The Santa Fe & Disneyland RR
By Chih-Wen Jason Hung & Stephen H. Foster
Many people knew The Disneyland has very interesting narrow gauge steams
(Not real steam, now) running everyday. The first Disneyland RR was established
with Santa Fe's help, so the Railroad name is called The
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad at the
very beginning. When Disneyland in California was under development in
1953, they were looking for a railroad to help them. However, Santa Fe
is the ONLY railroad company had response. Finally, with Santa Fe's help,
this Santa Fe & Disneyland RR began service on July 17, 1955. The fleets
on this railroad were built to 5/8 scale, and no ATS on the whole system.
In 1974, I visited Disneyland in CA first time when our family lived in
America for a short time. It is a very good memory when I saw them beside
the Small World, I have visited Tokyo Disneyland in early 1980s. At that
time, One Japanese model company were making the N-sclae Disneyland model
and sell there. It is a special set ; however, I didn't buy it.
Last year(1997), I visited California disney Land again. This time, I took
some photos, but can not find any Santa Fe's heritage. A little sad.
However, how about the other Disneyland Railroad? I have a RR fan friend,
Stephen H. Foster who is working on Disneyland RR in FL. He told us about
the Disney Land story there:
The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) was built in 1972 and opened on
October 1, 1972. The four steam locomotives came from the United
Railways of the Yucatan in Merida, Mexico. They are all Baldwins
(The 4-4-0 "American" built in 1916 (Roy O. Disney), the two 4-6-0 "ten
wheelers" built in 1925 (Walter E. Disney and Roger E. Broggie), and the
2-6-0 "Mogul" built in 1928 (Lilly Belle)) The locomotives were completely
renovated and converted from wood burning to oil firing at the Tampa, FL
shipyard. The 20 coaches (5 for each of the 4 trains) were also fabricated
in Tampa. The locomotives each weigh approximately 30 tons, and the
total train weighs 85 tons. Since October 1, 1972, at least two trains
have run 365 days a year, from 9 to 15 hours a day, for the past 25.5 years.
Talk about reliability!!
The newest trains at the Disney Animal Kingdom were built in 1997 by Severn-Lamb
Co. of Stratford-on-Avon, England. We have three locomotives and
two 5 coach trains which will run 365 days a year. The locomotives
weigh 24 tons each, and the total train weighs 60 tons. The trains
are marked as the fictious "Eastern Star Railway" of East Africa.
The coaches each weigh about 7 tons with 1000 lbs of baggage mounted on
the roof. The locomotives are replicas of 1926 Beyer-Peacock 2-4-2T
steam locomotives, but are really powered by a diesel-hydraulic system.
This past month, I transferred to the newest Disney Park, the DAK, and
am driving and instructing on a replica of a 1926 Beyer-Peacock 2-4-2T
"Columbia" built in Manchester, England (looks much like a Taiwanese model
BK 30). Although looking like steam locomotives, our three
replicas actually are diesel-hydraulically powered. A large diesel
engine drives a hydraulic pump which provides hydraulic pressure to a motor
on the rear driver axle. Externally mounted connecting rods then
in turn power the front driver axle. The locomotives were actually
built by the Severn-Lamb Co. of Stratford-on-Avon, England in 1997.
Our road is called the "Eastern Star Railway" and the run is called the
"Wildlife Express".
