On Saturday, May 10th, visitors to The Walt Disney Family Museum were afforded an excellent opportunity to be reminded of Walt's great enthusiasm for trains. And a perfectly fitting day it was for such a topic as May 10th was not only National Train Day, it also marked the 145th anniversary of the driving in of the "Golden Spike.”
As the doors to the Museum opened that morning, visitors were greeted by model train producer Lowell Smith and his wife Barbara. Lowell was on hand for the release and signing of his commemorative, limited-edition Great Locomotive Chase boxed train sets. The set, which is available in the Museum store, includes N scale replicas of the two Civil War era locomotives, The General and The Texas, that participated in the chase; a commemorative pin; a lobby card; a small poster replica; space for storage of The Great Locomotive Chase DVD, and a certificate of authenticity.
Later that day at 3pm a sold-out crowd packed the Museum’s theater for an informative presentation and a big-screen showing of the movie The Great Locomotive Chase (1956). The host was Michael Campbell, President of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society, who has planned exhibits celebrating Walt Disney's love of trains at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento and at the Disney Gallery in Disneyland. Campbell has also led the effort to acquire and preserve the Fort Wilderness Railroad and the Santa Fe/Disneyland Retlaw 1 Combine Car. In addition, he’s delivered presentations about Walt and trains at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Pixar Animation Studios, and collaborated with the late Diane Disney Miller and son Walter to establish the train exhibits in the Museum.
Campbell's strong passion for the program’s subject matter was infectious, and it didn't take long for the audience to become just as excited for what was to come. After providing important context for the presentation, Campbell introduced fellow speaker Joel Fritsche, an executive director at Walt Disney Imagineering, whose many accomplishments include his work on the following attractions: Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad; Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disneyland; Mission: SPACE, Test Track, and Wildlife Express Rail at Walt Disney World; and most recently, Red Car Trolley at Disney California Adventure.
What made Fritsche especially well-suited for the program is that he is a true Civil War historian and because of that, he could explain the real life events and participants connected with the actual occurrence of the Great Locomotive Chase in 1862. After he expertly set the scene, Fritsche joined Campbell in presenting a wonderful surprise for the audience: a film clip courtesy of the Walt Disney Film Archives that showed Walt introducing The Great Locomotive Chase when it aired on his TV show, "Disneyland.”
After then viewing the 1956 film starring Fess Parker, the audience was introduced to the third guest speaker, artist and visual effects designer Harrison Ellenshaw. Harrison, whose credits include visual effects backgrounds for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Tron (1982), and Dick Tracy (1990), is the son of the late Disney Legend, Peter Ellenshaw, a renowned visual effects artist. Together, Ellenshaw and his father worked on backgrounds for the 1979 movie The Black Hole, for which they both received an Academy Award nomination.
Ellenshaw explained to the audience how visual effects are accomplished and how they have a major impact on the realism of a film. He went on to describe how his father created twelve matte paintings for The Great Locomotive Chase, all of which had to be done on location in Georgia because the cameras and equipment used in those days were so heavy and cumbersome. Harrison showed the audience several pictures of his father working on location and enjoying several of the trains and other props.
The two-hour presentation concluded with the speakers reviewing three compelling lists pertaining to the production of The Great Locomotive Chase: the first showed how Walt Disney remained true to the events of those fateful days in April, 1862; the second mentioned the aspects of the story that Walt had improved upon in making the film; while the third recounted the reasons the Union raiders had failed in their mission.
After watching the classic Disney film that became more meaningful and exciting due to the comments of the speakers and listening to stories about the making of the film, the audience was sorry to see the program end. But Campbell was prepared for even that and kept spirits high with the announcement that each person would be given a pack of miniature lobby cards from The Great Locomotive Chase upon exiting the theater and that a special holiday train show would be on display in the Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall from November 11 to January 26, 2015.
To learn more about Walt's love of trains, all are welcome to visit Walt's Barn in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, next to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum. Walt's Barn was Walt Disney's personal "Happy Place” and is his original workshop, which was disassembled and moved to the present location from his Holmby Hills property. It’s filled with train related artifacts belonging to Walt, Ward Kimball, Ollie Johnston, and Roger Broggie. Also on display are the restored Combine Car from the Santa Fe/Disneyland Railroad and the depot from Ollie Johnston's backyard railroad. Walt's Barn is open the third Sunday of every month from 11am to 3pm.
Rail fans able to go on a longer journey should consider stopping in Marceline, Missouri, to visit the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, a place filled with treasures from Walt's youth including train related memorabilia, most of which are from the private collection of his younger sister Ruth. The Hometown Museum is open from April 1 through October, daily except Monday.
Cory Johnson
Friend Member of The Walt Disney Family Museum & Member of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society
Pictured at left with her husband, Roy.