I was wondering if anyobdy knows if the railroad at Hong Kong Disneyland will have diesel engines instead of steam. Of course, the locomotives would look like steam engines on the outside, but actually be diesels underneath.

Any truth to this rumor?



Edited By Dukeisnumberone on 1110525937

That last that I read on this was that Hong Kong Disneyland will have steam outline locomotives made by Severn Lamb. I read that in a newsgroup post, but it's certainly nothing official from Disney.

I'd love to see steam at Hong Kong Disneyland, but steam outline is better than nothing in my book. Very few new parks have *any* train ride at all and that's a real shame.

True, but simulated steam is still a very distant second in my book. It seems that there are those (probably most of us on this forum) who just have some indescribable connection with steam power - to me, steam engines are really living machines - and for me other motive technologies don't really match that visceral feeling I get from working steam. Unfortunately, I think most of the business people who make the decisions on things see steam as something more expensive than diesel - and that's that. I always hope that success of things like the behind the scenes railroad tours would indicate that these machines are hugely marketable, if only the effort was put into it.

Fake steam can be likened to anything that's fake. Would you rather have a Ferrari, or a kit car on a VW chassis? Would you rather see stuffed animals at the museum, or the real thing at a zoo?

There was always one line in the old DRR spiel that caught my attention, and really made me think:

"You are riding aboard one of four genuine steam-powered trains of the Disneyland Railroad."

Genuine. That word held so much power for me as a youngster. I mean, these were the REAL THING, baby!! Something you just couldn't see every day. They were genuine.

Disney hawked his life insurance policy to have real steam trains at DL; too bad current management doesn't feel the same way about steam power as its founder...

(Edited by Steve DeGaetano at 1:43 pm on Sep. 17, 2004)

Maybe the problem is that current management feels the same way about steam power as it feels about its founder...

Excellent point Steve.

The sad truth (or the great truth if you're a business person) is that train buffs no longer are at the top of Disney's management ladder. One only has to look at any of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's now 0-2-2T loco(non)motives to see perfect evidence of that.

Has anyone submitted George Britton's name as Disney's next CEO candidate?

(Edited by Locoboy5150 at 11:59 am on Sep. 17, 2004)

There is the same, or at least very similar, quote in the Disney World spiel (definitely has "genuine" in it, pronounced gen-you-eye-n) - to me it always was a reminder that, heck yeah, this was Disney - they go the extra mile to do things right. You have a steam train, you have a _real_ steam locomotive pulling it. Imagine my disappointment my first time at the Animal Kingdom train as I heard this truck slide up into the station. I just assumed that it would be steam since all the other trains that have or had been at the park were steam powered. My only nice thought was that it least they directed the exhaust out the stack. I mean - you look into the MK locomotive cabs and there is a fully functional backhead (because it's real!), from what I remember in the AK there is a control panel with lights and buttons - it just seems wrong.

I hope you all realize that outside of "trainland" (the magical world we all live in) most people have *no clue* what a steam engine is, and in general don't conceptualize different kinds of motive power on trains. I'm not defending them, I'm just saying how it is "in the real world." In fact, I am pretty disturbed by the general level of intelligence amongst most people I know. In a faux science lesson, it took a class of college students about 20 minutes before someone made the light bulb light up, given batteries, wires, and light bulbs. I don't consider myself an electrician, but.. wow!

I think the best thing to do is promo the heck out of steam power. Maybe we can get together a Disney "Steam Power" set of lesson plans for public school educators. Disney gets a promo and steam fans get a 1-up.

I do recall the "genuine" comment at WDW thanks to a certain video...

I also have to say that I do have a soft spot for the Chance CP Huntington because it is the model I grew up on. It's kind of like how Mom's home cooking always tastes good, even if it's not that good, because it's comfort food. But of course I prefer the gourmet live steam, especially on the larger gauges!

"By the way, your traveling aboard one of four genuine steam powered trains that ride these rails daily here at the Magic Kingdom.
These iron horses are decendants of the pioneers of the rails that criss-crossed our growing nation more then a century ago."

Starts at the 7:39 time mark in the video, though it is partially obstructed by the rattlesnakes. Those are the best 2 lines in the entire script, who cares about Poco-whats her name, I want more trains. :biggrin:

I think it would be nice if Disney added some more technical facts about the locomotives to the spiel, whenever they decide to record a new one.

Maybe they could tell the weight of the engines or how much water they take during the course of an operating day. Maybe boiler pressure as well, though I doubt the people riding the train would really know what the recording is talking about.