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Walt built a railroad in his backyard
Model trains
In the late 1940s, Walt got deep into large-scale model trains, built at one-eighth the scale of a real locomotive and big enough to ride. He traveled to the 1948 and 1949 Chicago train fairs to join other enthusiasts, and built train cars himself in the Burbank machine shop alongside its crew. The shop's leader, Roger Broggie, would become the first Imagineer.
The Carolwood Pacific
The $50,000 was a huge share of his personal liquidity. When he and his wife Lillian shopped for a home, room for a train layout was a major consideration. The railroad was named the Carolwood Pacific for the street, its steam engine was named the Lilly Belle for his wife, and its half mile of track ran through the tunnel under her garden.
Engines on the Disney parks' railroads still carry names from this period: the Lilly Belle at Walt Disney World, and engines named for Ward Kimball, the animator who got him into the hobby, for Roger Broggie, and for Roy Disney.
Toward Disneyland
Walt always described Disneyland as starting when he watched his daughters on a merry-go-round and wanted a place where parents and children could have fun together. The first working name was Mickey Mouse Village, which became Disneyland as the plans filled up with trains, Americana, and miniatures.
How do live steam trains actually run?
A live steam locomotive burns coal or oil to heat water in a boiler. The steam pushes pistons that turn the wheels, just as on a full-size engine. A one-eighth scale engine, about one and a half inches to the foot, is big enough to carry an adult rider. Hobbyists build them in machine shops from raw metal.
How did trains shape Disneyland's layout?
Disneyland's railroad circles the park on top of a berm, with stations at the entrance and in other lands. Magic Kingdom in Florida followed the same pattern. The trains give guests a first view of the park and a way to cross it. Each park's main entrance runs past a station.
Where did Walt's love of trains begin?
Walt's uncle, Mike Martin, drove locomotives for the Santa Fe railroad. Walt grew up watching trains and riding them as a boy. In adulthood, he took the hobby to a larger scale in Burbank. The Carolwood Pacific was built from that early fascination.
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