the fort wilderness railroad

In 1973, WDW opened a glorious 4/5 steam train in Fort Wilderness. Its 3.5 mile track made it twice as long as the one in the Magic Kingdom, and it was a wonderful way to get around to various parts of the campground, and also to see the wilder sides of the forest and fields. Unfortunately, the train sometimes stopped because it ran out of water (it had to be refilled at the end of the loop every time), and fussy mothers and their little princes and princesses didn’t like the wait for the tow car, particularly on hot summer days. As the campground grew, the likelihood of a train-related injury grew as well, as the tracks came very close to some of the campsites, and there was no barrier between people and the tracks. Finally, Disney closed the train, and most of the cars were left to rust for a couple of decades, until a group of train enthusiasts bought and restored them. Most are now owned privately.  A fun activity at Fort Wilderness is to go and try to find the wood cross ties still in place – some are near Loop 700.