Disneyland Railroad

Board an old-fashioned steam train for a 20 minute grand-circle tour around Disneyland, with stops at Main Street, U.S.A., New Orleans Square, Mickey's Toontown, and Tomorrowland. All aboard these old-fashioned locomotives for a relaxing and entertaining trip around Disneyland Park! Step back in time with this gem that perches on a berm above the Park entrance. With its turn-of-the-century architecture and lush gardens, the station offers the first point of entry for those who wish to soak up the scenery on this grand circuit tour.

Walt Disney developed a love of trains at an early age. When he was a young adult, he built a half-mile scale model railway in his backyard that he called the "Carolwood Pacific Railroad." The Disneyland Railroad was one of the first attractions he planned for his new park. Disneyland has featured vintage, and actually steam-powered, trains since it opened in 1955. One of the first things Disneyland visitors see as they approach the park is the Main Street train station - and the train's steam whistle may be one of the first sounds they hear.

Need a lift from one land to the other? The trains travel clockwise for about 18 minutes through a total of 4 stations, each styled to the theme of its land:

• Main Street, U.S.A.
• New Orleans Square
• Mickey's Toontown
• Tomorrowland

For a dramatic change of scenery, take in these 2 fascinating dioramas between the Tomorrowland and Main Street, U.S.A. stations: Grand Canyon - The Grand Canyon opens before you to reveal sun-kissed vistas that spill across the horizon. The canyon ridges are home to all kinds of critters such as mountain lions, mountain sheep, deer and elk. Primeval World - Welcome to the world of dinosaurs! This diorama reveals a mysterious, prehistoric landscape where such dinosaurs as the Apatosaurus, Pterodactyl, Triceratops and more roam.

Running on bio-diesel fuel, these trains are mean "green" steam machines! Listen to the chug-chug-chug of the engine, the churn of the wheels and the wail of the whistle as you take in some of the terrain that surrounds the Park. Each is lovingly detailed with a fine finish and striped awnings. Per Walt Disney's vision, the trains are purely historical in design. Only one has any reference to a Disney character - a golden silhouette of Jiminy Cricket. This appears on the Ward Kimball train, which was named after the legendary Disney animator who fostered Walt's love for locomotives.

Layout

The 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge track (North America's most common narrow gauge) is laid in a continuous circuit around the park. (The park's publicly accessible areas were extended beyond the track's perimeter with the construction of Mickey's Toontown.) The line features several bridges, grade crossings, including one for parade floats east of "It's a small world" which doubles as access to the service track, yard and roundhouse for locomotive and train storage and maintenance, located backstage beneath the monorail roundhouse. The line previously featured automatic block signals, but they are no longer in use. The service road is protected by two miniature wigwag crossing signals. The Santa Fe Railway offered the use of full-scale crossing signals, but Disney declined as they would be out of scale with the trains. These scaled-down replicas were designed and built by the Santa Fe Railway San Bernardino shops as a gift to Disneyland. They operate with automotive windshield wiper motors.

Stations, Route and Tour

The 1.5-mile (2.4 km) loop originally only stopped at Main Street or Frontierland. The Frontierland Station was renovated when that section of the park opened in 1966. It was renamed to be the New Orleans Square station at a later date. The loop expanded to stops at Fantasyland (which became Mickey's Toontown station) and Tomorrowland.

Main Street Station is designed to coordinate architecturally with the rest of Main Street, and is the first Disneyland structure visitors see upon entering the park. A sign on the roof shows an elevation of 138 feet (42 m) above sea level (though this figure is only approximate) and a population number that roughly corresponds with the number of visitors to the park over the past five decades. As of January 2005 the number stood at 500 million. An ornately decorated Kalamazoo handcar is on permanent display in front of the station on the former passing turnout once utilized by Retlaw 2, the Frontierland freight train, when each train stopped for passengers only at its own station. It is rumored that the handcar was donated to Walt Disney himself around 1955 by railroad historian and Disney friend Jerry Best. However, there is no evidence of this even in the Disney Archives. On display inside the station are various photos and print articles pertaining to DLRR history, vintage penny scale and Orchestron player and a replica of Walt's 1/8 scale live-steam garden railroad locomotive Lilly Belle; the original engine, tender and the caboose with detailed interior hand-crafted entirely by Walt was in the display case for many years on loan from the Disney family, which are now featured at the Walt Disney Family Museum.

The journey from Main Street station travels northwest along Disneyland's border, just outside the park's main berm from the Jungle Cruise. Guests get a glimpse of an antelope on the berm and for many years a cougar yowled at the trains before the train passes thru Pirates of the Caribbean themed as Mardi Gras Carnival staging area.

New Orleans Square Station platform shelter is stylistically similar to Main Street Station. The Depot building on the west side of the tracks (inspired by the Grizzly Flats Railroad Depot) originally served as the station platform; in 1962 it was removed from service and moved across the realigned tracks, in preparation for the New Orleans Square expansion, which now serves primarily as an ornamental detail and break room for train crews. The Land Line Telegraphy extension of Morse code sound effect heard emanating from the depot Telegraph Office, historically used by telegraphers on operating railroads, repeats endlessly the first two lines of Walt Disney's 1955 opening day speech "To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future."

The journey from New Orleans Square, the train passes into a tunnel thru the berm between the Haunted Mansion's facade and show building. Shortly thereafter passengers catch a glimpse of Splash Mountain's "Zip-a-Dee Lady" riverboat finale scene before crossing over Critter Country Lane on a trestle. The track then follows the outer edge of the Rivers of America, where guests glimpse minor wildlife scenes, a friendly Indian chief on a horse, and a view of a settler's log cabin across the river on Tom Sawyer's Island. Originally, the Burning Settler's Cabin was shown being under attack by Indians, with roof, door and windows ablaze, accompanied by Indian war chants, war-whoops and hollers coming from the distance with an arrow in the back of the settler fallen in front of his cabin; these elements were modified in the 1970s to represent a victim of evil river pirates complete with unconvincing fire of blown cellophane and silk ala Pirates of the Caribbean (attraction), the exploded alcohol still of an inebriated moonshiner (now with real fire again) in the 1980s, an eagle's nest threatened by the careless settler's blaze in the early 1990's, all of which proved politically incorrect and was eventually extinguished at the end of 1999. During the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island makeover, asbestos was removed and the cabin refurbished to represent a sustainable homestead. The train then passes behind Festival of Fools picnic grounds, through a tunnel in the berm (actually the heavy equipment bridge to the interior,) and into Toontown Depot.

In 1956, a year after Disneyland's opening, Fantasyland Depot was constructed where the photo kiosk is today. Nearly ten years later in 1965 the canvas tent station was closed, dismantled and the track realigned northward from directly behind Casey Jr. Circus Train to its present location to accommodate construction of "It's a small world", incorporating the railroad line into its facade. In 1985 Videopolis Station was built, then rethemed to a cartoonish design to correspond with the new Mickey's Toontown opened in January 1993. Toontown Depot seems to be the most crowded station on the railroad. Upon leaving the depot, the trains pass through the facade of "it's a small world" and roll past backstage areas, such as parts of the parade route and mechanical stations.

The trains then pass Autopia before entering Tomorrowland Station, a Googie-styled depot built in 1958, themed with a Victorian era bronze color scheme of steampunk anachronistic technology aesthetic envisioned by the 1998 New Tomorrowland project, and painted over with whites, silvers, and blues. A trivision billboard outside the station promotes the Railroad as a time travel device, with stops in 1900 (Main Street, U.S.A.), 1860 (Frontierland), and c.200,000,000 B.C. (Primeval World).

Leaving the Tomorrowland station, viewers get a quick glimpse of the Innoventions building and enter the Grand Canyon diorama building via faux tunnel, followed by the Primeval World diorama featuring dinosaurs created for Ford's Magic Skyway pavilion of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. After a brief stretch along the berm, the train re-enters the Main Street station.

Touring Tips

• Guests may board the Disneyland Railroad at any of its four stations: Main Street, U.S.A., New Orleans Square, Mickey's Toontown, and Tomorrowland. Guests may disembark at any of these stations, or stay on board for the full grand-circle tour - or even longer. The full tour takes about 20 minutes and features a recorded narration describing the sights along the way.
• Take the Grand Circle Tour that takes you around the entire park. It is a relaxing ride and the perfect break during the day.
• The train is the just the thing for tired kids and a great place to get your babies to take a nap.
• If not taking the Grand Circle Tour be sure to at least ride the train between Mickey's Toon Town and Tomorrowland. You'll find more than just a train ride, but plenty of entertainment along the way as you pass through a tunnel with dinosaurs!
• Also be sure to ride the train between New Orleans Square and Mickey's Toon Town. As the train passes through Critter Country it takes you directly through Splash Mountain. You get a great view of Splash Mountain with out having to get wet like the riders and you can even chuckle a little as you see the wet loggers gliding by as they have just descended from the big drop.
• If taking the train as transportation to your next destination you will have to be able to fold your stroller up to take it on the train with you. If taking the Grand Circle Tour you can leave your stroller in the parking area near the station and pick it up upon your return. Just make sure to take any valuables you have along with you when leaving your stroller for a long amount of time.
• The railroad usually runs until just before the evening's fireworks. In fact, the elevated Main Street station is a terrific, and extremely popular, fireworks and parade viewing area.
• There are some good views of the Rivers of America, including the settler's cabin, wildlife, and the Native American chief on horseback, from the train.
• Wheelchair/ECV users should be aware that boarding instructions differ at the different railroad stations. There is no ramp or elevator at the Main Street, U.S.A. station, so you must be able to climb the stairs to board there. At the other stations proceed up the exit ramp - a limited number of wheelchairs and ECVs can be loaded onto the last car.
• Strollers are permitted in the railroad cars, but must be folded.
• There are no doors on the cars, and children should be seated towards the inside, away from the open doorways.
• The seats are wooden benches with backs. On most of the trains the seats face sideways, giving you a good view of the sights along the way.

Facts

• There are five trains on the Disneyland Railroad: the C.K. Holliday, E.P. Ripley, Ernest Marsh, Fred Gurley, and Ward Kimball.
• The fancy "caboose" at the end of one of the trains is actually a Victorian parlor car called the Lilly Belle, after Walt Disney's wife Lillian. It's lavishly decorated in the Victorian style, and normally available only for use by Disney's VIP guests, though as part of the "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion, guests are being allowed to ride. The Lilly Belle was in service from 1976 until 1996 and returned in January 2006 after an extensive rehab.
• The locomotives are powered by steam, which means they must periodically fill the boilers with water. There is a functional water tower at the New Orleans Square Station, and the trains will occasionally make longer stops there while they take on water.
• The railroad operates daily, taking its first passengers at the park's opening, year-round. A round trip on the DLRR is usually 20 minutes.
• Each train is manned by four Disney "cast members": two conductors, an engineer, and a fireman. The engineer is charged with operation of the locomotive and the fireman is responsible for maintaining the fire as well as water level in the boiler.
• The conductors are responsible for the operation and safety of each station and the trains. Duties as station attendants involve passenger counts, answering questions and assisting passengers. While on the train the conductor runs the spiel box and makes safety announcements (narration is left up to a recorded voice). Trains cannot move without approval from the conductor. The conductors work in rotation.
• Early in the morning the first crew arrives at the enginehouse to get the first train ready to depart. The maintenance crew will mark on the board which trains are to be used and the order in which they are to be removed from the roundhouse. The first crew will prep and take out the first train listed. Safety and readiness checks are performed by the conductor as the enginemen prepare the locomotive for a day of operation, known as hostling. The conductor, who is in charge of the train and its motion, inspects the track and arrangement of the switches in the yard outside of the roundhouse to ensure safe passage out of the roundhouse to the park.
• At park closing, the conductors announce the departure of the last train, also known as the "Sweeper Train". All guests can ride until the train arrives back at Main Street station. Once back at Main Street the conductors walk the length of the train to ensure that there are no passengers remaining and any items left behind are unloaded to the station attendants and brought to lost and found. The procedure is the same for all trains.

History

The Disneyland Railroad (DLRR), originally the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a narrow gauge railroad at Disneyland, Anaheim, California, United States, that was inaugurated on the park's live television preview on July 17, 1955. This live steam railway was constructed for $240,000; each of the original two locomotives cost $40,000 each. Riders use it as transportation to other areas of the park or simply for the experience of the "Grand Circle Tour". The Main Street railroad station is situated at the entrance of Disneyland.

From Concept to Inauguration

Roger E. Broggie, master machinist at Disney Studios, was familiar with fabricating small camera parts with precision. Walt approached him to create a 1/8 scale live steam locomotive while training Walt as a machinist. The Disneyland Railroad was inspired by Walt Disney's love for trains, while tinkering in the barn of his live steam backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad. Since the first spark of the idea of the park which would later evolve into Disneyland, each design concept held one thing in common...and it will be surrounded by a train." - Walt Disney

In 1953 the Walt Disney Company solicited major railroads for corporate sponsorship of the attraction. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway was the only company to respond. AT&SF sponsorship offset construction and fabrication costs and it opened and operated as the "Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad" until 1974. Unlike most of Disneyland and its arrangement with its sponsors, the Disneyland Railroad, as well as the Mark Twain Riverboat (and later the Monorail) was entirely owned and operated by Walt himself as owner, president and sole proprietor of Retlaw (Walter, spelled backwards.) incorporated privately for the operation. He mortgaged his Palm Springs property Smoke Tree Ranch to finance the construction of the Mark Twain. Railroad, riverboat (and later the Monorail) crew worked directly for Walt, and he personally autographed their paychecks.

Retlaw originally custom-built all of its full-scale narrow-gauge equipment in house, through creative financing paying his other companies for the work. WED Enterprises constructed the original two locomotives in the roundhouse at Disneyland (then located West of Hollidayland) under the supervision of Roger Broggie, the first Imagineer. Using the 1/8 scale miniature CP #173 Lilly Belle steam locomotive (pictured) which Broggie had been commissioned to fabricate by Walt for his backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad as a pattern, the locomotives are examples of "American"-style 4-4-0s, scaled up from 1/8th to larger five-eighths scale, a proportional equivalent to the three foot narrow gauge Disneyland Railroad trackage. The fire tube boilers are fired by spraying and igniting fuel oil onto a ceramic plate burner. Locomotive No. 1 was given a big spark arresting diamond stack of wood-burning locomotives and a large, pointed pilot (cowcatcher) representing a workhorse used to construct a railroad while the flagship No. 2 was given a straight stack and smaller pilot common to East Coast coal-burning locomotives representing highball speed of express passenger service on smooth straight rails. From safety and signaling to conductors punching passenger tickets with a smile, all aspects of operations were "just like the big ones".

Two trains operated on opening day. Locomotive #2, serviced only Main Street station; it hauled a passenger train consisting of yellow coaches, #101 - the combine, partial baggage/express and coach seating, coaches #102-105, and the Grand Canyon observation coach #106 with larger arched windows, an observation platform and drumhead at the rear. Locomotive #1 serviced the Frontierland depot, hauling a freight train consisting of cattle cars, gondolas numbered 201–205 and a caboose #208. The two trains could each operate on the railroad simultaneously and independently in the same clockwise direction. Rail sidings at Main Street Station and Frontierland Depot allowed them to pass the one disembarking/embarking passengers.

July 17, 1955, beginning the historic ABC broadcast with Art Linkletter and Ronald Reagan on the platform as Walt throttled down #2 pulling Retlaw-1 into Main Street Station, Art introduced him along with California Governor Goodwin J. Knight and Fred G. Gurley (in his capacity as president of the Santa Fe) and their families riding in the open door of the combine #101 as they began to preside over the opening-day ceremonies.

As the park had grown, and ridership increased, more trains were needed. When more trains were eventually added the operation was changed: the trains no longer passed each other, and a Tomorrowland station was built. The passing track at Main Street Station was disconnected and now is only used to display a narrow gauge Kalamazoo handcar. The tracks at Frontierland Depot were moved several times and the passing track was removed completely; the original station was moved across the tracks and the New Orleans Square/Frontierland station replaced it. Walt Disney dictated that two trains were to operate at all times, and it is not uncommon for three or four trains to run simultaneously on busy days. Walt's railroading hobby qualified him with extensive experience operating steam locomotives and guests frequently saw him making rounds of the park acting as engineer in a locomotive cab.

The Grand Canyon/Primeval World Diorama

The 1958 addition of the Grand Canyon diorama painted by artist Delmer J. Yoakum necessitated a change in the rolling stock as well; instead of facing forward, the new flatcars' benches now faced right so that the passengers could better enjoy the scenes. The diorama, which includes taxidermic animals (the only ones in the park) in lifelike poses, is the longest in the world. Painted on a single piece of seamless canvas and representing the view from the canyon's south rim, the rear of the diorama measures 306 feet (93 m) long, 34 feet (10 m) high and is covered with 300 gallons (1,100 L) of paint in 14 colors. Animals that are included in the diorama include mule deer, mountain lion, desert bighorn sheep, golden eagle, wild turkeys, striped skunk and porcupine. A 96-year-old Hopi chief, Chief Nevangnewa, blessed the trains on the diorama's opening day. The cost was US$367,000, and it took 80,000 labor hours to construct. The main theme of Ferde Grofe's "On The Trail," the third movement from his Grand Canyon Suite, is piped in through the train's sound system as it enters the diorama.

In 1966, the diorama was expanded with a prehistoric theme to become the "Grand Canyon/Primeval World" diorama, with Audio-Animatronic dinosaurs from Walt Disney's 1964 New York World's Fair attraction Ford Magic Skyway. At the same time as the track expansion on the east side of the park, the track on the western side of the park was extended to make room for the New Orleans Square expansion, including buildings for the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. The northern alignment of the track was moved farther north from just behind Casey Jr. Circus Train to allow for an expansion of the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland. That area is now home to the Big Thunder Ranch, the unused Festival Arena, and Fantasyland Theater, currently home to the Princess Fantasy Faire.

Since its opening July 17, 1955 until 1974 Santa Fe sponsored the SF&DLRR attraction. Due to the Amtrak nationalization of passenger train business in 1971, Santa Fe no longer operated passenger service and could not justify the expense of DLRR sponsorship. This, along with Santa Fe's desire to upgrade the park's diminutive steam locomotives with representative powerful modern diesel electric engines, led to failure of negotiations to extend the sponsorship contract, and the Santa Fe name was removed, though the engines' names remained. Santa Fe expected their marque to remain until casually replaced, but all references were replaced with the new Disneyland Railroad emblem by park opening the very next day, including the riveted panel from monorail red salvaged from the trash by Bob Gurr on display at Walt's Barn.

Hidden Mickeys

• In honor of Disneyland's 50th anniversary a "Hidden Mickey" was placed on the roof of the Main Street, U.S.A. train station.
• Engine No. 3 Fred Gurley - Disneyland Railroad: A Hidden Mickey has been drilled into a stop bracket that sits on top of the Engine No. 3 Fred Gurley's tender.
• Engine No. 5 Ward Kimball - Disneyland Railroad: A Hidden Mickey has been drilled into a bracket that sits on top of the No. 5 Ward Kimball's tender tank. The Classic Mickey can be seen clearly through the glass from the first train car.