Grizzly Flats Railroad

The Grizzly Flats Railroad was a 500 ft long narrow gauge railroad in San Gabriel, California owned by Disney animator Ward Kimball. It was the first full-sized backyard railroad in the United States and was operated from 1942 to 2006.

History

Ward Kimball, a life-long railroad fan, decided to purchase the last remaining passenger coach from the Carson and Colorado Railroad after visiting the Chicago Railroad Fair with Walt Disney. About the same time, a railfan friend suggested the Kimballs to have engine to go with their new 1881 coach. The Nevada Central Railroad just closed and had for sale a nice, vintage 1881 Baldwin 2-6-0 steam locomotive named "Sidney Dillon".The newly-acquired locomotive and coach were brought to San Gabriel by rail and by truck, and soon were resting on a short section of track among the Kimball's orange trees. Ward and Betty decided to name their new project "Grizzly Flats Railroad", and heralded it as the "Scenic Wonder of the West". Friends and family helped to restore the locomotive number to look as a 1860's locomotive and Ward renamed it "Emma Nevada" after a famous opera star of the late 1800s. Coach #5 was colorfully painted and its Carson & Colorado letterboard re-lettered to "Grizzly Flats Railroad". This took place on weekends from 1938 to 1942. The "Emma Nevada" was finally fired-up in 1942. The next years the railroad saw addition of a cattle car, a caboose and a Baldwin 0-4-2T plantation locomotive that ran in Hawaii, which the Kimballs named "Chloe" after her youngest daughter. Ward quit steaming the "Emma Nevada" in 1951 when neighbors started to complain about the locomotive's black coal smoke. Kimball started to use mainly the little plantation locomotive as it burned wood and produced cleaner, white smoke.

Influences

Kimball shared his hobby with his boss Walt Disney and fellow animator Ollie Johnston. After visiting the G.F.R.R., Disney decided to have his own backyard railroad. His train was built at the Walt Disney Studio in 1949 under supervision of Roger E. Broggie, and the track was assembled at his home at Holmby Hills. Walt called it Carolwood Pacific Railroad and named his locomotive "Lilly Belle" after his wife Lillian. Kimball's railroad and his own inspired him to have a railroad surrounding an amusement park he was developing, which later became Disneyland. Walt called it "Disneyland Railroad", and 2 locomotives and 2 sets of cars were built at the studio from 1954 to 1955. Even one of the original locomotives was modeled after his "Lilly Belle", locomotive #1 C.K. Holliday.

The end of the railroad

In the 1990's, Ward donated the "Emma Nevada" to the Orange Empire Railroad Museum and Coach #5, as well a sum of money to build a new shed at the museum for the train. The "Chloe", sightseeing cars, caboose, boxcar and cattle car remained at the railroad to continue the weekend steam-ups. Ward died in 2002, but his sons continued to operate the little locomotive until 2006. The "Chloe" and the rest of the rolling stock was moved to the museum to join the "Emma Nevada" and Coach #5. The Kimball family donated the rest of the equipment to the museum because the railroad was decaying and none of the family could take care of it.

References

* [http://www.oerm.org/ Orange Empire Railway Museum]