Walt Disney World Railroad

[goonsquads57]

I have a question. I did a thread search, but found way more threads on this subject than I have the time for to open up and read and hopefully get the answer I'm looking for.

Can someone tell me how many steam engines there are on the Walt Disney World Railroad? One site says five (and names them), the official WDW site says four. I would tend to believe the official site, but wonder if there is one held "in reserve" in case of break-down, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

(19 days!!!!!)

 

[MrNonacho]

There are four:

1. Walter E. Disney
2. Lilly Belle
3. Roger E. Broggie
4. Roy O. Disney
   [/list=1]

 

[goonsquads57]

Thanks. The "other" site named those four, PLUS the "Ward Kimball". That's where the confusion comes in. Is there a spare?

 

[MrNonacho]

Nope, there's just the four. Disneyland's #5 is the Ward Kimball, but the other four are not the same as WDW's. From http://www.burnsland.com/sdra/dlrr.html:

No. 1 C.K. Holliday
No. 2 E.P. Ripley
No. 3 Fred Gurley
No. 4 Ernest S. Marsh
No. 5 Ward Kimball

 

[PixyDust]

And a little known fact...Tweetsie Railroad, a very small amusement park outside Boone, NC, works on the trains when they need repair. Tweetsie is one of the last locations that works on steam engines. They truck the parts needing repair on flatbeds.

 

[mrtoad]

Another cool tidbit. I think it was in "Since the World Began". It said the engines in WDW were found in the Yucatan in Mexico, I believe abandoned. They were pre-1900s engines.

 

[PuertoRekinSam]

As a huge WDW and railroad buff I might be able to help this topic.

Back when buying the trains, there were 5 trains found in Mexico

no 260 the lilly bell
251 the Roy O Disney
274 the Walter E Disney
274 (the twin of the 275) The Roger Broggie

and the fifth was the no 52, but when this train was being loaded, rusted bolts gave out breaking a cross beam destorying the idea of using this engine

 

[BwanaBob]

Originally posted by mrtoad
Another cool tidbit. I think it was in "Since the World Began". It said the engines in WDW were found in the Yucatan in Mexico, I believe abandoned. They were pre-1900s engines.

You can also find this info on the plaques underneath Main Street Station! Many tell the tales of how the trains were found and refurbished.

 

[goonsquads57]

Great info! Thanks, everyone.

18 days!!!!!!

 

[civileng68]

Wow

Originally posted by PixyDust
And a little known fact...Tweetsie Railroad, a very small amusement park outside Boone, NC, works on the trains when they need repair. Tweetsie is one of the last locations that works on steam engines. They truck the parts needing repair on flatbeds.

Wow, that's cool . Growing up in Charlotte, NC, we took many weekend trips up to the NC mountains to Tweetsie Railroad. I had no idea they directly helped Walt Disney World. It's such a small amusement park deep up in the mountains, in pretty rugged territory as well.

 

[PixyDust]

Re: Wow

Originally posted by civileng68
Wow, that's cool . Growing up in Charlotte, NC, we took many weekend trips up to the NC mountains to Tweetsie Railroad. I had no idea they directly helped Walt Disney World. It's such a small amusement park deep up in the mountains, in pretty rugged territory as well.

I know. We live just a few minutes from this park, and with small kids, we go several times a season. My husband always talks to the conductor when they are sitting still, waiting for the train to load. There are some neat pictures of their workshop here . They don't mention Disney, but I'm guessing its because they didn't have permission to. Disney wouldn't want people knowing they didn't fix their own trains, and also probably wouldn't want people to know their trains could be there for repair. Afraid of theft maybe??

 

[vonpluto]

Originally posted by goonsquads57
I have a question. I did a thread search, but found way more threads on this subject than I have the time for to open up and read and hopefully get the answer I'm looking for.

Can someone tell me how many steam engines there are on the Walt Disney World Railroad? One site says five (and names them), the official WDW site says four. I would tend to believe the official site, but wonder if there is one held "in reserve" in case of break-down, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

(19 days!!!!!)

The fifth engine would have been the Ward Kimball (a 2-4-4T Tank engine, water tank mounted on the Loco, no tender). It was purchased back around 1997. Before it entered WDW service it was traded for another Loco that went to Disneyland.

HTH,
Frank

 

[strobe]

Wow, pretty fascinating information! I was just at WDW last week, I wish I would have know about those plaques, it would have been neat to take a look at them.

 

[burnsland]

Originally posted by MrNonacho
Nope, there's just the four. Disneyland's #5 is the Ward Kimball, but the other four are not the same as WDW's. From http://www.burnsland.com/sdra/dlrr.html:

No. 1 C.K. Holliday
No. 2 E.P. Ripley
No. 3 Fred Gurley
No. 4 Ernest S. Marsh
No. 5 Ward Kimball

It should be noted that the Disneyland Railroad actually only has four engines running, the first four in the list. The engine that will become the Ward Kimball was acquired a few years ago (as Frank mentioned) in a trade for an engine originally meant to be the fifth WDWRR engine. Refurbishment was started but has not been completed. I would guess that budget cuts forced them to stop work. As far as I know, the fifth engine is still there at Disneyland, waiting on completion. Hopefully someday soon they will finish it. Before his death, Ward Kimball even created a special painting of Jiminy Cricket for the headlamp.

Originally posted by mrtoad
Another cool tidbit. I think it was in "Since the World Began". It said the engines in WDW were found in the Yucatan in Mexico, I believe abandoned. They were pre-1900s engines.

Actually, they were built between 1916 and 1928, making them early 1900s engines.