LA Day Pt. 1: Walt Disney's Barn

Recently I learned that only 98 miles from our Temecula home lies a treasure trove of Walt Disney history, mostly focusing on his love of trains. When I asked Lori, a previous Disneyland cohort, if she'd like to explore it with me, she was in!

In 1950, Walt Disney built a 1/8th scale live-steam railroad at his residence in Holmby Hills, CA. He operated the Carolwood Pacific Railroad (CPRR) for family and friends until 1953 when he shifted his energies into creating a magical place where families could have fun together – Disneyland.

The CPRR center of operations was a quaint red barn that Walt built as a replica of one from the Disney farm in Marceline, MO. The Carolwood barn served as his workshop and he spent many hours here building miniatures and model trains. In 1999, Walt Disney’s family moved the barn he called his “happy place” from his home to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum, of which Walt was a founding member.

The Barn is only opened on the 3rd Sunday of the month. We were so fortunate that Mother Nature agreed with our timing. What a spectacular day.

Today, Walt’s Barn is a living showcase of Walt’s passion for railroading. Operated by the non-profit Carolwood Foundation, Walt’s Barn is filled with trains of all scales, many of which were donated to the Foundation by his animators and friends that shared his hobby. Many of Walt’s personal items and tools are on display and he even hand-made all of the work benches.

Lori and I delighted in it all. Docent Jonathan was incredible informative. We definitely learned a great deal more about Mr. Disney.

We learned that the barn did not have any closets so Walt mounted this shelf and used a broom handle as the pole on which to hang his engineering overalls. So cool.

This made me smile. Walt often started work in the barn early in the morning. He would use the sink, a shaving kit like this one, and the small wall mirror behind it to clean up for the day. The mirror is attached to a small closet, which was originally space for a toilet.

This old-fashioned telephone was installed so that Lillian could reach Walt easily.

I blogged previously, here, about Walt's very deep connection to Palm Springs. I was happy to see it represented at the Barn amongst all his treasures.

All the volunteers were very excited about this Retlaw 1 Combine. “Combine” is a railroad term for a coach that carries both passengers and freight. One such car was used on the Missouri Pacific train upon which Walt Disney worked as a 14-year-old news butch. He’d take his breaks in the baggage half of the car. He’d sometimes go out the front door and climb over the tender to get to the cab. Walt would offer the engineer and fireman apples from his family’s farm in exchange for getting to ride with them. The crews took a liking to him and it was on this train that he learned how to operate a steam locomotive.

With Walt's lifelong love of trains, it wasn't surprising that a train would be a major attraction at Disneyland. When attempts at purchasing pre-made historic trains failed, Walt made arrangements to have Disneyland’s railroad cars and stock constructed mostly from scratch at the Walt Disney Studios, and re-assembled in Disneyland’s backstage area.

Walt Disney’s privately held company financed the roughly $240,000 to create the two trains. Bob Gurr (the man credited for most things that move inside Disneyland who you will meet next), drew the plans for the 1890’s-style passenger cars, while the narrow gauge cars (as well as the two original engines) were mostly manufactured at Walt Disney Studio. Time and wear & tear took its toll and this beautiful car was decommissioned in the 1970s. I know I had to have ridden on it before then.

As promised, meet 93 year old Bob Gurr! A truly living legend. All Disney fans have him to thank for our Magic Kingdom memories! “If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.” Bob is among the last living first generation Disney Imagineers.

First hired by W.E.D. Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering) among the many projects Gurr developed and designed are the Autopia vehicles, the Flying Saucers, the antique cars and double decker buses on Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A., the Haunted Mansion Doom Buggies, the Disneyland Monorail System, the Submarine Voyage, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. As well, Gurr helped design the inner mechanics of Disney's first Audio-Animatronics figure, Abraham Lincoln, used in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Bob left Disney in 1981 and privately consulted on projects that included the T-Rex animatronic figure used to film Jurassic Park, King Kong figure at Universal Studios and the pirate ship at Treasure Island in Las Vegas.

In an interview after his retirement, Bob was asked what makes a great Imagineer. To which he responded, “A person that truly is curious about everything, especially things they don’t know anything about and are not truly interested in.” What a delightfully amazing guy.

As a bit of nostalgia, my brother Larry and I loved Autopia. This circa 1966 photo shows us excitedly in one of Bob's creations. What a memory evoker.

One of many highlights of this day at the Barn was the presence of exceptional authors, all eager to share their Disney story. Lori and I both were drawn to one book in particular, Ghost Dog. "Get set for a white-knuckle journey into magic and adventure as the impossible becomes the new normal in Bob Weis' debut novel Ghost Dog! Herbert recently lost his beloved dog. His parents take him to Disneyland to cheer him up. Herbert rides The Haunted Mansion, and on this fateful night, a ghost really does follow him home. And not just any ghost, Herbert finds himself trying to keep a GHOST DOG, which only he can see, a secret."

Author Bob Weis was an Imagineer over a forty-year span (1980 to 2023). In those years, he worked on every Disney park and resort around the world. Weis also led the creative development of the new Triton class of cruise ships, the first of which was the critically acclaimed Disney Wish. Outside of Disney, Weis has served as a consultant to the Kennedy Space Center, Smithsonian, New York City's Rockefeller Center, U. S. Navy, and Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Great choice, right?

Santa arriving via train just seemed to be the best conclusion of a truly unexpectedly fabulous Barn day!

Walt's famous welcome, on opening day at Disneyland was, "To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past—and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future". I can't help but think that he would used the same greeting here at his Carolwood Barn, with a little word tweaking. Wow.

All the train talk made us want to ride one so we walked to the adjacent Los Angeles Life Steamers Railroad Museum. Founded in 1956 by a group of train enthusiasts, they educate the public in railroad history and show live steam, gas-mechanical and electric railroad technology in actual operation.