Fort Wilderness Railroad Video

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

I tried to see if this has been posted before but didn't find anything. This YouTube video shows a trip around Fort Wilderness on the FWRR.

 

http://youtu.be/d3wshRnX0lY

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Awesome. I'll check it out later when I am home. Thanks Mo

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

:thumbsup3:

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Awesome find, Mo!  I so wish we had been able to ride it.  We didn't start camping at the fort until 1988.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This video is awesome- I've watched it many times, and it's the best FWRR I've seen. 

 

A few points of interest to help folks who may not understand what they're seeing;

 

- It begins with the train pulling in to the Settlement Depot.  This is currently a golf cart parking lot across from the Settlement Bus Stop.  The 700 loop is through the woods on the other side of the train.

 

-The train then takes off heading toward the Gateway Depot (which is what we now know as the Outpost Bus Stop).

 

-At about 1:03, you can see the train pass a loop entrance- if you look, you can clearly see the sign says this is Whispering Pine Way  aka the 400 loop.

 

-At about 1:26, the train is passing the playground at the 300 loop entrance.  You can see all the old equipment there including tee pees and totem poles.

 

-The train then turns, and passes through what is now the dog park, heading out toward the canal that borders the Fort.

 

-at about 1:38 the train travels along the canal, heading toward the 1500 loop.

 

--at 1:57, the train has turned and headed toward the 1500 loop, you can see the train trestle in the background, and then the 1500 loop entrance on the left side of the forward motion of the train.

 

-at 2:13, the camera pans to the right of the forward motion of the train, and you're looking at the Meadows- you can see a ball field here, complete with a backstop.

 

-the video ends with the train at the Gateway Depot.  If you look to the right, you'll see the old water tower that used to be there, and which we've all seen photos of.  If you look down from the water tower, closer to the train, you can see the little wooden shack that still stands behind the Outpost Bus Stop.

 

Awesome video!

 

TCD

[Mtnmanky...aka Leon 72]

Wonderful!

thanks!!!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks for the play-by-play, TCD!  It really helps map out the route.

 

For those folks that don't know, David Leapheart has written books on the Fort Wilderness Railroad and was kind enough to also write an article for FortFiends back in our early days.  You can check it out here...

http://www.fortfiends.net/_/history/fwrr/the-6-lives-of-the-fort-wilderness-railroad-r101

[Command Module...AKA-Brian 8]

That video is great, I only got to ride that train twice in my life, sadly two times more than my kids will ever! :'(

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Great video, if that was still around my youngest son would have never left the campground, he would have rode all day

[Lou... 3,118]

From the Fort's info page on "The Hub".

 

 

Fort Wilderness Railroad: The Fort Wilderness Railroad, also referred to as the Wilderness Line Steam Train, operated from Summer 1973 through the end of 1977. Four steam trains were designed and built by MAPO (research and prototype manufacturing subsidiary of WDI) in California. The four trains were identical and were four-fifth scale reproductions of a Baldwin locomotive built in Philadelphia in 1882.   Each train operated on live steam and each engine carried diesel fuel to stoke the fire. 

• Train capacity: 90 passengers
• Maximum speed: 10 mph
• The trains covered 3 1/2 miles of track and it took approximately 30 minutes to complete a round trip.
• Each train required 2 operators in the cab: an engineer on the right and a person to control the fire on the left.
• There are still remnants of the tracks remaining on the resort property today.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

From the Fort's info page on "The Hub".

 

 

Fort Wilderness Railroad: The Fort Wilderness Railroad, also referred to as the Wilderness Line Steam Train, operated from Summer 1973 through the end of 1977. Four steam trains were designed and built by MAPO (research and prototype manufacturing subsidiary of WDI) in California. The four trains were identical and were four-fifth scale reproductions of a Baldwin locomotive built in Philadelphia in 1882.   Each train operated on live steam and each engine carried diesel fuel to stoke the fire. 

• Train capacity: 90 passengers
• Maximum speed: 10 mph
• The trains covered 3 1/2 miles of track and it took approximately 30 minutes to complete a round trip.
• Each train required 2 operators in the cab: an engineer on the right and a person to control the fire on the left.
• There are still remnants of the tracks remaining on the resort property today.But all the spikes are gone. :rofl3:

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

That is a cool video!