Walt Disney World Railroad

An avid railroad enthusiast, Walt Disney included plans for a narrow-gauge railroad in the original design of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Those plans became a reality in 1968, when five Baldwin steamers were purchased from Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatan (United Railways of Yucatan). The backdated trains went into operation in the fall of 1971, when the park was opened to the public. Today, four locomotive train-sets ply a 1.5 mile signal-protected loop through the park, making three stops on each trip. Equipment is maintained in a shop facility shared with the Monorail system. Heavy overhaul of the steam locomotives is often outsourced to the shops at the Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina.