| Fort Wilderness Railroad | |||||||||
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| General Statistics | |||||||||
| Attraction Type | Railroad | ||||||||
| Designer | WED Enterprises | ||||||||
| Length | 13,200 ft (4,000 m) | ||||||||
| Vehicle type | Steam locomotive | ||||||||
| Riders per vehicle | 50 | ||||||||
The Fort Wilderness Railroad was a 2.5–3.5-mile (4.0–5.6 km) steam-powered railway that opened in 1973 to provide transportation around the various campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. It also provided transportation around the resort grounds to campers and guests visiting the nearby River Country water park. Because of issues with track maintenance, pedestrian safety, and noise concerns, the railroad only operated occasionally after 1977, and closed permanently in the early 1980s. Some sections of track remain in place along the outer areas of the campground.
The major difference between the Fort Wilderness Railroad and the Walt Disney World Railroad in the nearby Magic Kingdom is size; the Fort Wilderness Railroad is built to 4⁄5 scale with a 30" gauge track, compared to the full size 36" gauge track at the Magic Kingdom.
The Fort Wilderness Railroad utilized four replica steam locomotives and twenty coaches built by Walt Disney Imagineering. After the railroad was closed, the locomotives were stored for several years, and are today privately owned. Several of the coaches are also still in existence, used as ticket booths at Typhoon Lagoon and Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney.
Read more about this topic: Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort And Campground
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“I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is your chance to—Well, we warned you.”
—Garrett Fort (1900–1945)
“The wilderness experiences a suddent rise of all her streams and lakes. She feels ten thousand vermin gnawing at the base of her noblest trees. Many combining drag them off, jarring over the roots of the survivors, and tumble them into the nearest stream, till, the fairest having fallen, they scamper off to ransack some new wilderness, and all is still again.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“People who make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the railroad tracks. They amuse themselves and other children, but their little trick may upset a freight train of conversation for the sake of a battered witticism.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)