Walt Disney World Railroad refurbishment - September 28-November 8

[LAKid53]

Why is it that many of these threads end up with a Disney bashing and Uni loving? The train at WDW is a completely different concept from Hogwarts. Supposed to harken back to Walt. If the tracks are at the point of needed repair and can also provide updates to some of the systems at the same time, why the comparison with Hogwarts? I'm bummed the train will be out of commission for our visit in October. My granddad worked on the railroads, so the love of trains is kinda in my blood. Update/repair what is needed, but don't change the basics. I love that train.....

 

[lazyboy97o]

Does the resort line require tickets? When DH and I were at WDW in June, we took a lap around the resort monorail line and got off at each resort just to see everything and were never once asked to scan our magic bands or produce any kind of ticket.

ETA: or was the resort line a reference to DL? Sorry if that sounds dumb... just wanted clarification.

The Disney Resort Line is the monorail line at the Tokyo Disney Resort. The Disneyland Monorail requires park admission but goes between Downtown Disney and Tomorrowland, never letting guests enter Disney's California Adventure.

 

[cw1982]

The Disney Resort Line is the monorail line at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Gotcha. Thanks!

 

[Bluewaves]

5 Weeks seems like a decent amount of time to replace ties and rails, especially if they are bringing in an outside contractor, I have a friend that works for Norfolk Southern and they can replace rail like its no one's business fast

 

[ABQ]

I appreciate the trains, I appreciate the rails, but what I can't seem to grasp is how, in a controlled environment on a relatively short circuit that it runs, how they can't maintain this track more as an ongoing process rather than these seemingly annual long term shut downs.
My experience on rails like these is very, very limited, however having just ridden the same 3 foot narrow gauge sized line from Durango to Silverton, CO, which runs every day, a few runs per day in each direction, a far longer journey then the MK loop, all year long, dealing with snow, mud, etc... on coal and steam, how is it that in FL they can't seem to get it to run as reliably and, I assume, with more budget to deal with?
Or maybe I'm completely mistaken and the train doesn't go down for maintenance as often as it appears?

 

[seascape]

I appreciate the trains, I appreciate the rails, but what I can't seem to grasp is how, in a controlled environment on a relatively short circuit that it runs, how they can't maintain this track more as an ongoing process rather than these seemingly annual long term shut downs.
My experience on rails like these is very, very limited, however having just ridden the same 3 foot narrow gauge sized line from Durango to Silverton, CO, which runs every day, a few runs per day in each direction, a far longer journey then the MK loop, all year long, dealing with snow, mud, etc... on coal and steam, how is it that in FL they can't seem to get it to run as reliably and, I assume, with more budget to deal with?
Or maybe I'm completely mistaken and the train doesn't go down for maintenance as often as it appears?

The train will now be down now for weeks two years in a row. However I take the train everyday. We have concrete ties and they last for years but when they need to be replace the train service stinks for month and months as the replace them. I am not making an excuse here but if you think of an accident in a theme park then I can understand why they have to be perfect and not have a derailment or other problem. I'm lucky because I'm going to be there 9/20 to 9/28 and will be able to enjoy it and I won't be back until 11/29 for my Christmas trip. I do think Disney has to do a better job though with all the rehabs because they have lots of old rides and attractions that need work. And no I'm not bashing Disney but just stating a well known fact.

 

[Clamman73]

I appreciate the trains, I appreciate the rails, but what I can't seem to grasp is how, in a controlled environment on a relatively short circuit that it runs, how they can't maintain this track more as an ongoing process rather than these seemingly annual long term shut downs.
My experience on rails like these is very, very limited, however having just ridden the same 3 foot narrow gauge sized line from Durango to Silverton, CO, which runs every day, a few runs per day in each direction, a far longer journey then the MK loop, all year long, dealing with snow, mud, etc... on coal and steam, how is it that in FL they can't seem to get it to run as reliably and, I assume, with more budget to deal with?
Or maybe I'm completely mistaken and the train doesn't go down for maintenance as often as it appears?

But since this year's refurb and last year's, I can't find big refurbishments that have occurred on the railroad in recent years. If someone knows???

 

[Bluewaves]

I appreciate the trains, I appreciate the rails, but what I can't seem to grasp is how, in a controlled environment on a relatively short circuit that it runs, how they can't maintain this track more as an ongoing process rather than these seemingly annual long term shut downs.
My experience on rails like these is very, very limited, however having just ridden the same 3 foot narrow gauge sized line from Durango to Silverton, CO, which runs every day, a few runs per day in each direction, a far longer journey then the MK loop, all year long, dealing with snow, mud, etc... on coal and steam, how is it that in FL they can't seem to get it to run as reliably and, I assume, with more budget to deal with?
Or maybe I'm completely mistaken and the train doesn't go down for maintenance as often as it appears?

The big issue is that instead of doing many tiny refurbs as they should, they let things get to the point where there needs to be a major rehab, now in this case, they may not have the proper equipment on site to handle the rail and ties, which is large heavy duty equipment that they feel it makes no sense to own which is probably the right choice, financially it probably makes sense to wait until it gets to a point where you can bring in an outside contractor and have them do a large scale repair instead of bringing them on site to do many small repairs

 

[Victor Kelly]

Wood ties rot in high humidity no matter what you treat them with. The best option is concrete ties made to simulate wood. But replacing them all at once would be a huge undertaking probably requiring at least 6 months of downtime possibly more, then a testing period. I am supposing here. As I love trains, I do model railroads and setting track can be a long cumbersome part of the overall project. Lastly anything to do with trains and their railroads and their restoration can turn into a long project costing millions of dollars.

I feel they are replacing things in segments to offset time and expenses. A section here and there over a few years gets the project done without having 6 months or more of downtime. Realistically it makes good business sense.

 

[dstrawn9889]

another thing to consider, how prevalent IS narrow gauge rail servicing platforms? US std is 1435 mm, WDW is 914 mm...

 

[Victor Kelly]

Correct me if I'm wrong... But I don't see where this became a Disney bashing Uni loving thread.

You are not wrong my dear, this tend to happen a lot. Perhaps more moderation is in order to keep thread on track. Any mods listening??

Back on track:
Narrow gauge is an old standard in the US. It is not until we went to larger and larger and faster trains that the new standard came to be. Kinda the same thing we are experiencing with our highways today.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You are not wrong my dear, this tend to happen a lot. Perhaps more moderation is in order to keep thread on track. Any mods listening??

Back on track:
Narrow gauge is an old standard in the US. It is not until we went to larger and larger and faster trains that the new standard came to be. Kinda the same thing we are experiencing with our highways today.

Standard gauge was standard in most of the north and west by the end of the 1850s. The Confederacy was better aware of the capabilities of rail and started to push standard gauge in order to better their rail assets. Many important lines were re-gauged by Union troops so that they could use Union equipment and be worthless to their original owners.

 

[dstrawn9889]

so... not many semi-automatic sleeper replacement machines or re-ballasters available that run on this gauge then? it all has to be done the hard way

 

[wogwog]

so... not many semi-automatic sleeper replacement machines or re-ballasters available that run on this gauge then? it all has to be done the hard way

I just had an instant flashback to track work in a scene in "Blazing Saddles".

 

[noodles]

How does this affect the "Good Morning" show before rope drop?

 

[Bluewaves]

so... not many semi-automatic sleeper replacement machines or re-ballasters available that run on this gauge then? it all has to be done the hard way

Sounds like it, sounds like a lot of sledgehammers and hauling stuff around the old fashioned way

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

You are not wrong my dear, this tend to happen a lot. Perhaps more moderation is in order to keep thread on track. Any mods listening??

Back on track:
Narrow gauge is an old standard in the US. It is not until we went to larger and larger and faster trains that the new standard came to be. Kinda the same thing we are experiencing with our highways today.

I guess the mods are listening because my comment got deleted. Lol oh well...
But any who how is it you are so knowledgeable about trains?
I need to up my knowledge of trains

 

[ScoutN]

Am I missing something? OP message states unforeseen TRACK maintenance but many posters seem to be suggesting that the real problem is the engines. Does this mean the track is okay? Does this mean the railroad could operate on the existing tracks if operable engines were available to pull the passenger cars around?

If something suddenly arose with the track would it not make sense to close now instead of nearly three months from now?

The track could have a hairline fracture that is in no immediate danger but needs to be worked on sooner than later. Something to bare in mind is that these engines are actual engines used for work when they were built new nearly a century ago. They have some weight to them and are running lap after lap on these rails which wears it away and mushrooms it something nasty.

On that note if the mushroom becomes bad enough the flanges could rub on the ties creating larger issues or make the space between rails (shroom edge to shroom edge) too narrow that could damage the flanges. Which applying a new ring to the wheel is a simple common practice the repair of flanges is a bit more involved and something to be avoided.

 

[Clamman73]

How does this affect the "Good Morning" show before rope drop?

I was at one opening last year without the train. Basically the same but certainly less emotional without the train. Will be at one of the park openings the first week it's shut down this fall.

 

[MaryJaneP]

The track could have a hairline fracture that is in no immediate danger but needs to be worked on sooner than later. Something to bare in mind is that these engines are actual engines used for work when they were built new nearly a century ago. They have some weight to them and are running lap after lap on these rails which wears it away and mushrooms it something nasty.

On that note if the mushroom becomes bad enough the flanges could rub on the ties creating larger issues or make the space between rails (shroom edge to shroom edge) too narrow that could damage the flanges. Which applying a new ring to the wheel is a simple common practice the repair of flanges is a bit more involved and something to be avoided.

Thanks for info. If mushrooming is the problem, besides track replacement, wouldn't overnight grinding restore the width needed on mushroomed track?