Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2014/03/24/are-the-steam-trains-days-numbered-at-the-magic-kingdom/" target="_blank"><b>3/24/14: Are The Steam Trains Days Numbered At The Magic Kingdom</b></a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Not that it means much of anything in the grand scheme of things, but they were showing this video on Disney's Magical Express (airport shuttle) during my February visit. It features WDI's Jason Surrell waxing poetic about how great it is to have real steam trains, and all the extra stuff that comes with it. It stood out to me, since I remembered hearing this rumor shortly before that trip <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oydlO1g3z0E">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...lO1g3z0E</a> And tangentially related, I'm really disappointed with the new DME video. While waiting for everybody to load, it's a non-stop loop of these chatty videos, which replaced a really nice loop of music from the parks. On my return trip to the airport (at 3am, after the bus showed up 30 minutes late, and me on about 3 hours of sleep after a very long day running and park-touring, mind you), we had to stop at multiple hotels and had to watch several of the segments multiple times. Not exactly conducive to sleeping! I prefer the old video that they played en route to the new one, but the real loss was the relaxing music
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Gosh I knew when I saw the fake steam train at Harry Potterland in Universal the days would be numbered for steam trains at WDW. Since I am not familiar with the new HP land opening soon... will it include a train that connects the lands? I just googled Six Flags and Knotts Berry Farm for their steam trains. Think we can shame WDW into keeping Steam...and steam punk is not the same.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Since I am not familiar with the new HP land opening soon... will it include a train that connects the lands?<< It will have a Hogwarts Express attraction that links the two lands (in the 2 different parks) together. It will essentially use the same technology as an airport tram, running on an elevated guideway over the backstage areas. It's supposed to have some sort of video 'windows', so guests won't have any view of the 'real' world. It's only a train in the most loose sense of the word
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I find it suspicious that Disney would replace them with diesel. What would be the reason?
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Disney has been using diesel for a long time now. They use it in burners to heat the boilers that boil the water, that creates the steam. The current rumor is that they will be refitting the trains to be powered by diesel engines turning turbines to power electric motors that drive the train. I don't know what degree of realism they are aiming for but it would be a minor thing to use a little of that power to create enough steam to operate the whistle and let some steam escape in the normal places. Whether or not they do this, remains to be seen. I don't even have a guess.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm not positive about how the various types of locomotives work, but HKDL and DAK both use diesel-powered locomotives that don't generate steam. They're definitely lacking some of the magic of live steam trains, but they at least have the general look of it
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<I find it suspicious that Disney would replace them with diesel. What would be the reason?>> The expense of maintaining steam locomotives and the difficulty in finding people with the ability to work on them today. In case you hadn't noticed, not many railroads use steam anymore, so very few people would bother to gain the expertise needed to work in a nearly extinct field.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "The expense of maintaining steam locomotives" Probably this. "In case you hadn't noticed, not many railroads use steam anymore, so very few people would bother to gain the expertise needed to work in a nearly extinct field." How many people operating the trains since 1955 came to the job knowing how operate and maintain a steam locomotive? I'm guessing not too many. Seems to that its just a matter of training, which I presume is what they've done since the beginning.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ Well, they guys operating the trains seem quite old, I would have to assume the guys working on them probably are too. Not sure if it is a gig a younger guy would want to take.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I don't know either, but there are plenty of geeky tinkering engineering types out there and who wouldn't want a job working on the DL Railroad?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros If I were more mechanically inclined, I would love a job working on a steam train. It has a certain old fasioned romance to it that just can't be replicated with most mechanic-type jobs today. And assuming they don't convert the trains to diesel (which I still believe would be extremely shortsighted, but not the first time they've done something like that) it's got a lot of job security, assuming you don't mind working for Disney for forever
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn Doesn't wood count as "alternative fuel"? They could get a tax benefit staying with steam.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip The boilers on the locomotives currently burn diesel, not wood. Besides the massive cost of conversion, wood is a pretty inefficient fuel. Besides... who wants to smell all that woodsmoke throughout WDW? I do have a feeling you weren't entirely serious. ;-)
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn They could make guests work those pump-arm cars. Some of those folks need a workout anyway.
Originally Posted By hopemax In 2003, we took the Steam Train tour. My Dad is a train buff, so got to talking with the engineer. At that time, the engineer was getting close to retirement and was obviously frustrated that Disney wouldn't let them (Trains) have staffing budget to apprentice anyone. He kept shaking his head and saying, "I don't know what Disney is going to do..." He felt like Disney wanted to replace the trains then. Add another decade, and I'm guessing that Disney is even more motivated to change.
