Disneyland Railroad
| Disneyland Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Park | Disneyland Park |
| Land / area | Parkwide |
| Type | Narrow-gauge steam railroad |
| Opened | July 17, 1955 |
| Designer | WED Enterprises
|
| Status | Operating |
The Disneyland Railroad is a narrow-gauge steam railroad that circles Disneyland Park in the Disneyland Resort, California. It opened with the park on July 17, 1955, under the name Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, reflecting its sponsorship by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Trains run on a roughly 1.2-mile (1.9 km) loop of 3-foot (914 mm) gauge track, stopping at four stations, and passengers may remain aboard for the full circuit, which takes about twenty minutes.
The railroad was among the most personal of Disneyland's original attractions. Walt Disney was a lifelong rail enthusiast, and a working railway around the park's perimeter was part of his plan from the earliest designs.
History
Disney's interest in trains predated Disneyland by years. In the early 1950s he built the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, a rideable miniature line in the garden of his Holmby Hills home, centred on a one-eighth-scale live steam locomotive named the Lilly Belle after his wife Lillian. That miniature's design, itself modelled on the Central Pacific Railroad's locomotive No. 173, was scaled up to create the Disneyland line's first two engines.
The railroad was built by WED Enterprises under the supervision of Roger E. Broggie, head of the Walt Disney Studios machine shop. On opening day two separate services ran: a passenger train of yellow coaches from Main Street Station, and a freight-style train of cattle cars and gondolas from the Frontierland depot. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway sponsored the line until 1974, and the first four locomotives were named for past presidents of that company. When the sponsorship ended, the attraction took its present name.
The route grew with the park. The Grand Canyon Diorama was added between Tomorrowland and Main Street in 1958, and the Primeval World diorama, adapted from the Ford Magic Skyway at the 1964 New York World's Fair, followed in 1966. Stations were added and rebuilt as new lands opened, and in 2016 the railroad closed for more than a year while its northern alignment was rebuilt to accommodate the construction of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. It reopened in July 2017 with a revised route along the Rivers of America.
Locomotives
Five steam locomotives serve the line. The first two were built new by the Disney studio in 1954: No. 1, C. K. Holliday, and No. 2, E. P. Ripley, both 4-4-0 American-type engines modelled on the Lilly Belle. The remaining three are restored historic engines built by Baldwin Locomotive Works: No. 3, Fred Gurley (1894), the oldest locomotive in service at any Disney park; No. 4, Ernest S. Marsh (1925); and No. 5, Ward Kimball (1902), named for animator and fellow rail enthusiast Ward Kimball, which entered service in 2005. Since 2007 the fleet has burned biodiesel, much of it refined from recycled cooking oil collected in the resort.
Rolling stock includes open-sided excursion cars, enclosed coaches, and the Lilly Belle parlour car, a converted observation coach reserved for special guests.
Route and stations
Trains run clockwise around the park, calling at Main Street, U.S.A. Station, elevated above the park entrance; New Orleans Square Station; Mickey's Toontown Depot; and Tomorrowland Station. Between Tomorrowland and Main Street the train passes through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World dioramas, viewed from the right-hand side of the train. Between New Orleans Square and Toontown the line follows the Rivers of America, crossing trestles rebuilt during the Galaxy's Edge works.