Will MK Train return this year?

[leannak]

I was on the final loop the train ran before it shut down. All of the train cast members were riding. Talking with one of them, she said that there was a lot more work other than just TRON that was going to happen, and that the trains would be down for much longer than anyone expects. Apparently, there were some other track repairs that needed to be done, scenes that needed updating or repairs, and other maintenance items that they couldn't do while operating the trains. I didn't get specifics outside of what is listed above.

-Spot

I would vote for them making some more "scenes" for the WDW train to pass by while the train is having downtime. If I remember correctly, at Disneyland, the train goes through a dinosaur exhibit, etc. If they added some fun displays and whatnot that can only be seen from the train, they'd get more people riding it and could eat more people on the trains during the day.

 

[ford91exploder]

So riddle me this, oh pessimistic one.

Why are they continuing to rebuild the track sections at WDW if the trains are never coming back? Why did the Walter E Disney come back to FL when it would have been just as easy to send it to the west coast? And why, with all the issues with spending and closures, did they accelerate the rebuild at Strasburg of the Walter E Disney? Roger's rebuild is still in full swing.

The trains in FL are not going anywhere.

Clearly you have never worked for a major corporation where they do a complete renovation of a facility and then move out 6 weeks later.

Because one project team did not talk to another project team. The right hand has no clue what its fingers are doing much less the left hand.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Yes they are rebuilding the locomotives but the ones at DL are pretty clapped out and the track gauge is the same, So it would not surprise me to see the rebuilt locomotives make a trip to DL while the worn ones are sent east for static display/rebuild until Tron complete or never.

Well, the engines are the same gauge there is a big difference between the engines at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. In Disneyland engines, 1 and 2 were built by the Walt Disney company from plans that we sized up from when they built an engine for Walt"s back yard. Engine 3 and 4 were bought however they are smaller in size compared to the Walt Disney world railroad as is engine number 5. All five of them have had refurbishments over the years and are not clapped out.

The Four engines at Wlat Disney World are much larger than any of the Disneyland engines and have a wider turning radius and more power than the Disneyland ones do because they have to get up steeper grades than Disneyland ones do which is mostly flat. The Walt Disney world railroad slopes down from Frontierland and Fantasyland and then have to climb back up between Fantasyland and Main Street. They have also had many refurbishments over the years as well

 

[ford91exploder]

Well, the engines are the same gauge there is a big difference between the engines at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. In Disneyland engines, 1 and 2 were built by the Walt Disney company from plans that we sized up from when they built an engine for Walt"s back yard. Engine 3 and 4 were bought however they are smaller in size compared to the Walt Disney world railroad as is engine number 5. All five of them have had refurbishments over the years and are not clapped out.

The Four engines at Wlat Disney World are much larger than any of the Disneyland engines and have a wider turning radius and more power than the Disneyland ones do because they have to get up steeper grades than Disneyland ones do which is mostly flat. The Walt Disney world railroad slopes down from Frontierland and Fantasyland and then have to climb back up between Fantasyland and Main Street. They have also had many refurbishments over the years as well

My point is Disney now thinks like a mega-corporation who does not care about customer satisfaction (train running at WDW), So they are likely to move the chess pieces around on the board to minimize expense in the short term. If there are no safety issues or curve radius/clearance problems it would be a cheap upgrade to DL's trains. Please dont take this as a thing i WANT to happen as the trains are my favorite attraction at WDW or any Disney park.

Just be glad that Iger's 'green nightmare' never occurred, Instead of rebuilding the steamers he wanted to gut them and install electric motors and sound effects in them.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

My point is Disney now thinks like a mega-corporation who does not care about customer satisfaction (train running at WDW), So they are likely to move the chess pieces around on the board to minimize expense in the short term. If there are no safety issues or curve radius/clearance problems it would be a cheap upgrade to DL's trains. Please dont take this as a thing i WANT to happen as the trains are my favorite attraction at WDW or any Disney park.

Just be glad that Iger's 'green nightmare' never occurred, Instead of rebuilding the steamers he wanted to gut them and install electric motors and sound effects in them.

Where are you getting the idea that Disney has some sort of plan to upgrade the trains at Disneyland. The engines at Walt Disney world are larger than the ones at Disneyland and Disneyland does have a tighter turning radius form the Magic kingdom, I suggest that before you make any more posts about anything to do with either of the railroad that you read the book Walt Disney's Railroad story by Michel broggie.

 

[cranbiz]

Where are you getting the idea that Disney has some sort of plan to upgrade the trains at Disneyland. The engines at Walt Disney world are larger than the ones at Disneyland and Disneyland does have a tighter turning radius form the Magic kingdom, I suggest that before you make any more posts about anything to do with either of the railroad that you read the book Walt Disney's Railroad story by Michel broggie.

Trust me, he won't. He is just really jaded and never has anything good to say about the company. Granted, some of it is deserved but .............

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Trust me, he won't. He is just really jaded and never has anything good to say about the company. Granted, some of it is deserved but .............

Maybe but I just don't get where he was getting the idea that Disney would ship the trains across the country for some reason. They have places on both costs that they deal with for major work that they can't do in the shops at the parks.

As a fan of Disney world and Disneyland as well as trains and steam engines I thought I would let others know about the reasons behind some of the things between the two theme parks and their railroad operations.

 

[Pooh's World]

My point is Disney now thinks like a mega-corporation who does not care about customer satisfaction (train running at WDW), So they are likely to move the chess pieces around on the board to minimize expense in the short term. If there are no safety issues or curve radius/clearance problems it would be a cheap upgrade to DL's trains. Please dont take this as a thing i WANT to happen as the trains are my favorite attraction at WDW or any Disney park.

Just be glad that Iger's 'green nightmare' never occurred, Instead of rebuilding the steamers he wanted to gut them and install electric motors and sound effects in them.

Stop being cheap, Igor.

Get the train running, NOW!

 

[ford91exploder]

Where are you getting the idea that Disney has some sort of plan to upgrade the trains at Disneyland. The engines at Walt Disney world are larger than the ones at Disneyland and Disneyland does have a tighter turning radius form the Magic kingdom, I suggest that before you make any more posts about anything to do with either of the railroad that you read the book Walt Disney's Railroad story by Michel broggie.

Simple but I will also say it's speculation,

The locomotives at DL have not been to a steam locomotive overhaul facility in decades yes they have been lovingly maintained but I'm guessing here but I believe (please correct me if i'm wrong) since the 90's, Steamers are so complex they are almost alive and they have high pressure steam, huge rotating masses and huge reciprocating rods and miles of high pressure piping all of which needs to be periodically refreshed.

TRON ain't happening for who knows how long but long enough to require that the existing construction be sealed which is very expensive and is usually done for construction halts of 2 or more years if it were only for 6-18 months the standard Florida construction protection against rain and wind would be sufficient. Without a completed TRON there is not a complete loop for the train to operate over.

So If you are a corporate asset manager what would YOU do ? let the freshly overhauled locomotives rot in a storage yard (because the steel used in steam locomotives corrode rapidly when not at operating temperatures) or would you send them to your other site which is in need of some refreshed motive power.

As to shipping them to the other coast, It's just additional fuel and mileage for the truck(s) shipping them. And as to narrow gauge steam all the repair shops are on the east coast with the exception of D&RG Railway but they don't contract out repairs.

 

[KYMickey]

TRON ain't happening for who knows how long but long enough to require that the existing construction be sealed which is very expensive and is usually done for construction halts of 2 or more years if it were only for 6-18 months the standard Florida construction protection against rain and wind would be sufficient. Without a completed TRON there is not a complete loop for the train to operate over.

I don't believe we seen where they are sealing the TRON construction site, from what I've seen it appears they are just finishing the outside of the building which is part of the construction process. If the outside of the building is complete the railroad could run through it without the ride actually being operational.

Also, it had been brought up that the train could just do a partial loop and then back up which is another option that could be considered

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

The locomotives at DL have not been to a steam locomotive overhaul facility in decades yes they have been lovingly maintained but I'm guessing here but I believe (please correct me if i'm wrong) since the 90's, Steamers are so complex they are almost alive and they have high pressure steam, huge rotating masses and huge reciprocating rods and miles of high pressure piping all of which needs to be periodically refreshed.

I can't find anywhere that says when they wer last refurbished however engine number 2 is currently under refurbishment and number 1 is awating a refurbishment. The other 3 have had ones more recently as they are older than the engines number 1 and 2 as they were both built in 1955 by the Walt Disney company.

TRON ain't happening for who knows how long but long enough to require that the existing construction be sealed which is very expensive and is usually done for construction halts of 2 or more years if it were only for 6-18 months the standard Florida construction protection against rain and wind would be sufficient. Without a completed TRON there is not a complete loop for the train to operate over.

This is pure speculation based on what one blog said and ther has been no confirmation from Disney that they arere stopping construction on it. Sealing of the building was probbobly and most likely done so that things inside of it wouldn't be damaged due to hurricane season approaching and so they cna work inside once that happens.

As to shipping them to the other coast, It's just additional fuel and mileage for the truck(s) shipping them. And as to narrow gauge steam all the repair shops are on the east coast with the exception of D&RG Railway but they don't contract out repairs.

I'm not sure he Disney sends them on the west coast but they have sent them out of Disneyland for refurbishments as they don't have the shop facilities to do so also whatever railroad they send them to may not be allowed to say that the refurbish Dineyland locomotives. Even if they did ship them to the east coast it wouldn't be to display at Walt Disney World and they wouldn't send Walt Disney World engines out there because there are issues with the scale of them compared to Disneyland and because Disnyland usese smaller engies the turning radius of the track is a bit tighter then it is at Walt Disney World.
Engines 1 and 2 at Disneyland were bult at 5/8th scale of a regular engine of ther type wher as the Walt Disneyworld ones are full-scale narow gauge engines and weigh more than the Disneyland ones as well.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Also, it had been brought up that the train could just do a partial loop and then back up which is another option that could be considered

I think that depend on how far they have gotten with the track replacement work as they deced to take the time that the railroad was down to replace the track as they haven't done a full scale replacement for awhile and that may have only been a few sections of it here and there. Plus also depending on how far back they have cut back the tyrack between Fanatasyland sation and the switch to the roandhouse they may not be able to bring a train in or out right now.

 

[ford91exploder]

I can't find anywhere that says when they wer last refurbished however engine number 2 is currently under refurbishment and number 1 is awating a refurbishment. The other 3 have had ones more recently as they are older than the engines number 1 and 2 as they were both built in 1955 by the Walt Disney company.


This is pure speculation based on what one blog said and ther has been no confirmation from Disney that they arere stopping construction on it. Sealing of the building was probbobly and most likely done so that things inside of it wouldn't be damaged due to hurricane season approaching and so they cna work inside once that happens.



I'm not sure he Disney sends them on the west coast but they have sent them out of Disneyland for refurbishments as they don't have the shop facilities to do so also whatever railroad they send them to may not be allowed to say that the refurbish Dineyland locomotives. Even if they did ship them to the east coast it wouldn't be to display at Walt Disney World and they wouldn't send Walt Disney World engines out there because there are issues with the scale of them compared to Disneyland and because Disnyland usese smaller engies the turning radius of the track is a bit tighter then it is at Walt Disney World.
Engines 1 and 2 at Disneyland were bult at 5/8th scale of a regular engine of ther type wher as the Walt Disneyworld ones are full-scale narow gauge engines and weigh more than the Disneyland ones as well.

like i said pure speculation but when you figure that it take 2-3 years to full rebuild a steam locomotive. Assuming the WDW trains can operate at DL, Even during WW II it took the Pensy 4-6 months to overhaul a steamer and that was during peak steam technology and US Govt ensuring they had access to materials and all necessary machine tools and jigs.

And. If tron will be down for years it makes economic sense to send the refurbed WDW engines to DL and send DL’s engines to the overhaul shops. So when the WDW RR is ready to run again.

The WDW locos are shipped to WDW. If you wanted a real show you could put them on the Antonov 225 and they would be back in Orlando in 6 hours. And thrill avation and railroad fans at the same time.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

like i said pure speculation but when you figure that it take 2-3 years to full rebuild a steam locomotive. Assuming the WDW trains can operate at DL, Even during WW II it took the Pensy 4-6 months to overhaul a steamer and that was during peak steam technology and US Govt ensuring they had access to materials and all necessary machine tools and jigs.

And. If tron will be down for years it makes economic sense to send the refurbed WDW engines to DL and send DL’s engines to the overhaul shops. So when the WDW RR is ready to run again.

The WDW locos are shipped to WDW. If you wanted a real show you could put them on the Antonov 225 and they would be back in Orlando in 6 hours. And thrill avation and railroad fans at the same time.

None of what you say is happening or going to happen so give it up. Walt Disney world ships it's engines by truck with the name plates and anything that ties them to Walt Disney painted over. They have already as someone else said in the last couple of years sent one off to go through a referbishment and it doesn't take them two years to do it because it's not like when a smaller railroad that doesn't have a lot of time or money to do it.

Also they are not likely to ship any engines using the Antonov 225.

Right now they don't have any trains on the tracks either static displays or testing them because most likely there isn't enough track laid to do so.

 

[ford91exploder]

None of what you say is happening or going to happen so give it up. Walt Disney world ships it's engines by truck with the name plates and anything that ties them to Walt Disney painted over. They have already as someone else said in the last couple of years sent one off to go through a referbishment and it doesn't take them two years to do it because it's not like when a smaller railroad that doesn't have a lot of time or money to do it.

Also they are not likely to ship any engines using the Antonov 225.

Right now they don't have any trains on the tracks either static displays or testing them because most likely there isn't enough track laid to do so.

How long was Lilly at Strasburg 4 years I believe, If anything is worn beyond repair you just don't visit W.W. Grainger or McMaster Carr for a new one you fabricate one from scratch. Obviously I don't know you but I'm guessing you have never worked with large companies senior leadership and you have never spent any time in a machine shop. it takes TIME to fabricate parts, you just dont push a button that says 'PRINT'. And as a manager you dont allow expensive assets to sit unused.

As for the two years it took the Union Facific two years to refurbish #844 after the FRA 15 year boiler inspection (disney is not subject to FRA rules) which is a FEF-3 class Northern locomotive and they have a fully equipped steam overhaul facility and a vast store of spares from the days when steam ran in revenue service.

I expect there will be much wailing and rending of garments when october rolls around and the only thing referencing the opening will be inedible cupcakes with q $19.71 price tag on them. No TRON, No Train, No Fireworks, No Parade but Profits galore for Wall St

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

How long was Lilly at Strasburg 4 years I believe, If anything is worn beyond repair you just don't visit W.W. Grainger or McMaster Carr for a new one you fabricate one from scratch. Obviously I don't know you but I'm guessing you have never worked with large companies senior leadership and you have never spent any time in a machine shop. it takes TIME to fabricate parts, you just dont push a button that says 'PRINT'. And as a manager you dont allow expensive assets to sit unused.

As for the two years it took the Union Facific two years to refurbish #844 after the FRA 15 year boiler inspection (disney is not subject to FRA rules) which is a FEF-3 class Northern locomotive and they have a fully equipped steam overhaul facility and a vast store of spares from the days when steam ran in revenue service.

I expect there will be much wailing and rending of garments when october rolls around and the only thing referencing the opening will be inedible cupcakes with q $19.71 price tag on them. No TRON, No Train, No Fireworks, No Parade but Profits galore for Wall St

Even if it does take them four years to refurbish they aren't going to be shipping them around the country like you seem to be suggesting.

I also don't think it's likely that we will see the railroad running until the construction of Tron is done. Most likely sometime next year as I don't believe the carp that people are saying about them shutting down construction of it as the has been no confirmation from Disney about it either way.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

As for the two years it took the Union Facific two years to refurbish #844 after the FRA 15 year boiler inspection (disney is not subject to FRA rules) which is a FEF-3 class Northern locomotive and they have a fully equipped steam overhaul facility and a vast store of spares from the days when steam ran in revenue service.

Union Pacific does not have a stockpile of parts for steam engines lie around there steaman find out a lot from watching the youtube cahell and the refurbishment of the big boy 4014. Most of the parts on all of the steam engines have to be machined new or taken off of one of two spare parts engines they have. They have one that is a sister to the 844 and one that is a sister to 3985 both of which doin't have a lot of spare parts on anymore as most of them have been used for those two.

Also, the FRA rules regarding steam engines cover all seam engines operation in the US which is why many tourist railraids don't operate steam as often or will have more than one so that one down for its boiler inspection and any repair work they need to do to them. Many of them do not have the money that Disney does though to be able to schedule it as often can result in longer downtime for them. Also depending on how well maintained the engine is on a regular would depend on what and honeed to be relpalced, although most parts on steam enges were built to last and other than the boiler and stay bolts and wheels not very much acttly gets replaced. A few examples one of the ones at Disneyland engine number 3 was built in 1894 and it will be 127 years old in August of this year and may well have a number of the same parts that were used on it then.

 

[mamaofsix]

Bioreconstruct just posted a picture of new rails and ties delivered and sitting outside of Tron construction. I don't think they would have delivered the materials unless they were planning on doing something with them this year...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1388972747628421121

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Bioreconstruct just posted a picture of new rails and ties delivered and sitting outside of Tron construction. I don't think they would have delivered the materials unless they were planning on doing something with them this year...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1388972747628421121

Probably a good sign, also most likely for whatever section of track is between there and Tron as the sections of rail don't look very long

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Union Pacific does not have a stockpile of parts for steam engines lie around there steaman find out a lot from watching the youtube cahell and the refurbishment of the big boy 4014. Most of the parts on all of the steam engines have to be machined new or taken off of one of two spare parts engines they have. They have one that is a sister to the 844 and one that is a sister to 3985 both of which doin't have a lot of spare parts on anymore as most of them have been used for those two.

Also, the FRA rules regarding steam engines cover all seam engines operation in the US which is why many tourist railraids don't operate steam as often or will have more than one so that one down for its boiler inspection and any repair work they need to do to them. Many of them do not have the money that Disney does though to be able to schedule it as often can result in longer downtime for them. Also depending on how well maintained the engine is on a regular would depend on what and honeed to be relpalced, although most parts on steam enges were built to last and other than the boiler and stay bolts and wheels not very much acttly gets replaced. A few examples one of the ones at Disneyland engine number 3 was built in 1894 and it will be 127 years old in August of this year and may well have a number of the same parts that were used on it then.

from many trips to the Strasburg Rail Road would not be surprised if more than one engine from Disney has ben there