Reports are coming in on social media of what appears to be a fairly major breakdown of the Ward Kimball steam train at Disneyland today. According to posts made by Ed Reed to the MiceChat Facebook page, guests were evacuated off of the train after an apparent breakdown. The breakdown happened on the bridge that crosses the Frontierland entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. This section of track was rebuilt to accommodate a restructuring of the Rivers of America for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and reopened in 2017.
The Ward Kimball locomotive was originally built in 1902, but didn’t make it onto the Disneyland rails until 2005 when it was named after the late Disney Animator.
UPDATE: Facebook user Diane Richmond posted the following photo to the MiceChat Facebook page that shows the cars have been detached from the locomotive. Our original story continues below.
The 5 trains that ride the rails at Disneyland are named for American locomotive legends, with the one exception being the Ward Kimball, a Disney Animator and one of the famous Nine Old Men. Ward was the guy who originally inspired Walt Disney’s passion for the railway.
As of publish time, Disney has not commented on the situation and the Disneyland Railroad is listed as “temporarily closed” on the Disneyland app.
Keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to cover this story and much more from around the Disney Parks.
In the paragraph that begins “UPDATE:” the word “detected” should be “detached.”