"Combine"

Last week we told you that we would fill you in on the new mission that the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society has taken on! The code word for this project is "Combine"! "Combine" is a railroad term for a coach that carries both passengers and freight. One such car was used on the Missouri Pacific train upon which Walt Disney worked as a 14-year-old news butch. He'd take his breaks in the baggage half of the car. He'd sometimes go out the front door and climb over the tender to get to the cab. Walt would offer the engineer and fireman apples from his family's farm in exchange for getting to ride with them. The crews took a liking to him and it was on this train that he learned how to operate a steam locomotive.

Walt had great memories of that combine. This is why one was part of the "Retlaw 1" passenger train at Disneyland. In 1992, Bill Norred acquired the Retlaw 1 cars, except for the Lilly Belle coach. A few years ago, four of these five coaches were sold, but Bill's family retained the combine because of the special connection to Walt. The Norred family, concerned about the long term survival of the car, have agreed to sell it to the Carolwood Foundation. The plan is to finish restoration of the car and put it on public display at Griffith Park right next to Walt's railroad barn. If you would like to donate to the "Combine" fund and be a part of this historic restoration then go to the link below and follow the instructions.

www.carolwood.org

Talk about your toy trains!

Get ready to start making your Christmas list early this eary because the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society has just updated their website! On their store link there is a whole list of Carolwood treasures that would make any train enthusiats scream! They provide your typical Carolwood Railroad gear with conductor hats, jackets and shirts. There are some really neat collector pins and literature but the crown jewel is the train set. They are offering a full Carolwood Pacific Railroad set with Lilly Belle, rolling stock and caboose in G scale. Now i freqent the Carolwood site every couple of weeks and they never offer any of this stuff in their store in fact i have always laughed at how dismal their product page always was. I think the new restructure of this part of their website is a way to generate some revenue for a new project the society is calling "Combine" but we can leave that discussion for next week. Check out the website.

www.carolwood.com/store

The one that started it all!

Starting in 1949, Ollie Johnston built a 1" scale backyard railroad, with three 1/12th scale locomotives, now owned by his sons. This railroad was one of the inspirations for Walt Disney to build his own backyard railroad, the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, which again inspired the building of the railroad in Disneyland. Ollie was a founding Governor of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society along with his fellow Disney animator and railfan, Ward Kimball. The 1/4 scale Victorian depot from Ollie's backyard was moved and restored to a location near Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn at the area of the Los Angeles Live Steamers club in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.

In the 1960s Ollie acquired and restored a full-size narrow-gauge Porter steam locomotive, which he named the "Marie E." On May 10, 2005 it ran during a private early morning event on the Disneyland Railroad. To date, the only time The Walt Disney Company permitted outside railroad equipment to run at any Disney Resort. This engine and its consist were sold to John Lasseter (of Pixar Studios fame). The engine is fully operational and ran recently at the Santa Margarita Ranch near San Luis Obispo, CA, in May 2007.

Grizzly Flats Railroad

In 1938, Ward Kimball, a life-long railroad fan, decided to purchase the last remaining passenger coach from the Carson and Colorado Railroad. The intention was to use the coach to house the Kimball's growing collection of railroadiana and model trains, but this plan was quickly changed. When the Kimballs learned that the Nevada Central Railroad had a vintage 1881 Baldwin 2-6-0 steam locomotive for sale (the "Sidney Dillon"), arrangements were made to purchase it. The old coach would then be used for its original purpose, as a passenger car.
The dilapidated railroad equipment was soon resting on a short section of track among the Kimball's orange trees. Ward and Betty decided to name their new empire the "Grizzly Flats Railroad", and heralded it as the "Scenic Wonder of the West". Friends and family helped to restore the locomotive to look like a flashy 1860s locomotive. Ward renamed it "Emma Nevada", after a famous opera star of the late 1800s. Coach #5 was colorfully painted and its Carson & Colorado letterboard was changed to "Grizzly Flats Railroad". This work took place on weekends through 1942, at which point, the "Emma Nevada" was first fired-up.
The following years saw addition of a cattle car, a caboose and a Baldwin 0-4-2T plantation locomotive that once ran in Hawaii, which the Kimballs named "Chloe" after their youngest daughter. Ward ceased steaming the "Emma Nevada" in 1951 when it developed boiler problems. In 1956, Kimball began to run the newly-restored "Chloe". The neighbors were probably relieved, as the wood-burning "Chloe" produced cleaner smoke in smaller quantities than the larger coal-burning "Emma Nevada". Over the years, Ward added the Grizzly Flats Depot and some other out-buildings to house his burgeoning toy train and railroadiana collection.

Ticket to Ride

If you were a friend of Walt Disney's during the 1950's then you probably had this piece of documentation. Any personal friend of Walt's would recieve this card, and it would be a pass for unlimited fun and adventure on the Carolwood Pacific Railroad. As you read last week this was a similar pass that helped Harper Goff out of some legal troubles. Yes the name of Walt Disney can be pretty powerful.

A Membership Goes A Long Way!

This is an excert from the book "Walt Disney's Railroad Story"

Chugging Along!

We are almost half way through the summer which means fall is just around the corner! The big event that awaits us next season is the grand opening of The Walt Disney Family Museum! The scheduled opening date is October 1, 2009 and tickets go on sale August 1, 2009. In addition to the many awards and personal belongs that will be on display to tell the tale of Walt Disney, there is one that is of personal interest to us! The display of the Carolwood Pacific Railroad with Lilly Belle and all! We will keep you posted on any further devlopement on the museum.