From Mexico to the Mouse: The Walt Disney World Locomotives

I worked from 1989-2019 an engineer on the Walt Disney World Railroad. I have been associated with these trains in one way or another, for over 30 years. And they have a fascinating history...

First and foremost, the locomotives at Walt Disney World are authentic steam trains, meaning they are not replicas built for the park. They each had a prior life before coming to Florida as they all ran together on the United Railways of the Yucatan (Unidos de Yucatan, or UdeY) in Merida, Mexico.

But how did they get from there to here?

As the plans for Disney World were being developed back in the 60's, Walt said he was sure of one thing: there will be a train around it. He also knew from the development of the Disneyland Railroad that it was cheaper to buy and refurbish a locomotive than to have one built from scratch.

As it had in California, the responsibility for the transportation systems in Florida once again fell under the direction of Roger Broggie. Over the years Roger had received several calls and letters from various people trying to sell railroad equipment to Disney, because they knew of Walt's love for trains.

There was one individual from Chicago who offered to sell him railroad equipment stored in Mexico. Broggie then contacted Jerry Best who had recently written a book Mexican Narrow Gauge which listed all of the steam locomotives used on the Yucatan Railways. It was then he understood what waited for him south of the border. A trip ensued and trains were purchased.

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Seeing that Florida isn't 100% flat (the land chosen for the parks has a 2% grade), Walt preferred trains with three large drive wheels. The first two trains chosen were twin 1925 Baldwin "ten wheeler" 4-6-0's (#'s 58444 and 58445):

UdeY #274 (originally #72)

UdeY #275 (originally #73)

The next train they noticed and selected was a 1928 Baldwin "mogul" 2-6-0 (#60598).

UdeY #260 (originally #76)

The fourth engine, oddly enough wasn't wanted until the Mexican engineers praised it for its dependability and popularity among the crews. It was a 1916 Baldwin "American" 4-4-0 (#42915).

UdeY #251 (originally #66)

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Refurbishment

So the story goes that these four were purchased (for $8000 each), plus an additional train for $750 that was so far gone it was used for parts and later sold off. They were all loaded onto flatbeds where they made their way to the Tampa Shipyards (owned by George Steinbrenner) and were refurbished for the parks there.

All five trains loaded for travel to Tampa

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The 274 became the WDWRR #1 Walter E Disney (Many additional photos can be found here).

The 275 became the WDWRR #4 Roger E Broggie. 

Additional pics can be found here.

The 260 became the WDWRR #2 Lilly Belle, named after Walt's wife. 

(More pics here).

The 251, the train they didn't even want, became the WDWRR #3 Roy O Disney. This is most of our current and past engineers favorite locomotive. (Still more pics here)

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