The Walt Disney World Railroad

The following is taken from the plaquards at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom's Railroad Station:

Lilly Belle

     The Lilly Belle is a Mogul 2-6-0, which means it has two wheels at the
front of the engine, six in the middle and none at the rear.  It was built by
the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1928 and operated
on the United Railways of Yucatan, Mexico as engine number 260.  Imagineer Roger
Broggie found the Baldwin bunker C oil burner in a railway equipment boneyard in
Merida, Mexico in 1969.  He shipped the narrow gauge steam engine to Florida
where it was converted to the exacting standards required for a Disney theme
park attraction.  When the work was finished the engine had a new look, a new
name and a new number:  Lilly Belle Number 2.

     Lillian Bounds Disney was married to Walter E. Disney for 41 years.  They
met in 1923 when she applied for a $15 a week job, inking and painting animation
cels for the Disney brothers cartoon studio.  Two years later they became
husband and wife on a July day in 1925.  In the late 40's, with the studio doing
well enough to afford a new home for his growing family, Walt decided to go into
the railroad business.  Unfortunately, the tracks for this miniature rail line
would need to run through Lillian's newly planted flower beds.  Luckily for
Walt, and train enthusiasts everywhere she granted him right-of-way and the
Carolwood Pacific Railroad, the inspiration for the Disneyland Railroad and the
Walt Disney World Railroad, was born.

     Steam locomotives need a constant supply of water to turn into steam, thus
a water pumping system is needed.  Back in the early days of railroading, an
ingenious system was developed to deliver water to the boiler.  By connecting a
pump to the crosshead, and taking advantage of the movement already taking
place, water was pumped from the tender tank into the boiler.  Over the years
this system fell out of favor and newer, more modern systems were employed.
Some ancient narrow gauge steam locomotives still employed this pump into modern
times as they tend to be more basic in design and function.  The Magic Kingdom
steam locomotives retain this wonderful mechanical contraption as a tribute to
the classical iron horse and the ingenuity of it's designers.

Walter E. Disney

     Old Number 1, The Walter E. Disney, is known as a ten-wheeler.  It has four
wheels at the front of the engine, six in the middle and none at the rear
(4-6-0).  Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
in 1925, the locomotive that later became the Walter E. Disney worked as number
274 on the United Railways of Yucatan, Mexico.  Years later, Imagineer Roger
Broggie went searching for existing narrow gauge steam engines that could be
converted to the exacting standards required for a Disney theme park attraction.
 In 1969 he found what he was looking for in a railway equipment boneyard in
Merida, Mexico.  He shipped the engine to Florida where it was reworked,
refurbished, and rechristened with a new name and number:  Walter E. Disney
Number 1.

     Walt Disney was a dreamer.  As a boy, he traveled the rails of the Missouri
Pacific Railroad selling newspapers and candy to the passengers.  His older
brother Roy and his Uncle Mike Martin obtained employment with the Santa Fe
Railroad and Walt dreamed of becoming an engineer.  His future took a different
path, but his love of railroading never diminished.  In the late 40's, with
Walt Disney Productions a very successful venture, he focused on building his
own railroad, the Carolwood Pacific, a 1/8 scale, live steam railway that
traveled over 2,600 feet of track around his backyard.  This miniature railroad
served as the model for the Disneyland Railroad and the inspiration for the Walt
Disney World Railroad.

     In 1804, mechanic Richard Trevithick first introduced steam power to
railways of England.  By 1830 the United States had also embraced the concept of
travel by rail.  Within forty years, on May 10, 1869 the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts were linked together by a standard gauge transcontinental railroad.  The
narrow gauge railway came into its own with the desire to run trains north and
south, as well as east and west.  Because narrow gauge track is only 3 feet
wide, compared to a standard gauge of 4 feet 8 - 1/2 inches, narrow gauge
locomotives and cars are smaller, making them lighter and less expensive to
build.  Of even greater importance are the narrower roadbeds which are easier to
lay along sheer rocky chasms and treacherous, turning mountain slopes.
Surprisingly, Florida is not as flat as it sometimes appears and the WDW Railroad
has to deal with grades of up to two percent.

Roger E. Broggie

     Like it's counterpart, the Walter E. Disney, the Roger E. Broggie is a
ten-wheeler.  It has four wheels at the front of the engine, six in the middle
and none at the rear (4-6-0).  It came out of the Baldwin Locomotive Works of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in May of 1925, destined for the jungles of Mexico as
engine number 275.  In 1969, its namesake, Imagineer Roger Broggie, found it
discarded and abandoned in the boneyard of the Yucatan railroad equipment
storage area.  Shortly before his death in 1966, Walt Disney personally
authorized the construction of the Walt Disney World Railroad for the new theme
park he was building in Florida.  Roger Broggie suggested using existing narrow
gauge steam engines that could be converted to Walt's exacting standards, rather
than building new trains, as they had for the opening of Disneyland.  When Roger
found what he was looking for in Mexico, he shipped engine number 275 to Tampa,
Florida where it was transformed under his direct supervision into the, Roger E.
Broggie Number 3.

     Roger Broggie's career as a railroad man began with Walt Disney and the
planning and construction of the Carolwood Pacific Railroad.  Along with the
Disney studio craftsman Ed Sargent and animators Ward Kimball and Ollie
Johnston, Roger helped Walt create a 1/8 scale, steam train that would travel
along 2,600 feet of track around Walt's backyard.  This miniature railroad
served as the model for the Disneyland Railroad and the inspiration of the Walt
Disney World Railroad.  In 1952 Roger Broggie became Walt's first Imagineer and
helped develop the technology used for Audio-Animatronics and all Disney theme
park conveyance systems.  Roger retired in 1975 as vice president of research
and development for Walt Disney Imagineering, and was recognized by the company
in 1990 as a true Disney Legend.

     The Roger E. Broggie has what is known as a diamond stack, so named for the
shape fashioned at the top of the exhaust stack.  Very early in the evolution of
steam locomotion, it was discovered that smoke was not the only thing exiting
the exhaust stack.  Red hot cinders, particularly adept at setting the
countryside ablaze, would also blow out.  In order to appease angry farmers and
town fathers affected by these rolling fire storms, these large stacks where
designed with an internal array of baffles and screens that would allow the
smoke to pour from the stack, but keep the cinders trapped within.

Roy O. Disney

     The Roy O. Disney is considered an American Standard, which means it has
four wheels at the front of the engine, four in the middle and none at the rear
(4-4-0).  It is both the oldest and newest steam train in the park.  Built in
1916, almost a decade earlier than the Walter E. Disney and Roger E. Broggie, it
was the only steam engine that did not debut at the Magic Kingdom's opening on
October 1, 1971.  It was not until December of that year that it joined its
three fellow passenger trains on the tracks of the Walt Disney World Railroad.
Originally, it was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.  It worked on the United Railways of Yucatan as engine number 251.
 Imagineer Roger Broggie found it in their boneyard in Merida, Mexico in 1969.
He shipped the battered steam train to Florida where it was reworked to his
exacting standards.  The new train missed the Magic Kingdom's opening date by
two months, and instead made the perfect Christmas gift for the new park:  Roy
O. Disney, Number 4.

     Roy Disney was Walt's older brother, mentor and lifelong business partner.
Roy's association with railroading began in 1915 when he worked as a candy
butcher on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.  In 1923, he and Walt
co-founded the Disney brother's cartooning enterprise.  Roy chose to stay in the
background, astutely managing the growing entertainment company, while Walt lead
it creatively.  In 1966, Roy assumed leadership of the company upon Walt's
Death.  He vowed he would open Walt Disney World in Florida and on October 1,
1971 he kept his promise to all.

     The pilot, as it is properly known, or the cow catcher, to which it is more
commonly referred.  Began appearing on locomotives as a defensive measure.  The
scoop-shaped contraption was designed to clear from the tracks objects that
might derail the locomotive and its cars.  This was especially important to
small, narrow gauge engines that sometimes came up against large, wide gauge
bulls.  Railroad myths had it that the larger the cow the more stubborn its
nature.  Sometimes a blast from the locomotive's whistle or the clanging of the
train's bell was not enough to persuade them to move from the tracks and so the
cow catcher was born.



Additional information:

     The Roy O. Disney is the oldest attraction at Walt Disney World being built in 1916. The Carrousel was built in 1917 making it the 2nd oldest. The next 3 are also trains. The fifth oldest is the carrousel of progress which was built in 1964 for the New York Worlds fair and was in operation at Disneyland in California before being moved to Disney World in Orlando.