Only Disney History Buffs Will Know Why March 6th Is So Important

If you absolutely LOVE the trains you can ride around Disney’s parks, you’re going to be thrilled with the latest update.

You can already hop on the reopened train at Disney World (which has seen some changes) or grab a Funko Pop! featuring Walt on a train but soon you’ll be able to do something unique at Disneyland!

One of the ORIGINAL steam engines that was on the Disneyland Railroad — the E.P. Ripley — is coming back soon! The train will officially return and take guests for a grand circle tour around Disneyland park starting March 6th.

What makes this extra special is that it is a train WALT himself actually rode in photos that were taken around Disneyland’s opening in 1955. So you can celebrate Disney’s 100th Anniversary with a special sense of honor toward Walt by hopping on this train.

This train was named after Edward Payson Ripley. Ripley was one of the founders of the Atchison and Topeka Railroad (which was later called the Santa Fe Railroad). The E.P. Ripley was removed from the Disneyland tracks around 5 years ago for repairs and ended up getting a FULL restoration.

The restoration process required teams to replicate the original boiler and other pieces from the train. Tarun Khanna, the lead mechanical engineer, shared “We replicated some of the original parts, since they aren’t manufactured anymore…Everything is mechanical and runs like a steam engine from the past, from the boiler all the way down to the whistle.”