Once again, a presentation at The Walt Disney Family Museum about railroading was extremely well received by a capacity crowd. Saturday, November 15, 2014 was the date for this program—I’ve Been Working On The Railroad: Imagineering Walt’s Trains. It was a great look behind the scenes at Disney railroading in the theme parks.
The moderator for the event was Michael Campbell. Not only has he been involved with the previous railroad programs at our museum, but also acts as the guest curator for the current special exhibition, All Aboard! A Celebration of Walt’s Trains. Campbell has given presentations for a number of other organizations and is currently the president of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society. This afternoon, Campbell began the program by introducing some great folks from Walt Disney Imagineering® (WDI) with their own passions for railroading.
Joel Fritsche (who had previously participated in our museum program on the Disney film, The Great Locomotive Chase) shared the story of Bob Harpur. He was the one at Little Engines in Lomita, CA, who introduced Walt and Roger Broggie to the products of that company. At that time, Little Engines sold a number of kits that could be used to produce a variety of scale railroading items.
Harpur joined WDI in 1969 and oversaw the rebuilding of steam locomotives in the Tampa Shipyard for use at Walt Disney World. He was also involved in the Fort Wilderness Railroad. Later projects he participated in include the steam locomotives and trains for Euro Disney, as well as the Wildlife Express Trains for the Animal Kingdom park.
Next up was Ray Spencer. Spencer has had an interest in railroading dating back to a scale railroad his father had built. But at Disney, he may best be known for leading the efforts on Buena Vista Street in the California Adventure Park—especially the Red Car Trolleys. Spencer shared how the Imagineers took a Southern California icon in the Pacific Electric’s Hollywood streetcars and designed a transportation system using them as inspiration. Taking into consideration all of the modern features required for safety as well as current accessibility requirements, the Imagineering team produced a wonderful salute to the streetcars Walt might have ridden when he came to the area in 1923.
Finishing up the afternoon was Tony Baxter. Baxter admitted that he came to railroading a bit later than Fritsche and Spencer. He found his fascination with it while at Disneyland, especially the Mine Trains of the Natures Wonderland Railroad. Baxter shared footage of a ride along the exterior portions of the railway, complete with some “vintage” attraction narration.
He then explored the various versions of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad that guests now enjoy at the theme parks. For example, he used the Bryce Canyon landscape to go along with the “charming” scale of Disneyland. And at Walt Disney World, he used the grandeur of Monument Valley with its wide open spaces as inspiration. In Paris, the Imagineers created a space right out of the American southwest desert environments. Something much different than all the greenery that park guests might be accustomed to. He also mentioned how the gardeners in Paris has as much trouble keeping the desert sparse and bare as their counterparts in Anaheim do keeping the jungle of Adventureland green year-round.
Baxter finished up with an image of his own model of the same locomotive Walt built from Little Engines. Lettered for the Thunder Mountain Railroad, he shared how he hasn’t had the courage to test the boiler under pressure yet. Some day…
It was a great presentation, enjoyed by all. In fact, it proved such a success that our museum will be offering another railroad program, on January 24 at 11am and 3pm. I’ve Been Working on the Railroad: Building and Running Walt’s Trains: Running a railroad requires a lot of care and craft, especially when that railroad belonged to Walt Disney! Hear from the people who know what it takes to maintain and operate Walt’s trains: Sean Bautista, President of Hillcrest Shops, which rebuilt the Ernest S. Marsh and Marie E. locomotives; Bill Colley, Chief Engineer of the Durango & Silverton Railroad and former Retlaw Enterprises Railroad foreman; and Craig Ludwick, Roundhouse Lead at the Disneyland Resort. Michael Campbell again moderates this discussion.
Roger Colton has been a fan of trains all his life. With family in the business of railroading it was only natural. He has volunteered at railway museums in California, Nevada and Hawaii. Along the way he has operated steam, diesel and electric trains as well as being involved in a number of restoration projects. As part of a great team, he offers tours on chartered private railroad passenger cars. He is also a member of the Carolwood Historical Society and was involved with several railway excursions that the Society operated. His own blog, The Blue Parrot, covers a variety of topics including Disneyana.