One of the most iconic pictures of Walt Disney is this one:

Walt riding the “Lilly Belle” train at the studio. Image from: http://disunplugged.com/2013/01/14/walt-disney-the-railroader/

There are handfuls of pictures of Walt riding miniature trains in different locations, sometimes accompanied by other people. Why was this? Did he go out and find these trains? Were they a part of Disneyland at some point? Actually, they were his own miniature trains that he built with Roger Broggie in his backyard in Holmby Hills, before Disneyland was created.

Railroads Through Childhood

During his childhood, Walt grew up around trains and the railway, sometimes accompanying his father to work on the transcontinental railway. He had heard stories from his uncle who worked on the Union Pacific Railroad too, and the machinery of the locomotives fascinated him. He did work at the Missouri Pacific Railroad for a short time as a teenager, but it didn’t quite satisfy his desire to do more with trains. That desire clearly never went away.

The Carolwood Pacific Railroad

In 1948, Walt’s friend Ward Kimball invited him to the Chicago Railroad Fair. He had also seen Dick Jackson’s own scale-railroad in his backyard too. These trips inspired Walt to do the same, build his own train in his own backyard finally. Walt worked mostly on the woodwork of the train and the locomotive cab, while Roger Broggie worked on the other elements to the railroad. Walt had also built a barn to have the operations out of, and to become his own workshop for other projects too. The barn is now on display and open to the public at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. They had named the railroad The Carolwood Pacific Railroad.

Lilly Belle

The model train was named the Lilly Belle, after Walt’s wife Lillian. The Lilly Belle was a 1:8 scale locomotive, designed based on the “blueprints for the Central Pacific No. 173, a steam locomotive rebuilt by the Central Pacific Railroad in 1872”, as said by Wikipedia.

The Lilly Belle was featured in a television special that promoted “Alice in Wonderland” in 1951. The train operated in Walt’s backyard from 1950-1953, when a minor steam accident occurred and Walt shut the operations down. For 15 years the Lilly Belle sat at the studio unused, but after Walt’s death it was moved to be on display at the Main Street USA train station. In 2000, it was moved again to the Walt Disney Family Museum, where you can see it in all of its original glory today. A replica of the train was built by Roger Broggie Jr, where it could be displayed once again at the Main Street USA train station.

Disneyland Railroad

Walt Disney with a Disneyland train. Image from: https://allears.net/2019/11/06/7-opening-day-disneyland-rides-we-still-love-today/

The Disneyland & Santa Fe Railroad was built for the park to also satisfy Walt’s love for trains. It was one of Walt’s first ideas for the amusement park, mapping out the route as soon as they got the clearance to build. It is one of the opening day attractions that still stands today with modifications. Earl Vilmer, a WW2 railroad builder, was responsible for the track layout and operations, to ensure both trains could operate at the same time. There were originally 2 trains: the Retlaw 1 which consisted of the No. 2 locomotive, a combine car, 4 coach cars and an observation coach. Retlaw 2 would be pulled by the No. 1 locomotive, and have 3 cattle cars, 2 gondolas, and a caboose. Both trains combined cost the company about $240,000, out of the total $17 million it took to build Disneyland. Both trains changed as time went on, adding different elements to each car, and a 3rd train was added on March 28th, 1958 due to its popularity.

In 1974, the Retlaw 1 train went out of service due to its slow loading times, and the observation coach was converted into a parlor car, renamed and redone to become the VIP Lilly Belle car. Disney acquired more trains from various sellers to add to the railroad, and today there are 5 still running: the CK Holiday, EP Ripley, Ernest Marsh, Fred Gurley, and Ward Kimball. Here are images of the trains today retrieved from (https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/07/disneyland-railroad-through-the-years/):

He wanted to feature the railroad in Disney World too, but when he died before the park could be completed, Roger Broggie made sure to include 4 locomotives, all of which he acquired from Mexico, to the Magic Kingdom. They were built between 1916 and 1928, all restored so guests can enjoy them today.