PhotoBlog - Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn

On Sunday, December 21st, my dad and I had the privilege of visiting Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn in Griffith Park. For those who are unaware, Walt had quite a passion for trains and railroads to the point of building his own model railroad in his Holmby Hills backyard. In order to facilitate the work he performed on his models, he had a small barn constructed in his backyard, where he spent many hours with his miniature engines. But enough with the talk - on with the pictures!


No longer residing in Walt's backyard, the barn now finds a home among the countless model trains and railways of Griffith Park.

The barn now serves as a museum and tribute to Walt's passion for railroads. It contains all kinds of fascinating models and memorabilia as well as displays featuring the Disneyland Railroad as well as the model railroads of several of Walt's animators.

Walt's backyard project was branded as the "Carolwood Pacific Railroad", named after the road that led to the Disney house. Walt also liked this name because it gave his railroad the initials "C.P.R.R.", exactly the same as the real-life Central Pacific Railroad.

This is a model of Walt's "C.K. Holiday" engine. Though the engine itself is a facsimile, the car displayed behind it is an authentic piece of Walt's railroad.

Walt had this engine brought over to America from England, but unfortunately it suffered damage on the trip over and could not be incorporated into Walt's railroad. Nevertheless, he put it to good use by taking it apart and studying its inner workings as a reference for his other engines.

Nestled in one corner of the barn lies Walt's master control board, which operated the entire layout. If you look closely, you'll notice such landmarks as "Rorex Tunnel" and "Yensid Valley". "Yensid", of course, is "Disney" spelled backwards. Similarly, "Rorex Tunnel" is named for Walt's friend, who helped him construct the tunnel through solid rock.

Throughout the barn, Walt's love for trains is captured not only through his model engines but also through railroad paraphernalia, such as this caboose lamp.

Various other odds and ends are displayed throughout the barn, including mementos based on the classic Donald Duck cartoon "Out of Scale". This cartoon, which featured Donald operating his own backyard railroad, was the animators' way of poking fun at Walt's obsession.

The opposite side of the barn features a tribute to the Disneyland Railroad, including models and memorabilia.


On the left is a model of the E.P. Ripley, one of the engines that was in service at Disneyland on opening day.

Opposite is the Ernest S. Marsh, which began operating at Disneyland in 1959.

In addition to the Disneyland Railroad, the barn also includes a display of the Disneyland Monorail system. The orange panel was taken from one of the very first monorails operating in the park.

Finally, one corner of the barn hosts displays for several of Walt's animators, who had railroads of their own. This section was devoted to Ward Kimball, who's backyard was dominated by the Grizzly Flats Railroad.


This engine resides out front, a tribute to Walt's passion for railroading. It signifies what was a very great part of his life, and reflects all that rests in Walt's Carolwood Barn. If you ever get a chance to visit this special place, do so. It's quite remarkable seeing the memories of Walt's Carolwood Pacific Railroad. For more information, visit www.carolwood.org.

T.H. Excellence