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Walt Disney World Railroad |
The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) is a 1.5-mile long 3 ft 0 in (914 mm) gauge narrow gauge railroad circling the Magic Kingdom Park. Operated by Main Street Operations, the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) railroad circles the entire park with stations at Main Street, U.S.A., Frontierland, and Mickey's Toontown Fair, and is one of the busiest steam-powered railroads in the country, transporting over 1.5 million passengers each year.
It is easiest to identify each locomotive by its number and the name boards on the side of the cab. While cars may be switched to run behind different locomotives, each typically remains with the below sets of cars:
- Red - No 1. Walter E. Disney (cars 101-105)
This locomotive is named for the man behind the mouse, Walt Disney (1901-1966). Walt loved railroads and his parks have always displayed his love for trains.
- Green - No 2. Lilly Belle (cars 201-205)
The Lilly Belle is named after Walt Disney's wife Lillian Disney (born Lillian Marie Bounds) (1899-1997). "Lilly Belle" is also the name of the scaled-down steam locomotive Disney ran in his own backyard and the parlour car of the Disneyland Railroad.
- Yellow - No. 3 Roger E. Broggie (cars 301-305)
This locomotive is named after Roger E. Broggie (1908-1991), who led the effort of acquiring the locomotives for the Walt Disney World Railroad and helped build Disney's own Carolwood Pacific Railroad. Roger Broggie was also the original Disney Imagineer who worked on the EPCOT Project.
- Blue - No. 4 Roy O. Disney (cars 401-405)
The Number 4 locomotive is named after Walt Disney's older brother and business partner, Roy Oliver Disney(1893-1971). Roy saw to the completion of his brother's dream after Walt's death in 1966 and completed the construction of then named "Disney World." Roy renamed the resort in Walt's honor to "Walt Disney World" and died just shortly after the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971.
Operations
The railroad operates daily, taking its first passengers at 9 AM, year-round. For safety reasons it is closed during the fireworks show due to its proximity to the staging area (about 100 yards (91 m) or so behind Fantasyland), and also does not operate during special events such as Grad Nite, Night of Joy, and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.
A round trip on the WDWRR takes around 20 minutes.
Crew
Each locomotive is manned by three Disney "cast members," a Conductor, an engineer, and a fireman. The engineer is charged with operation of the locomotive and the fireman is responsible for maintaining the fire as well as water level in the boiler.
The Conductors are responsible for the operation and safety of each station and the trains. Duties as station attendants involve passenger counts, answering questions and assisting passengers. While on the train the conductor runs the spiel box and makes safety announcements. Trains cannot move without approval from the conductor. The conductors work in rotation.
There are three different rotations that conductors can be assigned to. Conductors are in each spot of the rotation for 20 minutes. The rotation is also assigned a train. The two main rotations are the Frontierland rotation and the Toontown/Main Street rotation. When there is a third train, only two conductors work that train. One rides for a lap while the other is on break. They switch every 20 minutes when the train arrives at Main Street. Unlike the other conductors, the third train crew opens and closes the third train.
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