Western River Railroad (Adventureland)
| Western River Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Park | Tokyo Disneyland |
| Land / area | Adventureland |
| Type | Heritage railway |
| Opened | April 15, 1983 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Height req. | 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge |
| Status | Operating |
Western River Railroad is a steam-powered heritage railway at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan. Unlike the railroads that circle most Disney castle parks, it does not loop the whole park. Its single station sits in Adventureland, above the Jungle Cruise dock, and its trains make a one-way circuit through Adventureland, Westernland and Critter Country before returning to where they started. The railroad opened with the park on April 15, 1983, and it remains one of Tokyo Disneyland's opening-day attractions.[1][2]
The Western River Railroad is one of two rail attractions at Tokyo Disney Resort. The other, the DisneySea Electric Railway at Tokyo DisneySea, is an elevated electric trolley, which makes the Western River Railroad the resort's only steam railway.[1]
History
The railroad's unusual shape is the result of Japanese law, not just design. When Tokyo Disneyland was planned, Japanese railway regulations treated any line with more than one stop as a conventional railway, subject to timetables and fare collection. Building the line with a single station avoided that classification, so guests could ride it as a park attraction, boarding and leaving at the same Adventureland station.[1][2] That rule was abolished on April 1, 1987, but by then the rest of the park had been built around the short route, and expanding the line into a full circuit was no longer practical.[1]
The line opened with three locomotives, built in 1982 by Kyosan Kogyo. A fourth locomotive joined the fleet in October 1991 to add capacity.[1][2]
Experience
The route is 5,283 feet (1,610 m) long, laid to a narrow gauge of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm).[1] Trains are hauled by four 2-4-0 steam locomotives, each named after a great river of the American West: Colorado, Missouri, Rio Grande and Mississippi.[1][2] Their numbers carry Disney dates: Colorado is No. 53, for 1953, Missouri is No. 28, for 1928, and Rio Grande is No. 25, for 1925.[1]
From the Adventureland station the train passes the Jungle Cruise, then runs alongside the Rivers of America through Westernland, passing Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Mark Twain Riverboat route, and on through Critter Country, past Splash Mountain.[1] Along the way guests pass a Native American encampment, the mining settlement of Stillwater Junction, and wildlife scenes set along the riverbank.
The circuit ends with a Disney railroad tradition borrowed from California: a Primeval World diorama, where dinosaurs move in a prehistoric landscape before the train emerges back into Adventureland.[1] Because the train only ever leaves and returns to the same station, it works less as transport around the park than as a scenic ride in its own right — a slow, elevated tour of Tokyo Disneyland's western half, and a moving vantage point over three lands at once.