The Carolwood Pacific Railroad is a miniature garden rail that Walt Disney built in 1950 in the backyard of his Los Angeles home. Walt Disney decided to build his own garden rail, inspired by the enthusiasm of animators Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston , who had miniature railways in the backyard.
The name of the railway is due to the street on which Walt Disney’s house stood - 355 N. Carolwood Drive .
The total length of the railroad track of the Pacific Karlwood Railway was 797 meters with a gauge width of 184 millimeters. A railroad surrounded the house (see diagram) and had forks, climbs uphill and even a 27 meter long tunnel that ran under flower beds.
The Lilly Belle locomotive ( Beauty Lily ) was moving along the railway, outwardly resembling a Central Pacific # 173 steam locomotive model in a one-to-eight scale type 4-4-0. In its composition, it had a miniature steam engine powerful enough to drag several wagons with passengers sitting on them. In his spare time, Walt Disney spent time with his daughters and their friends riding a locomotive.
After the sale of Disney's home, the railroad was dismantled to increase the total usable area. In 1998, thanks to the efforts of the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum and the Disney Family Foundation, part of the railroad was redeemed and a museum built.
Content
History
As a child, Walt Disney wanted to become a train engineer following the example of his cousin Michael Martin, who ran trains at the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway [1] . Disney's father also worked at one time on the Union Pacific Railroad as part of a railroad installation team. Walt himself, as a teenager, was engaged in small-scale trade in sweets, magazines, cigarettes at one of the Missouri Pacific Railroad stations, and sometimes he managed to get into the cab of drivers who showed Walt how to control a steam locomotive for chewing tobacco.
Interest in trains at Walt Disney resumed in 1947 when, after a minor injury while playing polo, he acquired himself several miniature Lionel trains to occupy himself for the duration of the restoration [2] . This interest was also fueled by animators Olli Johnston and Ward Kimball , who worked at the Disney studio: Olli Johnston had a miniature railway on a scale of one to twelve, and Ward Kimball had a small railway , and Walt enjoyed watching this unusual hobby.
On June 1, 1949, Walt Disney acquired 5 acres of land in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles . On this land, he decides to build a family mansion and a miniature railway. The original plan included a railroad with a length of 797.1 meters with a gauge of 184 mm, on which there should have been 11 arrows, overpasses and embankments. However, Disney's wife Lilian was against the part of the plan that affected the plot of the territory where she planned to arrange a flower garden, so as a compromise in the plan a tunnel appeared that passed under the flower garden.
Work on the railway was completed in 1949 and cost a total of $ 50,000. An official contract was drawn up for the railroad with the assistance of Walt's lawyer, which established the right to own and manage the railroad. This contract was signed by Walt and Lilian, and their children were witnesses. The locomotive for the railroad was built in a workshop at the Disney studio under the leadership of Roger Broga. It was a one-to-eight steam locomotive based on the Central Pacific No. 173 "with wheel sets of type 4-4-0. The wooden cabin for the steam locomotive was made by Disney himself, and Brogie helped him with the remaining parts, including the chimney and head lamp. The mechanics of Broga made a drive for the locomotive, which was tested on December 24, 1949 on a small railway loop during the Christmas party at the studio. The steam locomotive was driven by a miniature steam engine, which was refueled with crushed coal. A steam boiler could hold up to 13.2 liters of water, and a firebox up to 4.5 kilograms of coal. Directly along the Disney railway, the locomotive drove for the first time on May 7, 1950.
In addition to the locomotive for the railway, wagons were also made, characterized by a large number of small parts. So, in the same workshop, 6 metal open-top wagons with wooden walls with a grained pattern were made, other wagons of various types, including a cabin , for which miniature interior items were made. With the exception of frames, the wagons were made by Walt Disney himself. When the railway was not used, these cars were in the tunnel, except for the cabin, which was stored in the barn.
Switching arrows on the railway was carried out remotely from the control panel, which was located in a separate barn. The appearance of the barn was based on one of the scenery from the movie "So Dear to My Heart", which in turn was based on Disney's childhood memories of a barn on a family farm in Marceline, Missouri [3] . In the barn was a map of the railway, on which with the help of bulbs it was possible to determine where the train was located.
Disney Railroad began to attract attention after articles in some magazines, in particular, the magazine “Look” in the September 1951 issue [4] . Walt Disney sometimes invited those who wish to ride on the train. The locomotive's steam engine could develop traction up to 8,900 Newtons , which was enough for 12 adult passengers. No brakes were provided in the locomotive, so for braking it was necessary to switch the drive to reverse.
At the beginning of 1953, one of the visitors, having strongly dispersed the locomotive, caused it to capsize when entering a turn. A hot stream of steam escaped from the steam train pipe, which slightly burned the legs of a curious girl who had run up [5] . After this incident, Disney closed the railway for a long time to visit, and the locomotive was left in storage in the studio. The railway started working again only in 1964.
Further fate
In 1965, Disney dismantled 457.2 meters of the railway track and donated to lovers of miniature locomotives, in the club of which he himself was a member. In 1968 (after the death of Disney), Lillian donated the remaining rails to the Live Steamers club in Los Angeles. In 1997, the Disney house was put up for sale, by that time there was still a tunnel and a barn from the railway. Disney House was demolished in 1998 due to a weak foundation. In 1999, with the assistance of Morgan Evans, a Disney landscape designer, the original barn was moved to a new location. After its restoration, a museum was built in it.
Since 2009, the locomotive and some wagons are on display at the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco .
Impact
According to Disney's memoirs, the Pacific Ocean Karlwood Railway partly inspired him to build an amusement park in Anaheim . Already in the early concept of the park, a railway was included, which was supposed to transport visitors past miniature cities and towns. The narrow-gauge railway was retained in the final design of the park.
The Disneyland CK Holliday locomotive is very similar to the Lilly Belle locomotive because the same drawing was used to build it. Copies of the Lilly Belle drawing were sold to amateurs through the Walt Disney Miniature Railroad, founded in 1950, as independent of Walt Disney Productions.
Notes
- ↑ Broggie, 2014 , p. 35.
- ↑ Broggie, 2014 , pp. 44-45.
- ↑ Broggie, 2014 , p. 121.
- ↑ Broggie, 2014 , pp. 173-175.
- ↑ Broggie, 2014 , pp. 179-180.
Literature
- Michael Broggie Walt Disney Railroad History: A Little Hobby That Underpins the Full-Scale Kingdom = Walt Disney's Railroad Story: The Small-Scale Fascination That Led to a Full-Scale Kingdom. - 4th ed. - The Donning Company Publishers, 2014 .-- ISBN 978-1-57864-914-3 .
Links
- Carolwood Pacific Historical Society Official Site
- Carolwood Foundation (non-profit)
- Carolwood Pacific unofficial website
- Disney's Barn website
- Los Angeles Live Steamers official website
- Disneyland Rail today
- Magic Behind the Steam Trains Tour webpage
- Hidden Mickey's Disney Train Secrets webpage
- Disneyland Rail History
- Walt Disney World Dedication of Steam Engine # 3 Roger E. Broggie (link not available)
- Walt's backyard railroad