The Sorcerer's Guide

It was 1948, and Walt desperately wanted to go to the Chicago Railroad Fair. Knowing Lillian and his daughters wouldn’t want go, Walt invited his friend Ward Kimball. Walt and Ward enjoyed the fair, and when Walt started building Disneyland in 1954, he knew he had to have a train. This wasn’t the first time Walt and Ward talked about trains. Back in 1945, Ward let Walt drive one of his engines at the Grizzly Flats Railroad, Ward’s personal railroad. We can’t say for sure, but it’s very likely that Walt’s Lilly Belle came because he wanted to have a railroad just like Ward’s. Now Ward Kimball is immortalized in the Ward Kimball engine at Disneyland. The Person Ward Kimball was an animator for Walt Disney. Hired in 1934, Ward started on the Silly Symphony cartoons. He went on to help animate many films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. Ward was one of the studio’s “Nine Old Men”. He was a brilliant animator, known f...

Walt loved trains! He knew he had to have one in the park, so when plans were drawn, it was included from the beginning. Its first test run was on July 10, 1955, just days before the park opening. Original Main Street Station The route was set up a little differently back then. Plans were made for two trains to take guests on a “grand circle tour of the Magic Kingdom.” But unlike today, each train stopped at only one station. A passenger train pulled by the E.P. Ripley only stopped at the Main Street Station, while a freight train pulled by the C.K. Holliday only stopped at the Frontierland Station (now the New Orleans Station). The track split at those 2 stations so the trains could pass each other. This lasted about a year before the trains began stopping at both stations. The Frontierland Station was rebuilt in 1962 to make room for New Orleans Square and the second track was removed. The Main Street Station still has the original 2 sets of tracks though. Original Frontierland Stati...