Walt's Disneyland: A Walk in the Park with Walt Disney

CHAPTER TWELVE
THE GRAND CIRCLE TOUR
 
“‘You want to run it up front?’

“‘No, no, no,’ he was saying.

“I said, ‘Go ahead. All you do is push the Johnson bar forward and open the throttle and it will start off.’

“So he did and I watched him. His eyes were dropping out of his sockets and he had his mouth open. He was running a locomotive for the first time.”

—WARD KIMBALL
 
On Opening Day, the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad had two locomotives running, both named for pioneers of the Santa Fe Railway, the corporate sponsors of the attraction. Engine number one was the C. K. Holliday, named for Cyrus Kurtz Holliday (and inspired by drawings of Walt’s one-eighth-scale Lilly Belle locomotive, the centerpiece of his Carolwood Pacific home railroad named for his wife). The E. P. Ripley, number two, was named for Edward Payson Ripley.
 
When Disneyland opened, there were only two train stations: Main Street, U.S.A. and Frontierland. Spur tracks were used then, meaning that if guests boarded in Frontierland, they bypassed Main Street, U.S.A. and disembarked in Frontierland, and vice versa. The theming for each train reflected the image of the station and land it served: the Ripley, with ornate yellow cars, reflected a Main Street, U.S.A. exuberance, while the Holliday, with a more rugged Frontierland sense, pulled gondolas and, for a short time, cattle cars in which passengers stood.
 
In 1958 and 1959, two more locomotives joined the Disneyland roundhouse: engine number three, the Fred G. Gurley, named for Santa Fe’s chairman of the board at the time, and engine number four, named for the railroad’s then president, Ernest S. Marsh.
 
Engine number five, the Ward Kimball, was built after Walt passed away, and paid tribute to Walt’s friend who first encouraged him to drive a train; it also has the distinction of being the only locomotive in the fleet with a Disney character: Jiminy Cricket—the beloved character created by Ward and perhaps the one most identified with him—sits prominently on the locomotive’s headlamp. Notably, it was put into service in 2005 on the occasion of Disneyland’s fiftieth anniversary.
 
Finally, there is one very special car: In 1975, Walt’s original observation cars, the Grand Canyon, was renovated to serve as VIP “presidential car” for use by special guests. Its name was changed to “Lilly Belle,” in honor of Walt Disney’s wife, Lillian. Walt’s train was a lot of things—a personal passion, transportation, an attraction—and it also served as an opportunity for guests to explore the park in a different, more scenic manner.
 
GRAND CANYON DIORAMA (1958)
 
Walt described the newest addition to his Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad: “The 306-foot Grand Canyon diorama—largest in the world—will feature the scenic splendors of the majestic canyon in true perspective. Early-American-type excursion specials have been added to the regular Santa Fe and Disneyland R.R. schedules for a more leisurely passage along the brink of the chasm. After passing through a tunnel, visitors will see magnificently painted backgrounds sharply defining the canyon under a first snowfall. The diorama covers the changing scene from dawn to dusk, with a thunderstorm throwing dark shadows across our representation of the buttes and the mile-deep, thirteen-mile-wide chasm cut by the Colorado River in the Arizona plateau.”
 
Engine number three was put into service the day the Grand Canyon opened; Fred Gurley attended the ceremony and was on board when Walt drove his train through the tunnel and diorama for the first time himself.
 
PRIMEVAL WORLD (1966)
 
Walt announced details about an attraction he was bringing back from the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair: “And for those that are most adventurous, Disneyland introduces the Primeval World. Here, guests aboard the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad journey through a diorama depicting the present-day Grand Canyon—and then plunge backward through time for a breathtaking look at prehistoric creatures that roamed North America more than one hundred million years ago.”
 
Walt detailed the creation of his dinosaurs: “When we started to re-create the huge animals that roamed the earth two hundred million years ago, we started with one-inch-scale figures. Then we worked our way up to their actual sizes. Some are twenty-two feet tall. You know nature wasn’t creating household pets in that era.” Walt went on to describe their roles: “Tyrannosaurus rex, the monster on the right, was a meat eater and the prehistoric king of beasts. His victim, the stegosaurus, has only his spiked tail to defend himself.”
 
Walt gave the baby brontosauruses their names (with tongue planted firmly in cheek): Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
 
WALT’S BENEVOLENCE AND THE FIRST GRAND CIRCLE TOUR (1955)
 
Walt fulfilled a seven-year-old’s wish long before there was the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
 
The boy’s mother called the Disney studio and explained her son had leukemia; his dream was to ride the train at Disneyland. Even though the park was still under construction, and no doubt Walt’s calendar was full, Walt welcomed the family to his Magic Kingdom on a weekend. “I understand you want to see my train—well, let’s go.” And with that, Walt lifted the boy into his arms as they watched the railroad cars being hoisted onto the track. Bob Th