Walt Disney World Railroad No. 1, named Walter E. Disney, is a 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in May 1925 for the United Railways of Yucatan as No. 72 before being renumbered to No. 274 in the 1960s. The locomotive was used for passenger and freight service on the United Railways of Yucatan.
The locomotive was retired from active service in 1969 and it was sold to Walt Disney World, after being discovered by Disney Imagineer Roger Broggie. It was overhauled in a shipyard in Tampa, Florida, and was renumbered to 1. The engine was put into service with the park's opening on October 1, 1971. It is named after the company founder of The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney himself.
In August 2016, it went out-of-service and shipped off to the Strasburg Rail Road workshop for an extensive overhaul on Halloween that year. This locomotive returned to Walt Disney World property in August 2020 and returned to service with the railroad in December 2022.
Trivia[]
- The locomotive's whistle is a Baldwin 5 inch 3-chime, which replaced the original Buckeye 3 inch 3-chime that it wore until December 16, 2023.[1]
- Around early 2024, No. 1's original Buckeye whistle was re-installed onto the Walt Disney World Railroad No. 2 Lilly Belle locomotive, replacing the latter's out of tune Buckeye whistle.[2]
- On January 27, 2024, No. 1 swapped whistles again, this time to a Crosby 4 inch 3-chime whistle, which was previously worn by the No. 4 locomotive from January to July 2023.[3]
- In late March 2024, the Baldwin 5 inch 3-chime whistle was re-installed.
- This was the WDWRR's tallest locomotive at 11 feet 11 inches (3.6 m), hence its smokestack. However, the smokestack was shortened down in height for the locomotive to be fitted underneath the WDWRR's new Tron tunnel.
- The builder's number of this locomotive and the Walt Disney World Railroad #3, "Roger E. Broggie", are just one number off of each other, as well as being the exact same design. Because of this, Walter and Roger are referred to as the "Brother Trains."