Sponsored by Takara Tomy,[2][3] the Western River Railroad is one of two rail attractions at Tokyo Disney Resort, the other being the DisneySea Electric Railway at Tokyo DisneySea. Unlike other Disney railroad attractions, it does not circle the whole park. Instead, the railroad only passes through Adventureland, Westernland, and Critter Country. Additionally, this railroad has a track gauge is 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge as compared with other Disney railroad track gauges of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge.
At the time that the Western River Railroad was opened, Japanese rail regulations required that any railway line with more than one stop be subject to the same rules as any other conventional rail line, which included running on a timetable and collecting fares; this law was later abolished on April 1, 1987. As such, there is only one stop on the Western River Railroad in order to avoid having to charge fares and to allow the use of passenger cars that are not fully enclosed, which would not be allowed otherwise.[4]
Ride experience
Going clockwise around the loop, the train departs Adventureland Station, and passes through Stillwater Junction, a Western-themed train station (though the train does not stop here).[5] Afterwards, the train goes through a forest where passengers are able to see animatronic displays of wild animals and Native Americans.[5] Continuing down the line, the train crosses over a long trestle through the Critter Country section and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction in the Westernland section.[5] Finally, it enters through a deep tunnel containing the Primeval World Diorama (featuring animatronic dinosaurs) and exits back to the Adventureland Station.[5]
Western River Railroad passenger cars (300 series)
The Western River Railroad has four 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge 2-4-0 steam locomotives built by Kyosan Kogyo Co., which were named after famous rivers located primarily in the Western United States (hence the name of the railroad).[6] All four locomotives were designed to resemble the Denver & Rio GrandeMontezuma locomotive, which was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works.[7] Each WRR locomotive shared the same tender design, which holds 264 US gallons (1,000 L) of fuel and 475 US gallons (1,800 L) of water.[6]
The railroad also has a fleet of twelve passenger cars, with three coaches assigned to each locomotive. The passenger cars are based on the Narragansett-style excursion cars used on the Disneyland Railroad and Walt Disney World Railroad, with guests facing forward. Each coach has a small door in each row of seats that swings inward as a safety precaution.[4]
The locomotive's number, 53, refers to the year 1953 when Walt Disney presented the plans for the original Disneyland. The livery is reddish brown. It has a small diamond stack smokestack. There is an elk on each side of the headlamp.[8]
The locomotive's number, 28, refers to the year 1928, when the Disney animated short Steamboat Willie was released, the first cartoon with synchronized sound. The livery is green. It has a small diamond stack smokestack. There are paintings of the Great Falls found by Lewis and Clark on the sides of the headlamp.[9]
The locomotive's number, 25, refers to the year 1925, when Walt Disney married his wife, Lillian Disney. The livery is red. It has a small diamond stack smokestack. There is a grizzly bear on each side of the headlamp.[10]
The locomotive's number, 20, refers to the year 1920 when Walt Disney, along with his friend Ub Iwerks, founded his first company, Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. The livery is a red cab with a blue boiler jacket. It has a small diamond stack smokestack. There are bison on the sides of the headlamp.[11][a]
^No. 20 originally had a white boiler and a straight cap smokestack. It was modified in 2022 to have the same diamond stack smokestack and black boiler found on the other locomotives.
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