train?

[PineapplePrincessCA]

I haven't heard any mention of the train here. Please, please tell me DL still has the train that goes all the way around the park??

As a child, this was our ritual. We went on the train FIRST thing on every visit. I loved being about the ride around and soak in the park before diving into our first ride.

Assuming they still have it.... are there still dinosaurs at the end? My DS loves dinosaurs!

 

[nunzia]

YEP! We love to ride it as well, and it was the first ride we went on when we took our DGS with Aspergers..to get an overview of where he was and what was there was helpful. And yes..the smell is still nearly overwhelming in the tunnel with the Grand Canyon and Dinosaurs.
PS..I see we will be there at the same time!

 

[chrissiecutie]

Yes! I love the train!

Growing up, my family didn't go on the train often but that was mainly because I have a sister in a wheelchair and it can be a real pain in the butt to navigate a wheelchair and one older child (that's me) and a younger boy in a stroller. Oh...my poor parents, what were they thinking!

It's exactly the same as it's always been and is the train from my childhood- so going on 25+ years. It was one of my son's favorite rides on his 1st visit- go figure.

I love that your family goes on it first thing, that's an awesome idea and tradition! My family likes to go on it last thing. It's our last "ride" on our last day at DL- a goodbye to the park before we come again in a year or so.

 

[DanT]

ask one of the conductors in the train station about riding up front. You sit on a bench on the front of the "tender" right behind the engineer and fireman.
You can only get on and off at the Main Street Station. Only two of the 5 engines have the capacity to do this...
IIRC it is the Holliday and Ripley that have this accommodation.
there is only room for two adults or maybe one adult and two small children...
It is worth asking for...
Also ask if you can ride in the Lilly Belle parlor car. Many times if it is on track and there is a spare conductor, they will allow you to ride in this last enclosed rail car.

 

[spacemermaid]

The thought of Disneyland without the Railroad is a sad thought indeed.

Just sayin'.

 

[skiingfast]

The thought of Disneyland without the Railroad is a sad thought indeed.

Just sayin'.

As legend tells, Walt Said "and it will have train around it"

 

[S. S. Columbia]

I haven't heard any mention of the train here. Please, please tell me DL still has the train that goes all the way around the park??

If anyone's interested, Steve DeGaetano (at MC) wrote about the Fred Gurley (train #3) and the queen of the fleet, the Ernest S. Marsh (train #4).

Steve DeGaetano’s 5-part series on the Fred Gurley #3:
Part 1: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd102907a.htm
Part 2: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd120407a.htm
Part 3: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd031808a.htm
Part 4: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd032508a.htm
Part 5: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd090908a.htm

Steve DeGaetano’s 4-part series on the Ernest S. Marsh:
Part 1: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd032409a.htm
Part 2: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd033109a.htm
Part 3: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd043009a.htm
Part 4: http://miceage.micechat.com/stevedegaetano/sd051409a.htm

This photo of the Ernest S. Marsh is from Disney
This mid-'60s publicity view shows the white wall tires and starless drivers the engine wore originally.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Here are two short videos about the DL Railroad:
(From the OC Register. The third video should be coming soon)

Disneyland Railroad engineers fire up the
locomotives every morning
http://ocresort.freedomblogging.com...road-engineers-fire-up-the-locomotives/46233/

Running Disneyland's steam engines
http://ocresort.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/02/running-disneylands-steam-engines/46361/

 

[tikiroomclan]

We jsut got to ride in the Lilly Belle last week It was the experience of a lifetime!!!

 

[disfaninca]

We were just on it yesterday!! Our grandson loved the dinosaurs!!

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Here are three short videos about the DL Railroad from the OC Register (the first two were already posted in post #8):

Disneyland Railroad engineers fire up the
locomotives every morning
http://ocresort.freedomblogging.com...road-engineers-fire-up-the-locomotives/46233/

Running Disneyland's steam engines
http://ocresort.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/02/running-disneylands-steam-engines/46361/

Maintaining the Disneyland Railroad
http://ocresort.ocregister.com/2010/06/07/maintaining-the-disneyland-railroad/46699/

 

[CrazyDuck]

The train will never be replaced! The older it gets, the better it gets!

 

[DanT]

that is why one of the 5 engines is in my avatar....
the Fred Gurley

 

[davidsprincess]

I love the train! It was down during our whole visit last year and we were so disappointed about that. This year we will be making sure to ride it lots!

 

[DanT]

Yep, we were there last October and the trains were down for refurb...
Probably the first time I have ever been at DL and not been on the trains at least once.
It really added to the numbers of folks on the streets trying to get from land to land.
The trains really do transport lots of folks.

We usually ride it several times per visit, and always try to get a ride up on the tender...
only two of the trains have the ability to let you ride up front.

 

[spacemermaid]

Last time I was in the Park, I just rode the train around & around for about 2 hours; you could say I'm a fan of the train

I hope they never get rid of the dinosaurs/Grand Canyon diorama. I love the music, and the way it smells in the tunnel through it. And every time I see that brontosaurus, I picture Walt Disney standing next to it just like in the TV special that was made when it was new...

 

[CaseyK]

We are hoping my mom will ride the train with the kids while DH and I have lunch at Blue Bayou! DS loves trains right now- toot toots he calls them. My mom was hoping they could just ride it all the way around- how long does the whole trip take?
And to the post who mentioned this as their goodbye ride- FANTASTIC idea- I will be borrowing it. This way we can say goodbye to the whole park!

 

[mvf-m11c]

This is a must do for me every time I go DL or MK in WDW. I love the original two steam engines (C.K. Holliday and E.P. Ripley). It is always fun to ride in the tender of the Holliday or Ripley, but it is also fun to ride in the Lily Belle parlor car.

My mom was hoping they could just ride it all the way around- how long does the whole trip take?

I would say a round trip on the DLRR is around 20 min. The trains sometimes wait in the station longer than usual due to handicapped people loading, parades (the parades goes across the DLRR tracks in the backstage area) and the engines going back to the roundhouse or coming out during the park hours. They could add another engine on the main line if it is a very crowded day. I have seen the DLR use four trains on the main line.

 

[DanT]

On a normal day a round trip should be in the 20-25 minute time frame...once you get on you can keep riding as long as you like and get off or on at any station...sometimes we will get on at say New Orleans square and then go completely around and then get off at Tomorrowland or what ever....doesn't matter.
Only time it matters is if you are riding on the tender....if so, you can only get on and off at the Main Street Station and you can only go around one trip.

Ripley and Holliday are my favorite engines because you can ride on the tender of each.

Stopping near Toon town for parade traffic you sometimes wait for over 10 minutes.
We had that happen a few years ago when we were riding on the tender....had a great opportunity to talk to the engineer and fireman....great stories and some memorable pics.