Attraction concept origins locomotive served as the basis for the 1:8-scale design of Walt Disney's
Lilly Belle locomotive and was later used as the basis for the 5:8-scale design of the DRR's first two locomotives.|alt=A black-and-white image of an old steam locomotive and tender bearing a resemblance to the DRR's No. 1 locomotive and tender Walt Disney, the creator of the concepts for Disneyland and its railroad, always had a strong
fondness for trains. As a young boy, he wanted to become a
train engineer like his father's cousin, Mike Martin, who told him stories about his experiences driving main-line trains on the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. As a teenager, he obtained a
news butcher job on the
Missouri Pacific Railway, selling various products to train passengers, including newspapers, candy, and cigars. Many years later, after co-founding
the Walt Disney Company with his older brother
Roy O. Disney, he started playing
polo. Fractured
vertebrae and other injuries led him to abandon the sport on the advice of his doctor, who recommended a calmer recreational activity. By 1948, Disney's interest in model trains was evolving into an interest in larger,
ridable miniature trains after observing the trains and
backyard railroad layouts of several hobbyists, including
Disney animator Ollie Johnston. In 1949, after purchasing of vacant land in the
Holmby Hills neighborhood of
Los Angeles, he started construction on a new residence for himself and his family, and on the elaborate gauge ridable miniature Carolwood Pacific Railroad behind it. The railroad featured a set of freight cars pulled by the
Lilly Belle, a 1:8-
scale live steam locomotive named after Disney's wife
Lillian and built by the Walt Disney Studios'
machine shop team led by
Roger E. Broggie. The locomotive's design, chosen by Walt Disney after seeing a smaller locomotive model with the same design at the home of rail historian
Gerald M. Best, was based directly on copies of the
blueprints for the Central Pacific No. 173, a steam locomotive rebuilt by the
Central Pacific Railroad in 1872. Walt Disney's backyard railroad attracted visitors interested in riding his miniature steam train, and on weekends, when the railroad was operating, he allowed them to do so, even allowing some to become "guest engineers" and drive the train. In early 1953, after a visitor drove the
Lilly Belle too fast along a curve, causing it to
derail and injure a five-year-old girl, Disney, fearing the possibility of future accidents, closed down the Carolwood Pacific Railroad and placed the locomotive in storage. Prior to the incident that closed his railroad, Disney consulted with Roger Broggie about the concept of including his ridable miniature train in a potential tour of
Walt Disney Studios in
Burbank, north of Downtown Los Angeles. Broggie, believing that there would be limited visitor capacity for the attraction, recommended to Disney that he make the train bigger in scale. After financing for Disneyland was secured and all of the parcels of land at the Anaheim site were purchased, construction of the park and its railroad began in August 1954. In order to cut costs, a sponsorship deal was arranged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF), and when it was finalized on March 29, 1955, the DRR was officially named
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, paying $50,000 per year. The DRR was known by that name until September 30, 1974, when the AT&SF's sponsorship ended due to the discontinuation of their
passenger train business. Prior to the start of construction of the DRR, in the hope of saving money by buying already-existing trains for the attraction, Disney tried to buy a set of gauge ridable miniature locomotives from
William "Billy" Jones, but after Jones declined his offer, Disney decided that he wanted the railroad's rolling stock to be bigger and made from scratch. For this task, Disney again turned to Roger Broggie, who was confident that he and the Walt Disney Studios' machine shop team could use the design for Disney's 1:8-scale miniature
Lilly Belle locomotive and enlarge it to build the DRR's locomotives. The scale of the design for the DRR's passenger cars, based on the narrow-gauge passenger cars at the Travel Town Museum, was
nominally 5:8-scale when compared to the size of rolling stock. Through WED Enterprises, a legally separate entity from Walt Disney Productions, Disney retained personal ownership of the DRR and financed the creation of two trains to run on it in time for Disneyland's opening day. The names of both trains contained the word
Retlaw, which is
Walter spelled backwards. The first train, referred to by Disneyland employees as
Retlaw 1, would be pulled by the No. 2 locomotive, which was given a turn-of-the-20th-century appearance with a straight
smokestack (typical of coal-burning locomotives), a circular
headlamp, and a small
cowcatcher. The No. 2 locomotive would pull six 1890s-style passenger cars designed by
Bob Gurr, consisting of a
combine car, four coaches, and an
observation coach. The second train, referred to by Disneyland employees as
Retlaw 2, would be pulled by the No. 1 locomotive, which was given a late-19th-century appearance with a
spark-arresting diamond smokestack (typical of wood-burning locomotives), a rectangular headlamp, and a large cowcatcher. Final assembly of the locomotives and their
tenders took place at the Disneyland site in the DRR's new
roundhouse, which was built in one week by a construction crew directed by Park Construction Administrator
Joe Fowler, a former
US Navy rear admiral. The two original DRR trains cost over $240,000 to build, with the two locomotives costing over $40,000 each. Before the opening of Disneyland, a station in the Main Street, USA section and a station in the
Frontierland section were built for the DRR. Main Street, USA Station, an example of
Second Empire-style architecture, was built at the entrance to Disneyland using an original design that incorporated
forced perspective elements on its upper levels to make it appear taller. Frontierland Station was built based on the design of the depot building located on the
Grizzly Flats Railroad, a full-size narrow-gauge railroad owned by Disney animator
Ward Kimball in his backyard. Besides the depot building, the DRR's functioning
water tower was also built at Frontierland Station. Railroad-building expert Earl Vilmer created the track layout and operations for the DRR. The
Retlaw 1 passenger train pulled by the No. 2 locomotive only serviced Main Street, USA Station while the
Retlaw 2 freight train pulled by the No. 1 locomotive only serviced Frontierland Station, and with
sidings at both stations, each train would operate simultaneously and continue down the rail line even if the other train was stopped at its station. The steam trains of the DRR were the first of Disneyland's attractions to become operational. On July 17, 1955, Disneyland and its railroad opened, and the day began with Disney driving the DRR's No. 2 locomotive and its passenger train into Main Street, USA Station with California governor
Goodwin J. Knight and AT&SF president
Fred Gurley riding in the locomotive's
cab. They were greeted at the station's
platform by the park opening ceremony's host
Art Linkletter, actor
Ronald Reagan, and several television camera crews broadcasting the festivities nationwide. The DRR eventually became one of the most popular steam-powered railroads in the world with an estimated 6.6 million passengers each year.
Additions in the late 1950s Shortly after the Disneyland Railroad opened, A, B, and C tickets were introduced in Disneyland for admission to its rides, and C tickets, the highest-ranked tickets, were required to ride the DRR. These tickets were joined by the higher-ranked D ticket in 1956, and D tickets from that point forward were needed to gain access to the DRR. The shelters were added after the DRR's track on the western edge of its route, and the depot building standing next to it, were moved outwards. By the time this new station was added, the DRR's system of having one train assigned to a single station and using sidings to pass trains stopped at stations was abandoned and replaced by the current system where each train stops at every station along the railroad's route. Fantasyland Depot was removed by July 1966 when the ''
It's a Small World'' attraction, originally built for the
1964 New York World's Fair, was installed. By 1957, the DRR was becoming overwhelmed by ever-increasing crowds; Disney determined that a third train was needed. Instead of having another locomotive built from scratch to pull the train, Disney believed that costs could be saved by purchasing and restoring an already-existing narrow-gauge steam locomotive, and the job of finding one was given to Roger Broggie. With the assistance of Gerald Best, a suitable locomotive was found in
Louisiana; it had been built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1894, had previously been used as a
switcher at a
sugar cane mill in Louisiana owned by the Godchaux Sugar Company, and was initially used by the Lafourche, Raceland & Longport Railway in Louisiana. This locomotive became the DRR's No. 3 locomotive and it went into service on March 28, 1958, at a cost after restoration of more than $37,000. Joining the No. 3 locomotive when it went into service were five new open-air
Narragansett-style excursion cars with front-facing bench seating collectively referred to by Disneyland employees as the
Excursion Train, which was designed by Bob Gurr and built at Walt Disney Studios. On March 31, 1958, the No. 3 locomotive participated in the inauguration ceremony for the DRR's
Grand Canyon Diorama, which features a foreground with several lifelike animals, a background painted by artist
Delmer J. Yoakum on a single piece of seamless canvas measuring long by high, and musical accompaniment from
Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite. Located inside a tunnel on the DRR's route, the diorama was claimed by Disneyland to be the longest in the world, and during its inauguration it was blessed by Chief Nevangnewa, a 96-year-old
Hopi chief. Despite safety concerns voiced by Ward Kimball related to the lack of seats on these train cars, Disney, for the purpose of authenticity, had insisted that there be no seats on them; he wanted the passengers to feel like cattle on an actual
cattle train. After Walt Disney concurred, Broggie once again began searching for a narrow-gauge steam locomotive to purchase and restore. Best was able to determine that the locomotive had been built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1925, that it had previously been used to pull tourist trains on the
Pine Creek Railroad in New Jersey, and that it had been initially used by the Raritan River Sand Company in New Jersey. This locomotive became the DRR's No. 4 locomotive and it went into service on July 25, 1959, at a cost after restoration of more than $57,000. Although the station was no longer in the Frontierland section, its name was not changed to
New Orleans Square Station until September 1996. By 1965, the six passenger cars of the DRR's
Retlaw 1 train, due to their slow passenger loading and unloading times, began to be phased out of service. The
Lilly Belle was given a new exterior paint scheme and a new interior, which included
varnished
mahogany paneling,
velour curtains and seats, a floral-patterned wool rug, and Disney family pictures framed and hung on the walls. In 1996, rail collector Bill Norred acquired the five other
Retlaw 1 passenger cars. On July 10, 2010, the Norred family sold the
Retlaw 1 combine car to the Carolwood Foundation, which restored it and put it on display next to Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn within the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum complex in Los Angeles' Griffith Park. In 1966, a five-gondola train set with green-and-white-striped awnings and a five-gondola train set with blue-and-white-striped awnings, referred to by Disneyland employees as
Holiday Green and
Holiday Blue respectively, were added to the DRR's rolling stock. The new roundhouse, where the DRR's locomotives and train cars are stored and maintained, was also built to house the storage and maintenance facility for the
Disneyland Monorail. The DRR's Primeval World Diorama was put on display later in 1966, adjacent to the Grand Canyon Diorama. One year prior, the DRR's track on the eastern edge of its route had been expanded outwards to accommodate the diorama's construction. The diorama was one of the last additions made to the DRR, and Disneyland in general, before the death of Walt Disney on December 15, 1966. From 1982, A, B, C, D, and E tickets were discontinued in favor of a pay-one-price admission system for Disneyland, allowing visitors to experience all of the park's attractions, including the DRR, as many times as desired. In June 1985, the new Videopolis Station, consisting of a covered platform with no station building, was constructed in the Fantasyland section for the DRR. One such locomotive was acquired from Bill Norred in 1996 in exchange for the combine car and four coaches from the DRR's retired
Retlaw 1 passenger train set, but after the park received it, the new locomotive was deemed to be too large for the DRR's operations. Still needing a fifth locomotive for the DRR, the park traded the
Ward Kimball locomotive in 1999 to the
Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad in the
Cedar Point amusement park in
Sandusky, Ohio, for a new locomotive suitable for the railroad. After arriving in Disneyland, the
Maud L., later renamed
Ward Kimball like the locomotive for which it was traded, was given a new cab built by Disney and a new boiler built by Hercules Power, which was subcontracted by Superior Boiler Works. In late 2004, Boschan Boiler and Restorations in
Carson, California, led by Paul Boschan, a former roundhouse manager and engineer at the
Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad in
Felton, California, was awarded the contract to complete the restoration of the
Ward Kimball. The restoration work performed included installing new
driving wheels, attaching a new
smokebox door, and applying
gold-leaf silhouettes of Kimball's
Jiminy Cricket character on the sides of the headlamp. The
Ward Kimball locomotive, which entered service on June 25, 2005, became the DRR's No. 5 locomotive, and on February 15 the following year, John Kimball, the son of Ward Kimball, who died in 2002, christened the locomotive during its dedication ceremony. In 2011, Ward Kimball's grandson Nate Lord became a DRR engineer and frequently drove the
Ward Kimball locomotive. A few weeks before the debut of the No. 5 locomotive, the railroad, for the first time in its history, hosted a privately owned train on its track. On the morning of May 10, before Disneyland opened for the day, a private ceremony was held at New Orleans Square Station to honor Disney animator and rail enthusiast Ollie Johnston, supposedly to thank him for helping to inspire Walt Disney's passion for trains, which led to the creation of Disneyland. The man who now owned the train was
Pixar film director
John Lasseter, who had brought the train to Disneyland in order to give Johnston, his mentor, an opportunity to reunite with and drive his former locomotive. Johnston, then in his nineties, was helped into the
Marie E., and with Lasseter at his side, he grasped the locomotive's throttle and drove his former possession three times around the DRR's main line. Although Johnston died in 2008, Lasseter continues to run the
Marie E., the caboose, and an assortment of train cars on his private
Justi Creek Railway. The diesel oil used for fuel to generate steam in the DRR's locomotives was replaced in April 2007 with B98 biodiesel, consisting of two percent diesel oil and ninety-eight percent
soybean oil. Due to problems with storing the soybean-based biodiesel, the DRR briefly switched back to conventional diesel oil in November 2008 before adopting new biodiesel incorporating
recycled cooking oil in January 2009. On January 11, 2016, the DRR temporarily closed to accommodate the construction of
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Additionally, the original DRR roundhouse building, which became a maintenance facility for ride vehicles of other Disneyland attractions, was demolished around April 2016. The DRR reopened on July 29, 2017, with a new route along the northern edge of the Rivers of America named
Columbia Gorge, which features rock formations, waterfalls, a
trestle bridge, and the line's only left-hand turn. The DRR's dioramas were also given new special
projection effects. During a media preview for the attraction's reopening the previous day, Lasseter brought his
Marie E. locomotive and drove it along the DRR's new route. The DRR temporarily closed between August 24 and 25 due to work being done on the former Splash Mountain tunnel. Since January 2024, the New Orleans Square Station has been temporarily closed due to retheming with the Haunted Mansion ride. On August 5 that same year, the DRR was temporarily closed for complete track maintenance. It reopened on October 25. In January 2025, the DRR closed again for more track maintenance between the Main Street, USA and New Orleans Square sections. The DRR reopened on March 7, 2025. ==Ride experience==