SF&D: Another Railroad that Quit Operating Passenger Trains when Amtrak was Formed
Disneyland Railroad 4-4-0 #1 was constructed as Santa Fe & Disneyland #1 in 1955 by WED, the Walt Disney Company formed to construct all those wonderful things for Walt’s theme parks. (W, E and D are, unsurprisingly, the initials of Walter Elias Disney.) Disneyland, just down the street from the Fullerton railroad station, usually trucks one of their locomotives up Harbor Boulevard for the city’s annual Fullerton Railroad Days festivities, and 2017’s exhibit is no different. Then again, the Disneyland Railroad is shut down, so this engine was “cold” anyway. (The railroad had to have its mainline relocated as part of the park’s expansion, which will consist primarily of the new Star Wars Land. The mural on the wall illustrates the new mainline.) Photographed on Cinco de Mayo 2017. Even though, with the coming on Amtrak, the Santa Fe was out of the passenger business, their sponsorship of the railroad at Disneyland continued until in October 1974, when the contract was up for renewal. There was some talk
of renewing, but the two sides could not, or would not, come to terms. Many railfans bristle at the word, but these little 36” gauge locomotives are, no doubt about it, cute!
