Changes since 1960 Disneyland Railroad

the interior of drr s lilly belle parlor car

to have sufficient space planned new orleans square section, disneyland railroad s track on western edge of route expanded outwards again in 1962, frontierland station s depot building in same vicinity moved across drr s track, , covered platform no station building built on opposite side serve new frontierland station. although station no longer in frontierland section, name not changed new orleans square station until september 1996.

by 1965, 6 passenger cars of drr s retlaw 1 train, due slow passenger loading , unloading times, began phased out of service. in july 1974, retlaw 1 passenger cars retired , stored in drr s roundhouse, except grand canyon observation coach, converted parlor car , renamed lilly belle after walt disney s wife lillian. lilly belle given new exterior paint scheme , new interior, included varnished mahogany paneling, velour curtains , seats, floral-patterned wool rug, , disney family pictures framed , hung on walls. first official passenger come aboard lilly belle after conversion parlor car in september 1975 japanese emperor hirohito, , since can regularly seen coupled on ends of drr s trains. in 1996, rail collector bill norred acquired 5 other retlaw 1 passenger cars. norred died 2 years later, , in 1999 family sold 4 coaches of former retlaw 1 passenger train rob rossi, owner of pacific coast railroad located within santa margarita ranch in santa margarita, california, leaving retlaw 1 combine car in norred family s possession. on july 10, 2010, norred family sold retlaw 1 combine car carolwood foundation, restored , put on display next walt disney s carolwood barn within los angeles live steamers railroad museum complex in los angeles griffith park.

in 1966, five-gondola train set green-and-white-striped awnings , five-gondola train set blue-and-white-striped awnings, referred disneyland employees holiday green , holiday blue respectively, added drr s rolling stock. both train sets had side-facing bench seating holiday red freight train. time new holiday green , holiday blue trains sets introduced in 1966, drr s original roundhouse, located on end of spur line connected main line near rivers of america in frontierland section, had been replaced larger roundhouse, located on end of new spur line connected main line in tomorrowland section. new roundhouse, drr s locomotives , train cars stored , maintained, built house storage , maintenance facility disneyland monorail.

the drr s primeval world diorama put on display later in 1966, adjacent grand canyon diorama. 1 year prior, drr s track on eastern edge of route had been expanded outwards accommodate diorama s construction. audio-animatronic dinosaurs ford s magic skyway, 1 of attractions created disney 1964 new york world s fair, incorporated diorama, including tyrannosaurus confronting stegosaurus. diorama 1 of last additions made drr, , disneyland in general, before death of walt disney on december 15, 1966.

from 1982, a, b, c, d, , e tickets discontinued in favor of pay-one-price admission system disneyland, allowing visitors experience park s attractions, including drr, many times desired. in june 1985, new videopolis station, consisting of covered platform no station building, built in fantasyland section drr. same year, drr s track on northern edge of route expanded outwards in order make room new videopolis stage. mickey s toontown expansion of park, mickey s toontown depot, cartoon-themed depot building, replaced videopolis station in 1993.

out of desire have 4 trains regularly running @ once each day on drr, in mid-1990s disneyland park began search additional narrow-gauge steam locomotive add railroad s rolling stock. 1 such locomotive acquired bill norred in 1996 in exchange combine car , 4 coaches drr s retired retlaw 1 passenger train set, after park received it, new locomotive deemed large drr s operations. sent walt disney world railroad in magic kingdom park of walt disney world in bay lake, florida, locomotive dedicated, despite being small railroad s operations, , named after disney animator , rail enthusiast ward kimball. still needing fifth locomotive drr, park traded ward kimball locomotive in 1999 cedar point & lake erie railroad in cedar point amusement park in sandusky, ohio, new locomotive suitable railroad. named maud l., locomotive built baldwin locomotive works in 1902 , used haul sugar cane @ laurel valley sugar plantation in louisiana owned barker , lepine company. after arriving in disneyland, maud l., later renamed ward kimball locomotive traded, given new cab built disney , new boiler built hercules power, subcontracted superior boiler works. due budget issues, restoration of locomotive suspended not long after arrival, , parts planned placed in long-term storage in late 2003. ward kimball locomotive s restoration efforts resurrected after, when decided addition drr incorporated celebration of disneyland s fiftieth anniversary in july 2005. in late 2004, boschan boiler , restorations led paul boschan, former roundhouse manager , engineer @ roaring camp & big trees narrow gauge railroad in felton, california, awarded contract complete restoration of ward kimball. restoration work performed included installing new driving wheels, attaching new smokebox door, , applying gold-leaf silhouettes of kimball s jiminy cricket character on sides of headlamp. ward kimball locomotive, entered service on june 25, 2005, became drr s no. 5 locomotive, , on february 15 following year, john kimball, son of ward kimball, died in 2002, christened locomotive during dedication ceremony.

a few weeks before debut of no. 5 locomotive, railroad, first time in history, hosted privately owned train on track. on morning of may 10, before disneyland opened day, private ceremony held @ new orleans square station honor disney animator , rail enthusiast ollie johnston, supposedly thank him helping inspire walt disney s passion trains, led creation of disneyland. true motive having johnston there revealed when simple steam train not part of drr s rolling stock, consisting of locomotive named marie e. , caboose, rolled towards station , stopped @ platform. johnston, previous owner of steam train, used run on vacation property, sold, along train, in 1993. man owned train pixar film director john lasseter, had brought train disneyland in order give johnston, mentor, opportunity reunite , drive former locomotive. johnston, in nineties, helped marie e., , lasseter @ side, grasped locomotive s throttle , drove former possession 3 times around drr s main line. although johnston died in 2008, lasseter continues run marie e., caboose, , assortment of train cars on private justi creek railway, complemented depot building , water tower ward kimball s former grizzly flats railroad.

the diesel oil used fuel generate steam in drr s locomotives replaced in 2007 b98 biodiesel, consisting of 2 percent diesel oil , ninety-eight percent soybean oil. due problems storing soybean-based biodiesel, drr briefly switched conventional diesel oil in november 2008 before adopting new biodiesel incorporating recycled cooking oil in january 2009.

on january 11, 2016, drr temporarily closed accommodate construction of star wars: galaxy s edge. original drr roundhouse building, became maintenance facility ride vehicles of other disneyland attractions, demolished around april 2016. drr reopened on july 29, 2017, new route along northern edge of rivers of america named columbia gorge, features rock formations, waterfalls, trestle bridge, , line s left-hand turn. drr s dioramas given new special effects. during media preview attraction s reopening previous day, john lasseter brought marie e. locomotive , drove along drr s new route. pulled behind marie e. inoperable locomotive , train car, both owned ward kimball , run on former grizzly flats railroad. inoperable locomotive, named chloe, , train car owned orange empire railway museum in perris, california, in process of restoring chloe operating condition @ time of drr s media preview.