The Disneyland Railroad is far more than just a ride. It is a fully functional transportation system, integral to the successful operation of the Disneyland theme park. Each day guests are carried to the four stations of the line to visit the seven lands that make up Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Anaheim.

As with any transportation system, maintenance is an unavoidable reality. That reality lead Disneyland to search for an additional steam locomotive to pull it’s fleet of four passenger trains. During peak periods when all four trains would be needed, one locomotive might have been unavailable due to the demands of the maintenance cycle.

Over the years, there had been discussion of adding a fifth locomotive to the fleet to eliminate this problem. In the mid 1990’s, the search lead to Bill Norred, who had a steam locomotive similar to those already on the railroad. A swap was arranged with Disneyland getting the locomotive in exchange for five of the original Santa Fe & Disneyland passenger coaches (then stored out of service in the rear of the Disneyland roundhouse).

Unfortunately, that locomotive proved to be unsuited to operation on the Disneyland Railroad. A further search lead to another amusement park in Cedar Point, Ohio that also had an operating steam railroad, similar to the Disneyland Railroad. They had a small locomotive very close in size to the Disneyland fleet, and it was surplus to their needs. Another trade was completed in 1999 and the fifth locomotive inched closer to meeting the need.

However, once this new locomotive arrived at Disneyland it was not a quick process to put it into operation. A new boiler and other restoration awaited. And in the years that followed, Disneyland faced tight budgets that stalled the scope of the project.

Things changed in late 2003. With the arrival of a new resort president, Matt Ouimet and the upcoming 50th anniversary of Disneyland. Budgets for all kinds of projects suddenly found new life. As Mickey might have said, the plan now was to have everything “neat and pretty” for the big Five Oh. And that included the Disneyland Railroad; as it would be needed with all four trains online to handle the expected large numbers of Park guests.

So the project to add the fifth locomotive suddenly found it’s place on a front burner. A local boiler company was awarded a contract to complete the locomotive for it’s return to operation at Disneyland. And so it was, that Monday, November 8, 2004, found a locomotive loaded onto a trailer to make “that most dangerous of journeys” (if you recall the words of many a Jungle Cruise skipper), a short trip down the freeways of Southern California.

A little less than a month later, I found my way down the same freeways to Carson where my good friend Chris Allan had taken on the role of Project Manager for Boschan Boiler & Restorations - the contractor awarded the project by Disney. In what looked like just about any industrial park building, complete with roll-up doors, I saw the beginnings of a great project and a great challenge. If one looked close enough, you could envision a completed locomotive, under steam. Well maybe not too close, as there were parts of the project scattered all about the shop in various states.

Author Steve DeGaetano visited the same shop about a month later. Being some 300 miles closer to Carson than I am, he had the privilege of following a good portion of the restoration process. He even managed to help with some of the work along the way, too.

Now he, shares with us a new book entitled, “From Plantation to Theme Park: The Story of The Disneyland Railroad Locomotive #5, The “Ward Kimball”.

In 112 pages, Steve tells the story not only of the restoration by the crew at Boschan, but relates how the locomotive made the journey from Philadelphia to Louisiana to Ohio and finally to Anaheim. We follow the life of an industrial tool, as all locomotives really are. Built in 1902 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, it was named the “Maud L.” in honor of the daughter of one of the plantation owners. It’s purpose was to haul sugar cane cut in the fields over the 15 miles of railroad at the Laurel Valley Plantation to the mill for processing. And this it did so faithfully until retired in 1946.

But that was not the end, as it was purchased by collector Arthur LaSalle in the 1950’s. When the Cedar Point amusement park expanded and included a railroad, this diminutive locomotive found a new life in passenger service hauling guests around the park on a railroad much inspired by Walt Disney’s Santa Fe & Disneyland.

The book has a wealth on information on the history of the locomotive including copies of correspondence from Badwin to “Messrs. Barker and Lepine, LaFourche Crossing, La”; drawings of the locomotive by Preston Nirattisai (who served as the project draftsman)- both as delivered (in the Baldwin color and paint scheme, thanks to John Davis) and as completed by Boschan and Disney; and a large number of color images of the locomotive under restoration and in service on line at Disneyland.

Disneyland Railroad #5, the “Ward Kimball” and

The Crew at Boschan Boiler & Restorations, Inc.

Photo by Rita Allan

The new locomotive, now #5 of the Disneyland Railroad, named the “Ward Kimball” returned to Anaheim on April 15, 2005. After final assembly and testing, there was a brief ceremony on June 23 to recognize the efforts of everyone involved in bringing the locomotive back to service. Two days later, the “Ward Kimball” carried it’s first load of passengers at Disneyland, truly having completed the journey from “Plantation to Theme Park”.

The “Ward Kimball” pulling on of four trains in operation on July 17,2005 - Disneyland’s 50th anniversary.

Steve DeGaetano again provides a wonderful “Behind the Scenes” look at a Disneyland favorite, but also shares the passion of the people involved in the restoration of a turn of the 20th century steam locomotive that adds a new chapter to the history of this attraction enjoyed by so many Park guests.

If you would like to add a copy of the book to you library, it is available directly from Steam Passages Publications for only $29.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling.