Have you ever wondered how the Disneyland Railroad gets started in the morning? The locomotives that pull each train are real steam engines and do not have ignition switches that let them get started with the turn of a key.

Early one morning in 2010, The Orange County Register’s staff was allowed into the roundhouse at Disneyland, backstage, as they call it, where the trains are kept at night.

The early morning steam engineers showed our video crew what they do each morning that includes inspecting beneath the engine, checking all the connections and safety gear, then lighting up the fire box to build up steam in the locomotive’s boiler prior to its operating day.

This is the first of a three-part series that will include a video about how they operate the trains during a regular operating day, and what happens when a train is done for the day.

Contact the writer: meades@ocregister.com