Jungle Cruise

[Safari Steve]

Well, with the parks pretty much empty (for a little while, anyhow), it's rehab season again! Nile Nellie just came back from Central Shops with her new paint job and she looks like new...er old... whatever...
The stone steps between Adventureland proper and the Jungle Cruise dock are being repainted. They were primed and based on Tuesday, and should be done by now.
Ropes have been installed at the top of said steps to help with crowd flow during weather-related downtimes and after park closing (and during Nights of Joy).
As usual this time of year, we'll probably see some replantings, and more boats should be heading to recieve the same treatment the Nellie just got.


On an unrelated note, another one of the WDW RR engines is being refurbished. Not sure which one it is, because the name plates were covered. The Roy O. Disney was recently fixed up nicely, and I would guess that they're all scheduled to recieve such treatment.

 

[wdwguide]

If they keep going like that, the parks will be all shiny and look like new before long
Any word on a refurb of Buzz Lightyear? That seems to be the attraction that needs it the most right now.

 

[YoHo]

Those Engines are pushing 100 years of Service. Steve, Any word on the actual ages? I can look it up when I get home if not.

I'm trying to remember, but Either 3 or 4 celebrated its Hundreth a couple years ago over in Disneyland. (Either Ernst Marsh or the other one whose name has escaped me. Not C.K Holliday or E.P. Ripley.)

 

[Safari Steve]

If memory serves correctly, the engines of the WDW RR were built in 1904 and were used by a mining company in the Yucatan. They were salvaged in the late 60s from that region.

 

[Another Voice]

The steam boiler on one of the engines at Disneyland exploded a few months ago. There were no injuries reported and there has been a lot of rumors about the cause.

Seems like a little extra upkeep might not be a bad idea.

 

[hopemax]

Forget rumors, a CM didn't refill the water when they were supposed to.

edit...

Hmm...I was just checking some past DL messages, and the boiler explosion was this spring. But I know about the non-filling of the water from last summer, because I was at DL when it happened and my family is friends with one of the engineers. I can't find anything online about the incident I know about, so I'm left to wonder if Disneyland didn't adequately fix the initial problem, and an even bigger problem happened.

 

[YoHo]

All of those Boilers were made brand new CK Holliday and EP Ripley were built new from the ground up, so those boilers are now 47 years old. Ernest Marsh and Fred Gurley are really old engines, but the boilers were replaced with new ones in 58 and 57 respectivly. so 44 and 45 years old.


I did a quick Google search and could find nothing about a Boiler explosion with one of DIsneyland's engines.

 

[Safari Steve]

Spent a little time on Main St. this weekend...
Roy O Disney built around 1916
Roger E Broggie built around 1926
Lilly Belle and Walter E Disney built around '28/'29

All found by Broggie in '69 while scouting in Mexico. It was his idea to restore existing narrow gauge engines rather than build brand new (which is what was done for the DL RR).

(I'm pretty sure I butchered that name... sorry)

 

[YoHo]

Actually, Earnst S Marsh and Fred Gurley were the first engines Roger rebuilt, but they were all found in the U.S. by the time WDW was under construction, Yucatan was about the only place to find Narrow gauge steam.

Get yourself Walt Disney's Railroad Story. It covers everything up to Disneyland Paris.