| A Disneyland Railroad employee and myself in the engineers seat. One of the few benefits of the railroad not running right now was the chance to sit here. Of course they aren't letting people drive it :) There is a derail flag in the tunnel only a few feet away from here! This beautiful engine will only be steamed up for switch moves until 2017 when the line reopens again to complete the famed "Grand Circle Tour of Walt Disneys Magic Kingdom." Of note from my conversation with the DLRR employee: the steam engines on the line have speedometers that measure in feet, not MPH as line speeds rarely exceed 5 MPH. The boiler pressure of this locomotive was increased from 125 psi to 150 psi during its last rebuild, and now has more weight on it's drivers. This is important as the rerouted track being built for the Star Wars Land expansion will ad about a 2% grade and a sharp s-curve to the Disneyland Railroad's route. This new track routing will be the first left turn on the Disneyland Railroad's mainline after 60 years of operations. Previously the only left turn was the switch leaving the train shed onto the mainline. |