My last three articles have been about a Steam Train Tour that my dad and I were fortunate enough to attend at the Magic Kingdom. In part 2, I shared the hands-on portion of the Steam Train Tour, and showed you around the Main Street Station to see the photos that illustrate the story of the Carolwood Pacific Railroad. In part 3, I continued the series by talking about the Walt Disney World Railroad itself. [Part 1 (link) was published August 26, part 2 (link) was published on September 23, and part 3 (link) was published on September 23,]
I didn’t mention previously that I later made contact with some folks that work on the Walt Disney World Railroad. I tried, unsuccessfully, to work out an arrangement that would allow me to come back to the roundhouse and take photos of the building, the trains, the shops, and so on. Several weeks later, through the help of some other contacts, however, I was able to talk directly with George Britton, the roundhouse foreman at the Magic Kingdom. George agreed to meet me in the park and to take me back to the roundhouse for a more detailed tour. Even more exciting, he said that I would be allowed to bring along my camera and take pictures of the railroad facilities for publication here on MousePlanet!
I met George at the Toontown Station of the Walt Disney World Railroad at about 9:00 a.m. He had driven up to the mainline on a vehicle that had been made by the WDW railroad crew. If you can picture the “surrey bikes” that can be rented as many of the WDW resort hotels, imagine one with an electric motor and flanged wheels and you’ll have a rough idea of the vehicle. I climbed aboard with George and we zipped back to the roundhouse area.
The roundhouse was much as I remember it from my earlier visit just a few weeks before. The Lilly Belle is a beautifully restored 2-6-0 Mogul engine, originally built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and restored by a crew of Disney Imagineers and machinists from the Tampa Ship Repair and Dry Dock Company between 1969 and 1971.
