Carolwood Pacific Railroad

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The Carolwood Pacific Railroad was a live steam backyard railroad, built by the American animated film producer and animator, Walt Disney (1901–1966) in the backyard (garden) of his home in California, USA.

Walt Disney's uncle, Michael Martin, had been a steam locomotive engineer. As a teenager in Missouri, Disney had a summer job selling newspapers, candy, fruit, and soda on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. Walt loved the uniform, the trains, the candy, and the chance to see the country.

It was Disney's lifelong fascination with the railroad that in 1950 led to the building of the Carolwood Pacific Railroad (and even before that, a huge Lionel layout in a room adjacent to his office at the Studio).

With his daughters and their friends happily in tow in his backyard, Disney would ride on his 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometre)-long, 1/8th scale miniature railroad. This may have led Walt Disney to include the railroad as the backbone of his family-oriented Disneyland which opened in Anaheim, California in 1955.

Today, railroads and monorails are featured at many Walt Disney Company theme parks worldwide.

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[edit] Backyard railroad

Walt Disney built the Carolwood Pacific Railroad on his property in Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles, California where he and his family moved in 1949. He was inspired by his animators Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston, who already had their own backyard railroads.

The railroad was named for the street on which his home was located — Carolwood Drive. Walt's 2,615 feet (797 metres) of track included a 46-foot (14-metre)-long trestle, loops, overpasses, gradients, an elevated dirt berm, and a 90-foot (27.4-metre) tunnel.

[edit] Steam Locomotive

Walt Disney named his working model steam locomotive Lilly Belle after his wife Lillian
Walt Disney named his working model steam locomotive Lilly Belle after his wife Lillian

Disney admired the beautiful proportions and overall appearance of Central Pacific Railroad's steam locomotive #173. Roger E. Broggie of the Walt Disney Studios machine shop used it as the prototype for a 1/8th scale working model. Walt himself spent many hours building parts for this engine, such as the smoke stack, the flagpoles and other small parts. However, most of the machining was done by studio technicians.

Like the prototype, the working "live steam" locomotive was an "American" type with a 4-4-0 wheel configuration, using the Whyte notation, which indicates the wheel arrangement.

Walt Disney's wife, Lillian, was supportive of Walt's train hobby, although she vetoed a track through her flower beds — Disney had a 90-ft. (27.4-m.) tunnel built instead. Walt named the new steam locomotive Lilly Belle in honor of her. A live steam engine of this type is large enough for the engineer to ride behind (sitting on the tender) while taking cars with passengers around the track.

[edit] Walt Disney's Barn

The layout of Walt's backyard railroad. The "barn" is the small building at top left.
The layout of Walt's backyard railroad. The "barn" is the small building at top left.

Main article: Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn

Walt Disney controlled the track of his backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad from a special barn. The barn served as the storage facility for his rolling stock. It was also the central headquarters for the railroad's operations, with a central control console which included a fully functional signal system utilizing the "block" system — lights on the control panel indicate the presence of a train in a particular block and update the signals accordingly.

The barn was also a place where Disney, a creative man, retired to when needing to relax or develop new ideas.

When the Holmby Hills home was sold, the barn was to be demolished. Through the efforts of the Walt Disney Family Foundation and others, the barn was purchased and relocated to the grounds of the Los Angeles Live Steamers at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The barn is now open to the public for tours through the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society.

[edit] A predecessor to Disney theme parks

The Lilly Belle on display at Disneyland Main Station in 1993. The caboose's woodwork was done entirely by Walt himself.
The Lilly Belle on display at Disneyland Main Station in 1993. The caboose's woodwork was done entirely by Walt himself.
Herbie, [Herb Ryman], I just want it to look like nothing else in the world. And it should be surrounded by a train. —Walt Disney

The first train officially ran on the Carolwood Pacific Railroad on May 15, 1950. Walt used the train to entertain his daughters, their friends, and the children of friends who would visit for dinner, and sometimes the adults themselves. He spent hours upon hours working on his train, which he loved. The backyard railroad is credited with becoming part of his inspiration for the creation of Disneyland, first of the Walt Disney company theme parks. The first designs of the park included a live railroad that circled the park, and that part of the design was kept to the finished product. The existence of the Carolwood Pacific Railroad in Walt's backyard only became widely known to the outside world in the publicity relating to the opening of Disneyland in nearby Anaheim in 1955.

In the 50 years since Disneyland opened, Walt's love of railroads have become an integral part of the Disney tradition. In addition to the original Disneyland in California, there are now railroads circling the Magic Kingdom in Florida,Disneyland Paris in France, and Hong Kong Disneyland in China as well as a scenic train ride attraction at Tokyo Disneyland in Japan.

Walt's fascination with mass transportation led to the now synonymous Disneyland Monorail System, and its sister Walt Disney World Monorail System in Florida which serves as a real form of transport with over 5 million annual passengers, (whereas the older and smaller Disneyland Monorail is more of an attraction).

[edit] Heritage

In 1998, Walt Disney's famous barn was loaned to the City of Los Angeles Los Angeles Live Steamers museum by Disney's heirs, and relocated from his former home by the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society to Griffith Park in Los Angeles, where a large railroad track about 1* miles long allows model railroaders to operate their own equipment and provide free rides to the general public each Sunday.

At Griffith Park, the Disney Barn features displays of Walt Disney, Los Angeles Live Steamers (of which Walt was a member) and railroad related memorabilia. It is opened on the third Sunday of each month to the public. Guided tours are provided by members of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society(www.carolwood.com).

At Disney's Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, there is a mini-museum devoted to Walt's love of railroads.

One of the steam locomotives at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, #2, is named Lilly Belle, in honor of its Carolwood Pacific namesake. On October 21, 2003, Walt Disney World Railroad Steam Engine #3, the Roger E. Broggie was re-dedicated in honor of the late Roger Broggie, who was named a Disney Legend in 1990. It was longtime Disney Imagineer Roger Broggie who had built the original Lilly Belle for Walt's backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad, where much of the fun began over 50 years ago.

[edit] References

  • Broggie, Michael, (1997, 2005) Walt Disney's Railroad Story: The Small-Scale Fascination That Led to a Full-Scale Kingdom Donning Company Publishers, Virginia Beach, Virginia, ISBN 1-56342-009-0.
  • Thomas, Bob, (1994) Walt Disney: An American Original, Disney Editions, ISBN 0-7868-6129-0.

[edit] External links

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