| Wildlife Express Train |
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| Wildlife Express Locomotive |
| Disney's Animal Kingdom |
| Land |
Africa/Rafiki's Planet Watch |
| Designer |
Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Attraction type |
Transport |
| Theme |
African style train |
| Opening date |
April 22, 1998 |
| Music |
African bongos |
| Vehicle capacity |
50 |
| Ride duration |
12 minutes |
| Maximum speed |
10 mph (16.1 km/h) |
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Wheelchair accessible |
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The Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch is a transport ride that takes guests at Disney's Animal Kingdom from Harambe, Africa to Rafiki's Planet Watch. On the ride, guests get the chance to see a little of the Animal Kingdom backlot, including animal holding buildings for rhinos and elephants, among other animals. It takes about seven minutes to go from Harambe railway station, Africa to Rafiki's Planet Watch and an additional five to return. The full journey is 1.2 miles round-trip.
The railway is part of the fictional Eastern Star Railway, running from Lusaka to Nairobi and Kisangani.
[edit] Locomotives
There are three diesel-hydraulic, steam outline locomotives, built by Severn Lamb of Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom in 1997 before the park's opening the following year. They have a wheel configuration of 2-4-2 and are based on John Aspinall's 2-4-2T engines built for the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway of England in 1898 at Horwich locomotive works, Lancashire. However, the builder's plates of the locomotives tell a different story, saying that the engines were built in 1926 by Beyer Peacock of Gorton Foundry, Manchester. Their numbers are 02594, 04982 and 00174, the former also being named, R. Baba Harpoor, in honour of Imagineer Bob Harpur. The railway is built to a narrow gauge and this is 3' 4" (1016mm), a little wider than the metre gauge that was used on East African railways. There are two sets of coaches forming the passenger rolling stock, each with five vehicles and each seating around 250 people. These sets include a series of bins on the top of the train that simulate cargo that passengers are taking with them. One set of coaches has these bins green and the other red. This is away for easy identification between trains.
[edit] Trivia
- Disney is unusually strict about people standing up while the train is moving. They monitor it closely and will stop the train if they see anyone standing.
[edit] See also
- L&YR Class 5 - L&YR 2-4-2T designed by Aspinall and built at Horwich.
[edit] External links
28°21′35″N 81°35′28″W / 28.35972°N 81.59111°W / 28.35972; -81.59111Coordinates: 28°21′35″N 81°35′28″W / 28.35972°N 81.59111°W / 28.35972; -81.59111
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| The Oasis |
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| Discovery Island |
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| Camp Minnie-Mickey |
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| Africa |
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| Rafiki's Planet Watch |
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| Asia |
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| DinoLand U.S.A. |
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