Ft. Eustis. Might call them museum pieces?
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
Not so sure about that. The monorail operated continuously while the Poly canopy was replaced. How is this work any different except for the duration?
Regarding composites... Even if you don't like them, the WDWRR carries much lower payload weights than regular commercial trains. I don't see them as an issue. Regardless, they could have been replaced during the initial grading.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
The monorail was closed early whenever they did overnight work on the roof beams. They never did major work above the operating monorail
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
Same could be said for Tron. The canopy work could have been done at night. It really didn't have to be this way.
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Now you are making some sense.