The railroad story6/5/2023 ![]() ![]() The experience may have partially inspired Great Moments with Mr. Photos courtesy of Joe and Jeanette Archie, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.Ī replica of President Lincoln’s funeral train rolled slowly down the tracks while a brass band played “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Walt, who had always felt a spiritual bond with Lincoln, was moved to tears. These trains and others like them inspired Walt Disney as he was planning to build Disneyland. Steam locomotive and the bullet-like Zephyr at Chicago’s Railroad Fair, 1948 to 1949. At night, they watched the fireworks reflecting off Lake Michigan. ![]() They walked through vintage railroad cars and climbed into the cabs of antique steam locomotives. The two men talked to scores of railroad engineers, firemen, and brakemen. There were hundreds of trains on display, from nineteenth-century steam locomotives to the sleek stainless steel Zephyr. The Railroad Fair opened on Tuesday, July 20, and the two men stayed for four days. Kimball later said, “Much of what he told me, I’d never heard before.” But on the long train ride, Walt told Kimball stories from his childhood, his time as an ambulance driver in France, and his early years in animation. In the past, Walt had rarely opened up about his life to others. 5 Ward Kimball at New Orleans Square Station. ![]() But during the forty-hour train ride, the two men talked endlessly. Though Kimball had worked for Walt since 1934, he had never known much about Walt’s early years. On Sunday, July 18, 1948, Walt Disney and animator Ward Kimball boarded the Super Chief at Pasadena station. Image used by permission of Disneyland Resort.) (Above: Walt at the throttle of Locomotive No. “I just want to look like nothing else in the world. By Jim Denney, author of Walt’s Disneyland ![]()
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