The Carolwood Pacific Railroad was a model train set Walt Disney had built around his entire property in 1949. It was not the type of small model train set you are probably imagining but an actual running steam engine on a 1/8 scale track. This project combined Walt’s love of trains and miniature models and the train was named after the street Walt and his family lived on at 355 Carolwood Drive, Los Angeles. The Disney home had the most popular yard in the neighbourhood as Walt would give rides to the neighbour kids and allow guest engineers to operate his train.
When the Disneys bought a 5 acre property in Holmby Hills in 1949, both Walt and his wife Lillian had their own big plans for the yard. Walt wanted to have his very own train running entirely around the house and through the backyard but Lillian want to grow a beautiful flower garden to show off to her friends. In order to compromise, the couple had an official right-of-way agreement drawn up and their daughters were witnesses of the signing of this legal document. The right-of-way agreement allowed Walt to run his train through the backyard like he wanted, but only if it was underneath the flower garden! Walt had a whole crew of his studio workers involved in this project and Jack Rorex, who supervised the construction of the Disney Studios backlot, made the suggestion of a tunnel to be made under the garden so it became known as Rorex Tunnel. He also suggested to Walt that the tunnel be made with an S-curve so passengers could not see the light at the end when they first entered. Walt was very excited about this extra thrill!
Another important member of Walt’s crew was Roger Broggie. Roger was considered the very first Disney Imagineer and help Walt design and build the Carolwood Pacific. Roger even has one of the Walt Disney World steam engines dedicated to him: the #3 Roger E. Broggie. His son, Michael Broggie, formed the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society which celebrates Walt’s love of trains which is still active today.
Walt wanted his train to have a classic look from the Victorian era, with lots of brass and decorative scrollwork. Another thing Walt was adamant about was having a real working steam engine to pull the train cars. Walt and his team built a steam engine from scratch and it was named the Lilly Belle for Lillian Disney. All of the cars and the caboose were also made completely from scratch.
The very first Lilly Belle had its first test run on Christmas Eve of 1949. The test run took place on a small track loop in Sound Stage One at the studios during Walt’s Christmas party. The entire project was completed and up and running by early May 1950. The track was almost 800 metres long and contained 11 switches. The control room was built in a small barn, nicknamed Walt’s Barn. This barn was reminiscent of Walt’s happy childhood memories of the Disney family farm in Marceline, Missouri. The film So Dear to My Heart (1949) also had a bright red barn built on set and Walt wanted his barn to be modeled after it. Both barns were built by architect John Cowles Jr. The majority of the train track ran through Yensid Valley, the name given to the lower tier of the Disney’s yard.
The Carolwood Pacific Railroad ran for 3 years and gave rides to many passengers. However, in the spring of 1953, the Lilly Belle went around a corner too fast and tipped over. The whistle broke in the fall, causing steam to burst out and badly burn a little guest. Walt did not want to take any chances with people’s safety so he stored the train at the studios. Today the Lilly Belle is on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.
Since Walt was always moving on to the next biggest thing, the people closest to him knew that he must have another project forming. Roger Broggie said of the situation “Walt doesn’t give up, so he must have something else in mind.” That something turned out to be Disneyland, built just the following year. Disneyland was made with a train track running entirely around the park, similar to the Disney property, and the same Victorian era designs could be seen in those steam engines and train cars as well. The Disneyland Railroad was there opening day and is still a very popular attraction for guests of all ages.
All Aboard!!
Fun Fact: The name Yen Sid is also the name of the sorcerer in the film Fantasia (1940) and is actually Disney spelt backwards.
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