Dollywood Express Train Derailed: Mishap at Dolly Parton's Theme Park, Explained

A train carrying passengers was evacuated at East Tennessee amusement park Dollywood Sunday evening due to a reported "mechanical issue." A spokesperson for the Dollywood Express told FOX 17 News that the train experienced some issues around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, which forced passengers to get off the train. 

All riders were unloaded safely, and no one was injured in the incident. There were no further details available regarding the mechanical issue. The train is also not running on Tuesday, according to WVLT.

One of the most popular attractions at Dollywood theme park, the 110-ton coal-fired steam engine takes guests on a five-mile trip around Dollywood, on a 20-minute journey through the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. There is a long history behind the Dollywood Express train ride. It can be traced back to Philadelphia in 1943 and 1938 when the Baldwin Locomotive Works built two Baldwin coal fire steam trains: Klondike Katie (No. 192) and Cinderella (No. 70). 

Both of these trains conducted missions through Alaska during World War II, transporting troops and lumber across the territory that would eventually become the 49th state of the U.S. As a result of the sale of Klondike Katie to the Rebel Railroad in 1960, the new train ride would take visitors on a five-mile journey through the Smokies. The engine was delivered to Pigeon Forge in 1961.

After several ownership changes occurred over the years of the Rebel Railroad park, it was eventually acquired in 1977 by Jack and Pete Herschend of Herschend Enterprises, a Branson, Missouri company. They were the owners of the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, and renamed the Pigeon Forge park Silver Dollar City, Tennessee.

The Herschend brothers purchased Klondike Katie in conjunction with the sale, and shortly afterward, they bought Cinderella and moved her to the park to work alongside Klondike Katie as well. It was in 1986 that Dolly Parton and the Herschends founded Dollywood, and today, visitors can still take a train ride pulled by one of those locomotives that was used in the past.

There are nearly 6,000 cross-ties on the Dollywood Express train ride, and the park's train shop replaces 200 to 300 of them every year in its train shop. In the winter, when Dollywood is closed, the maintenance team inspects locomotives, cars, and track constantly for anything unusual. Cars are repainted, checked from top to bottom, and even completely assembled during the winter months.