WDWRR closing, Thoughts?

[Tinkwings]

Oh darn I purchased the tour for early February.....sure my railfan in the family will still want to do tour, and may see more engines up close and personal but DARN.....yes riding it and seeing it run....hearing it run is a wonderful thing. Sigh. Should give a discount for tour.....ha. One thing listed is getting to ride....just sayin'.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Thoughts? Mine are that I agree they are closing it down. That's it. If we want new stuff sometimes we have to make sacrifices and that is one of them. It's not like it is the first time.

 

[KaliSplash]

Assuming they get it rolling again once Tron work is finished, I'm not alarmed

 

[ThatDisneyGuy]

From what I have heard on a few YT videos, it *could* be back up and running before Dec 2019 if they get the awning part of the Tron building done.

 

[Disneyrailfan1996]

Apparently, someone sent me this picture from outside the magic Kingdom. It looks like Lilly Belle is no longer on display and was swapped out for Roger E. Broggie. No clue why. Not sure if or when Roy will get his turn. Or how often they will swap out the locos on display for that matter. Lilly’s coaches are still there and I guess are likely not going to be swapped. If Walter comes back before the railroad resumes operation (which I doubt), I don’t think he’ll be displayed (after being painted and reassembled as needed) and will just wait for the railroad to resume operation to begin testing.

 

[Disone]

Apparently, someone sent me this picture from outside the magic Kingdom. It looks like Lilly Belle is no longer on display and was swapped out for Roger E. Broggie. No clue why. Not sure if or when Roy will get his turn. Or how often they will swap out the locos on display for that matter. Lilly’s coaches are still there and I guess are likely not going to be swapped. If Walter comes back before the railroad resumes operation (which I doubt), I don’t think he’ll be displayed (after being painted and reassembled as needed) and will just wait for the railroad to resume operation to begin testing.

The swap was made back on the 17th. He will be there for a few months. Up close he is so much bigger then Lilly, more so than I thought.

 

[DisAl]

Thoughts? Mine are that I agree they are closing it down. That's it. If we want new stuff sometimes we have to make sacrifices and that is one of them. It's not like it is the first time.

I used to think your user name was probably appropriate, now I figure it is downright descriptive. If that is how you feel about the trains let's just go ahead and demolish the castle too. It has been there as long as the trains.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I used to think your user name was probably appropriate, now I figure it is downright descriptive. If that is how you feel about the trains let's just go ahead and demolish the castle too. It has been there as long as the trains.

I guess you gave me "what for". I was referring to closing it down for construction of new stuff, not permanent. To go with an old worn out phrase... "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet".

 

[DisAl]

I guess you gave me "what for". I was referring to closing it down for construction of new stuff, not permanent. To go with an old worn out phrase... "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet".

You may have heard the old saying "I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but what you don't realize is that what I said is not what I meant."
Apology offered....
I suspect the name still fits though since you chose it yourself.

 

[Disneyrailfan1996]

Well, I visited magic kingdom and got up close and personal with roger! I learned some interesting facts as well! Apparently, every now and then, the coaches will get paint touch ups every now and then. If someone wears a ring on their finer and they take out a small bit of paint, it’ll get touched up. There’s somebody that does that, and when the person is done, they will buff it down to ensure you can’t even tell WHERE the paint was touched up! And the lettering for “WDWRR” on the tender? There’s actually GOLD (yes REAL GOLD) in the paint!
And roger has the SAME black box that Lilly has on her engineer side, but it’s actually on the fireman’s side for roger and Roy. Although I thought what was on Lilly’s engineer side was for part of her computerization, it’s probably just for the MAPO system given how roger and Roy, again, have it on their fireman sides. No idea if walter will have his moved to the engineer side when he returns – that might depend on if he is fitted with electronic ignition and semi-computerization (the electronics box for such I imagine would be on the fireman’s side like Lilly).
Then here’s something interesting, looking at the covers over the ends of the axles on the coaches, I noticed that they said “Disney World Railroad” (note the absence of “Walt”). An odd (perhaps) detail to notice, but still interesting. I included a photo, but you’ll have to excuse the quality since it may be a little grainy or blurry (took a screenshot from one of my videos and cropped it).
I also spoke to an engineer/fireman CM about possibly running backwards from fantasyland to Frontierland (there’s no more track from Main Street). It sounds like that’s not going to happen since they are going to be replacing the entire track save for backstage which was redone in 2017. (The roundhouse area was at least, I’m not sure about the track between the fantasyland switch and the backstage crossing).
Nevertheless, please enjoy some of the photos I have!

 

[DisAl]

Roger at Main Street Station 3/10/2019


Obviously going nowhere until the track is replaced. One of the engineers said the track is supposed to be in some time in April then they will swap trains. As soon as Walter (?) gets back from refurb then Roger will be going in for a three year refurb. Also, I see they are using synthetic ties on the track rebuild.

 

[DisAl]

For those of you who are interested in such things here is a photo of the turbine and generator that powers the light and sound system on the train. The generator "box" is on the back of the tender. I got the engineer to open the box when I was there drooling over the locomotive while parked at Main Street Station. Also, they have an extension tied to the bell rope so you can ring the bell from the walkway. You can easily here the bell at the Contemporary!

 

[Walt Disney1955]

How long is it down? We may be in for a trip in October 2019. The railroad isn't a deal breaker, but we love it and it is a classic. We ride it every time.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

IMO I do hope they could bring back Earl Boen for the narration of the railroad...He gave it such a rustic voice that I like....


Not only did he record it for MK's Version but, also did one for Disneyland....

Wow, Earl Boen from the Terminator movies? Honestly, I have never seen him in anything else but I'd know that name anywhere. I never knew that was him.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Wow, Earl Boen from the Terminator movies? Honestly, I have never seen him in anything else but I'd know that name anywhere. I never knew that was him.

Earl has been doing voice acting for sometime...https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Earl-Boen/

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Well, I visited magic kingdom and got up close and personal with roger! I learned some interesting facts as well! Apparently, every now and then, the coaches will get paint touch ups every now and then. If someone wears a ring on their finer and they take out a small bit of paint, it’ll get touched up. There’s somebody that does that, and when the person is done, they will buff it down to ensure you can’t even tell WHERE the paint was touched up! And the lettering for “WDWRR” on the tender? There’s actually GOLD (yes REAL GOLD) in the paint!
And roger has the SAME black box that Lilly has on her engineer side, but it’s actually on the fireman’s side for roger and Roy. Although I thought what was on Lilly’s engineer side was for part of her computerization, it’s probably just for the MAPO system given how roger and Roy, again, have it on their fireman sides. No idea if walter will have his moved to the engineer side when he returns – that might depend on if he is fitted with electronic ignition and semi-computerization (the electronics box for such I imagine would be on the fireman’s side like Lilly).
Then here’s something interesting, looking at the covers over the ends of the axles on the coaches, I noticed that they said “Disney World Railroad” (note the absence of “Walt”). An odd (perhaps) detail to notice, but still interesting. I included a photo, but you’ll have to excuse the quality since it may be a little grainy or blurry (took a screenshot from one of my videos and cropped it).
I also spoke to an engineer/fireman CM about possibly running backwards from fantasyland to Frontierland (there’s no more track from Main Street). It sounds like that’s not going to happen since they are going to be replacing the entire track save for backstage which was redone in 2017. (The roundhouse area was at least, I’m not sure about the track between the fantasyland switch and the backstage crossing).
Nevertheless, please enjoy some of the photos I have!

They could run a shuttle once the trackwork is done

 

[elcheapo]

So since the WDWRR is closing after today (Dec. 2) for tron’s construction. I thought now might be a good time to express some feelings about it now and what’s to come.
First off, why not try to run it backwards like they did in the 90’s for the construction of the current Frontierland Station? I mean, sure it’s possible that there could be safety concerns due to the various crossings along the route, and the MAPO system may not work as intended when running backwards (the brakes could apply since the light could be red since it may detect the next block being occupied) among other things.
I also feel like the current narration needs an update: it mentions/references the following Tomorrowland attractions: Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Peoplemover, Stitch, Astro Orbiter, Speedway, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear. Two things: 1, stitch has been removed (although he has a meet and greet so that could justify the keeping it), and there’s 1 attraction missing: Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. I mean, that attraction is historic (it’s the only one at WDW Walt has been in), so it deserves to be mentioned! Also why not mention the Main Street Vehicles on the way up to Main Street? I mean sure, they don’t run that often, but wouldn’t mentioning them in the narration tie in the idea of being old fashioned? Finally, there’s one thing about the narration that I miss: the music! I mean, I feel very nostalgic when I randomly think of and hear the old narration in my head. Okay, so maybe the old one didn’t quite mention the idea of “pure steam power” in the beginning, but maybe a little bit of music wouldn’t hurt while still keeping “steam power” in there?
And the coaches: I’m sure this is normal, but the squealing breaks from the coaches is really loud sometimes (especially at Main Street). Would it hurt to figure out a way to reduce the squealing? Not that I mind the brakes, but I’m sure that it may annoy some people. So maybe work on the squealing unless of course there are certain factors that cause the squealing that can’t be controlled/fixed (e.g. nature).

walt was never in wdw carousel of progress. He died before it was built

 

[KDM31091]

It seems the Railroad is closed far more often than it is open, but I guess it is inevitable sometimes.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Well, they are old mechanical devices and WDW does like to keep them looking sharp, so yeah - downtime is to be expected.

Not to mention, with the work going on for Tron, it had to be shut down. So not the fault of WDWRR.

 

[DisAl]

Well, they are old mechanical devices and WDW does like to keep them looking sharp, so yeah - downtime is to be expected.

Not to mention, with the work going on for Tron, it had to be shut down. So not the fault of WDWRR.

Yeah, unlike Doc Brown's locomotive in "Back To the Future 3" (or whatever number it was....) the WDW locos don't fly.
Roger will be swapped out as soon as they get the track between Main Street and Frontier Land put back in, but the trains won't be running for passengers until they get the new replacement track in that was removed for the Tron construction.