Carolwood Pacific Railroad

The Carolwood Pacifc Railroad was a 7¼ in (184 mm) gauge, half-mile model railroad built by Walt Disney in the backyard of his Holmby Hills, California, home, in 1950. Disney would often pilot the train with his daughters, Diane and Sharon, and their friends in tow. This use of the Carolwood Pacific as an amusement ride inspired the construction of the full-sized Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland in 1955.

Legacy

The locomotive of the Carolwood Pacific, the Lilly Belle, and its rolling stock are on display at The Walt Disney Family Museum, located in the Presidio in San Francisco. A replica of the Lilly Belle is on display in the lobby of the Disneyland Railroad's Main Street, U.S.A. station. The lead locomotive of the Disneyland Railroad, the C. K. Holliday, was modeled after the Lilly Belle.

In 1976, Grand Canyon, the observation car of the Retlaw 1 passenger train that originally operated as part of the Disneyland Railroad from 1955 to 1974, was converted into the Lilly Belle Presidential Train Car. The exclusive passenger car shares its name with the Carolwood Pacific's locomotive. Both are named for Walt's wife, Lillian.

The logo plate and two frieght cars are on display in the Carolwood Pacific room of Disney's Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World.

Gallery

The layout of Walt's backyard railroad. The "barn" is the small building at top left. Lillian Disney had the tracks, and removed several years after Walt's death and donated them to the Los Angeles Live Steamers, a group of steam train enthusiasts. Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn was also removed and preserved at the Los Angeles Live Steamers location in Griffith Park. The house, the footprint of which is shown here, was demolished in the late 1990s.

The Lilly Belle on display at Disneyland Main Station in 1993. The caboose's woodwork was done entirely by Walt himself.

Replica of the Lilly Belle, put on display in Main Street Station after the original was removed. This engine was intended to be a 4-6-0 for the Carolwood Pacific, but the project was abandoned when work started on Disneyland.

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