A train headed by the Fred Gurley locomotive, sits at the Mickey’s Toontown Station in Fantasyland at Disneyland. Crews of the rail line are testing out the Disneyland Railroad’s new route and signal system leading up to its reopening to the public at the end of July 2017. (Photo by Mark Eades, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The caboose of the Disneyland Railroad travels the new route along the Big Thunder Trail as the rail line’s engineers and conductors test the new route prior to reopening the railroad at the theme park in late July 2017. (Photo by Mark Eades, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Many of the attractions in Frontierland, including the Disneyland Railroad, that were closed as part of the construction of “Star Wars” land at Disneyland, will reopen at the end of July 2017. (Photo by Mark Eades, Orange County Register/SCNG)



The rails were singing again with the sounds of whistles and bells as engineers and conductors started testing trains on the new route for the Disneyland Railroad.

The route for the opening day attraction underwent a major modification in the Frontierland area to make room for the 14-acre “Star Wars” land project.

Now the route skirts the edge of the shortened Rivers of America, along the Big Thunder Trail, and then makes a sharp left-hand turn to head for Mickey’s Toontown Station in Fantasyland.

Because it is such a major change to the rail line’s route, park officials wanted to give the crews plenty of time to get accustomed to the new route. Also, the computer signals, which lets crews know when the rails are clear ahead, have to undergo testing to make sure they are all working properly.

Besides the new signal system, the engines and rail cars have been static for more than a year, and need to be tested to make sure everything is in working order.

Sometimes during testing, crews will stop the train along the route, and not at a station, then reverse the train to check that the signal system is working properly.

Testing takes place in the late afternoons and into the night, when construction crews working on the rock work and landscaping along the route, have gone home for the day. This will take place daily, except for Independence Day, until the attraction opens to the public on July 29, 2017.