Engine No. 4 of the Walt Disney World Railroad is the Roy O. Disney. The namesake of this engine is Walt's brother, Roy Oliver Disney, the co-founder of the Disney Brothers Studio in 1923. After Walt's death in 1966, Roy took over the Florida Project, seeing it through to the opening of Walt Disney World in October of 1971. Roy O. Disney passed away just two months later in December of 1971.

Roy was mainly responsible for the financial side of the company, while Walt handled the creative side. However, this doesn't mean that Roy did not have a creative vision as well. Without Roy's creative vision as well as his amazing financial knowledge, Walt Disney World may not have been built. While Roy and Walt often argued about things, especially money, they were always loyal to each other.

In this picture from 1988, the Roy O. Disney is decorated to be Mickey's Birthdayland Express. Note the gifts in the tender, as well as on top of the boiler. With the addition of a new railroad station at Mickey's Birthdayland, the railroad played an important part in making guests aware of the new land.

Each of the engines of the Walt Disney World Railroad were manufactured by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roy O. Disneyis the oldest, having been built in 1916. The Walter E. Disney and the Roger E. Broggie are actually twins, having the construction numbers 58444 and 58445, respectively; they were built in 1925. Although their exterior appearance is now different, everything else about the engines is very similar. The Lilly Belle is the newest of the engines, built in 1928.

The engines were acquired by Disney from the United Railways of Yucatan in Mexico. The original design of the engines was much different than they appear now. Each engine received a new boiler, cab, and smokestack, among other things, to help fit the engines into the design of the park. According to Walt Disney's Railroad Story by Michael Broggie, a fifth engine was also acquired, but it was not salvageable for use.

The Roy O. Disney is a 4-4-0 engine under the Whyte Classification System. As has been mentioned before, each of the engines has a different color scheme to help set it apart from the others. Also, each engine's bell has a slightly different ring to it.

Here, the Roy O. Disney heads into the Main Street Station colorfully decorated for the Fourth of July. One of my favorite railroad pictures. It is hard to pick a favorite of the four Walt Disney World Railroad engines, but often I am partial to the Roy O. Disney. Most likely this is because of its smoke stack design, which coupled with its 4-4-0 wheel arrangement makes it resemble the railroad engines used in the American West during the 19th century. However, each of the engines has its own look and personality, making each one a unique work of art and engineering.

Other engines in this series include:
Engine No. 1 - Walter E. Disney
Engine No. 2 - Lilly Belle
Engine No. 3 - Roger E. Broggie

- Story and Photos by Steve Burns
Posted

Steve is a three-time Disney Store National Trivia finalist and webmaster of BurnsLand, home of Steve's Disney Railroad Adventures.

E-mail Steve at steve@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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