They were designed to give guests the impression that the trains had been traveling through Africa for a hundred years, collecting grime and rust along the way.

According to imagineer Joe Rohde, the idea was to create a look for vehicles "that would be seen today in Africa and Asia, long after their original use in Europe in the late 1800s.

[1][5] The Wildlife Express Train is themed to the fictitious Eastern Star Railway, running between Lusaka, Nairobi, and Kisangani.

[3][6] The Wildlife Express Train operates three 2-4-2TDH steam-outline locomotives built by Severn Lamb in 1997 before the park's opening the following year.

All rolling stock for the Wildlife Express were built brand-new, but are painted to look dated and weathered, in order to give the impression that the trains have been running for many decades.