DLRR Ward Kimball Update 05-01-05 (Long Posa)

[Steve DeGaetano]

Burnsland.com

[AP2CM]

A+ account of that, Steve!

[College Zoo]

As train nut in general I love the way you wrote that. I can see why you wrote a book.

[Tom Chaney]

A wonderful account. As someone enamoured of trains... and as a restorer of antique cars, I know how special that moment of "birth" can be. When I was a kid, my dad was a member of the Horseless Carriage Club of America (as I am to this day) and I remember well a cartoon called Asinine Alley drawn by Ward that was included in each issue of their Gazette. It always provided a laugh. It is so very fitting that this "new" locomotive honors him. I am really looking forward to seeing it and having my first ride on its train.

[gibbage]

Very good read! Thanks for posting it. One question. Addopting a coal loco to oil/deisel burning, is that a drastic convert or not? Just wondering because I was riding on two cars today (#2 and #5 I think) and they did not sound like I would "expect" with the whoosh whoosh from the pistons powering the main gears. But again, that may be Hollywood. It was all very quiet.

[Trader Sam]

For a long time, I've been hearing a bunch of hoopla about this train on various Web sites, but what's so special about it (aside from the man after whom it's named)? Is this a new train? A refurbished train? What? As a Disneyland fanatic, I feel a little ashamed that I don't know anything about this. It's lonely being out of the loop.

[Steve DeGaetano]

Trader Sam, this will be the first new locomotive addition to the Disneyland Railroad since 1959. It is a former little plantation locomotive with a long, colorful history. What also makes it special is that Walt Disney was very fond of steam trains, and for Disneyland to be getting a new one for the 50th, is like the perfect present for the park.

Steam locomotives are imbued with so much personality and individuality, that this isn't really like getting a new Indy Jeep or a new Jungle Cruise Boat. And, of course, for steam locomotive fans, this is wonderful news to see one of these ancient machines brought back to life.

Gibbage, the conversion from coal to diesel wasn't particularly drastic on this engine, because a new boiler and firebox were built from the ground up. Several things affect the chuffing sound you hear, such as the shape of the internal ports that admit and exhaust the steam to and from the cuylinders. Also, the cylinders on the Disney engines are rather small. What you see in movies are generally large mainline engines with cylinders of enormous volume. When those exhaust, loud chugging does go up the stack.

When the Disney trains get moving around the Rivers of America, if you could ride along and ask the fireman to lower the fire and open the fire door in the cab, you would hear the loud chugging you've heard in movies.

[Tom Chaney]

...if you could ride along and ask the fireman to lower the fire and open the fire door in the cab, you would hear the loud chugging you've heard in movies.

Let me ask a question that you may or may not know the answer to: I never knew that you could ask to ride "up front" on the DLRR until recently. When I asked the CM at the station, however, I was informed that this had been discontinued. Do you know why?

[Steve DeGaetano]

Short answer: Liability.

The only seats available for guests is really a cushion on the front of the tenders of Nos. 1 and 2. Your feet rest on the deck plate that spans the gap between the engine and the tender. This plate moves and undulates as the train rolls down the track, making for a somewhat strange vertigo-type feeling. There are no seatbelts and nothing to keep one from falling off the tender. Not to mention that mere inches from the guest is a firebox and piping with some surfaces that probably approach 2000 degrees.

Still, there is a push to re-instate the practice. So, we can all keep the faith that one day we'll again be allowed to ride up front, and get a real good education in what it's like to operate one of these beasts.

[Tom Chaney]

Short answer: Liability.

The only seats available for guests is really a cushion on the front of the tenders of Nos. 1 and 2. Your feet rest on the deck plate that spans the gap between the engine and the tender. This plate moves and undualtes as the train rolls down the track, making for a somewhat strange vertigo-type feeling. There are no seatbelts and nothing to keep one from falling off the tender. Not to mention that mere inches from the guest is a firebox and piping with some surfaces that probably approach 2000 degrees.

Still, there is a push to re-instate the practice. So, we can all keep the faith that one day we'll again be allowed to ride up front, and get a real good education in what it's like to operate one of these beasts.

Thank you. I figured it would be something like that. Gosh, for (how many?) years, guests seemed to be able to handle the ride, but I guess in today's litigious society, Disney can't afford to allow us to be responsible for ourselves anymore. Perhaps the addition of a seatbelt and discreet restraining bar could satisfy the lawyers. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Steve DeGaetano]

Gosh, for (how many?) years, guests seemed to be able to handle the ride, but I guess in today's litigious society, Disney can't afford to allow us to be responsible for ourselves anymore.

There are MANY train cast members who feel the same way you do.

[gibbage]

Thank you. I figured it would be something like that. Gosh, for (how many?) years, guests seemed to be able to handle the ride, but I guess in today's litigious society, Disney can't afford to allow us to be responsible for ourselves anymore. Perhaps the addition of a seatbelt and discreet restraining bar could satisfy the lawyers. I'll keep my fingers crossed.