Changes

The history of the Walt Disney World Railroad was originally built due to really begins with Walt Disney's love of trains. Even before he built Disneyland, Walt had a miniature train in his backyard called the Carolwood Pacific Railroad<ref> http://carolwood.com/ </ref>. Walt was so enthralled with trains, that anytime he told guests about Disneyland, he would always conclude "and it will all should be surrounded by a train"<ref> http://www.waltdisney.org/blog/disney-and-lionel </ref>. Sure enough, when Disneyland opened in 1955, the park was surrounded by the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad. Walt Disney himself was in charge of building the railroad, and he even financed the construction himself<ref> http://www.waltdisney.org/blog/riding-rails-walt-disney </ref>. The Disneyland Railroad opened with Disneyland in 1955 and has been running ever since<ref> http://www.davelandweb.com/dlrr/ </ref>. When Disney began designing Walt Disney World in Florida, they once again wanted to have a train surrounding the park. In 1969, Disney Imagineer scouts Roger Broggie and Earl Vilmer found and purchased five locomotives from the Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatan (United Railways of Yucatan) on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula<ref> https://www.mouseplanet.com/6779/Steam_Train_Tour_Part_3 </ref>. While one of the five trains was deemed unrepairable, the other four were sent by railway to Tampa Bay. Here, Disney Imagineer and train expert, Bob Harper oversaw their restoration<ref> http://www.imaginerding.com/2011/11/07/walt-disney-world-railroad-a-history/ </ref>. New boilers were built for the locomotives by the Dixon Boiler Works in Los Angeles, California. In order to make the trains look older, they were fitted with diamond smoke stacks and boiler jackets. The tenders also needed to be completely rebuilt and new fiberglass cabs were manufactured and installed. The trains were then painted with bright colors and brass, before being shipped to Walt Disney World<ref> http://www.wdwfamily.com/index.php/walt-disney-world-tours/74-behind-the-steam-train-tour </ref>. The Walt Disney World Railroad opened with the rest of the park on October 1, 1971<ref> http://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/attractions/opening-dates </ref>.

When the Walt Disney World Railroad opened, it originally consisted of three trains. A few months after the opening, a forth train joined the fleet. For all of 1971, the Railroad provided guests with a roundtrip round-trip tour of the Magic Kingdom. At that time however, only the Main Street USA station was open and it wasn't until 1972 that a second station (in Frontierland) opened<ref> https://www.mouseplanet.com/guide/609/Walt-Disney-World/Magic-Kingdom/Main-Street-USA/Walt-Disney-World-Railroad </ref>. The second station meant that guests could now board the railroad at either end of the park. The Frontierland station remained operational until 1990, when it was closed and demolished in order to make room for [[Splash Mountain]]. The station re-opened in a new location in 1991, and the railroad now runs through Splash Mountain (allowing guests to see the "Zip-A-Dee Lady" Scene). In 1988, another station was built in [[Mickey's Birthdayland]]. Originally known as the Duckburg Station, the station was renamed the Toontown Fair station in 1996 before closing in 2010 (when Mickey’s Toontown was replaced by the Fantasyland expansion). While Fantasyland was still under construction, the train still stopped at the location of the station, to top off the tender with water and to keep the railroad's operating schedule. While the train was stopped in Fantasyland, a new narration played, telling guest that they are stopping at a "Watering Outpost". The narration also gave guests a preview of what was coming to Fantasyland as part of the expansion. On March 12, 2012 the Fantasyland Station (also known as the Carolwood Station) opened to guests.