Ironic that I ran into this web page showing a depot which, while larger, has practially all the same lines of the Grizzly Flats Depot. It might win best barn-find of the year for 2005. Looks like this depot sat on someones farm as an untouched time warp for 70 years before getting preserved by the Northwest Ohio Railway Preservation group.
http://www.nworrp.org/hatton.htm

Kurt,

Thanks for filling in the blanks. I remember the article, I bought a complete set of the magazine, now you have the date for others to look at.

In the way of paper there is at least one post card showing the engine and depot. I'll keep an eye out for you the next time I go to a post card show.

Ted Miles

(so its two years after the last post! thats ok. ;)

I have some updated information on the Grizzly Flats depot, and its connection to the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

still dont have a photo of the original LV depot! but hopefully we will find one eventually..I put the last 6 years worth of research together into a new webpage:

http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychao ... index.html

Please take a look, comments/corrections/anything are all welcome.

thanks,
Scot

Welcome to the World Wide COBWEB...

You'll find all kinds of "Breaking News" out there from 5 or 10 years ago. Some fades quickly, other stuff lives on long after it should.

I'm curious as to why all five Disneyland locomotives are 4-coupled while 3 of the 4 Walt Disney World locomotives are 6-coupled.

Bigger trains? Or perhaps simply what was available for sale at the time. I know that at least two of the Disneyland locomotives were built for Disney.

Thanks!

Scott

I think they know the answer better on the Parktrains yahoo group, but to my knowledge WDW has steeper grades. I think more of the Grizzly Flat rr collection went to Orange Empire since this thread started, I wish the depot would go there too.
O.

Yes, Walt Disney had his first two steam locomotives custom-built for the Park. He was a big fan of the Central Pacific's No. 173, which was a 4-4-0, so the first engine was built to resemble that engine. To save money, the second engine was built using the same frame, cylinders and boiler, with the details changed to make it look like a different engine.

The next two engines were Baldwins that were purchased with the intention of saving money on having to build an engine from the ground up. At the time (late 1950s), lots of small narrow gauge engines were hitting the market, so it was fairly easy to get them. Of course, these smaller narrow gauge engines, which were industrial types used in quarries and sugar plantations, were generally four-coupled. Plus, their smaller size fit in well with Disneyland's smaller scale.

Disneyland's 5th engine was received in trade. They originally had a much larger 1927 Davenport that they were going to use, but it was so big that tunnels would need to have been enlarged, and trestles shored up. The smaller 1902 Baldwin they eventually got fits in much better, and is again a former sugar plantation engine.

When Walt Disney World was being planned, it was already known that the scale of the park would be larger than Disneyland. Again, Disney knew that the best course would be to purchase used steam engines and simply rebuild them. In the late 1960s in Mexico, some railroads were still steam powered, but were in the process of dieselizing. Earl Vilmer, the guy who built the Disneyland Railroad, was dispatched to Merida, Mexico, to look over some narrow gauge engines. He inspected four engines on his trip, one of which arrived under its own power from 100 miles away. Those engines, of course, were full-size narrow gauge engines--a 4-4-0, 2-6-0, and two 4-6-0s with sequential Baldwin builder's numbers. In a memo to Roger Broggie, Earl noted the engines were larger than the Disneyland engines, but felt they would be good choices.

So, in a nutshell, that's why the WDW engines are larger and have different wheel arrangements than the Disneyland engines.

- snip

Earl Vilmer, the guy who built the Disneyland Railroad, was dispatched to Merida, Mexico, to look over some narrow gauge engines. He inspected four engines on his trip, one of which arrived under its own power from 100 miles away.

-snip

Merida Roundhouse circa 1966, read em and weep!

-Hudson

Update!
several new photos added..including new prototype photos of "sister depots".

http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychao ... index.html

thanks,
Scot

Scot --

Another sister has been relocated to Snyder's, Pa. just south of the intersection of Route 309 and Route 895, about 3/4 of a mile from its former location along the LV's Lizard Creek (Pottsville) Branch.

Here's a link to a photo: http://www.west2k.com/papix/snyders.jpg

While its exterior appearance is different from the others you've shown, its dimensions seem close. It's certainly possible there were a number of designs based on the same structure, depending on location and proposed use.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne!
I will have to get that one added to the page as well!

Scot