Fort Wilderness Railway

Walt Disney was a major railway fan. This is evident when you visit his parks. It’s no surprise then that Fort Wilderness was home to the Wilderness Line Railway. It operated from about 1973 to around 1977. It was transportation around the campground. There were about three and a half miles of track. Two Fort Wilderness train depots were located at the Reception Outpost parking lot and Pioneer Hall. There was more than one train. Each had five cars.

The tracks were twice as long as the ones in use at the Magic Kingdom, however the engines held less fuel and water than the ones at the Magic Kingdom, so needed to make frequent stops to take on fuel and water.

We are not sure why the Fort Wilderness Line was discontinued. We were very lucky to have ridden it many times. Evidence of the railroad is still around. Some of the tracks and roadbed can still be seen at the campground. The following pictures were taken by us in 1976.

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©Michael Campbell

Here comes the Fort Wilderness Railway train, arriving in one of the depots.

This train was very popular with campers. Many used the train to get from one end of Fort Wilderness to the other, but some of us went around several times before we got off.