Dick Bagley

Greetings family, friends and Disney Railroad buddies! I hope that you enjoy this little vignette of one of Walt's lesser known enterprises.......Bill

Disneyana

WALT DISNEY MINIATURE RAILROAD COMPANY

The often repeated history of Walt’s backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad and his 1:8 scale live steam locomotive, named for his wife Lilly Belle, is well known among Disney railroad fans. Designed after Cental Pacific’s locomotive No. 173, the Lilly Belle was built in the Walt Disney Studio’s machine shop by a team led by Roger E. Broggie while the cab, smoke stack, headlamp and detailed caboose (except for the frame and trucks) were built by Walt himself. Lilly Belle and it’s ride-on consist were operated on his 2,615 foot Carolwood Pacific backyard layout beginning in 1950.  

Less know is that Walt Disney formed a small company that he named Walt Disney Miniature Railroad in hope of recovering some of the costs of the construction of his prized live stream locomotive. He called upon highly regarded mechanical engineer and live steam railroading expert and promoter Dick Bagley to manage the fledgling business venture of marketing scale products to live steam enthusiasts. Bagley created a publication, the Miniature Locomotive magazine in 1951 that advertised “Locomotives, Metal Gondolas, Box Cars, Track Fittings”, Switch Lamps and Caboose Stoves in 1-1/2” scale, 7-1/4 or 7-1/2 gauge”. The most popular items available from Walt Disney Miniature Railroad were the complete detailed drawings of Central Pacific locomotive No.173 (Lilly Belle) and “knock off” scale casting including the miniature pot belly stove that Walt built for the interior of his Carolwood Pacific four wheeled bobber caboose.

Walt Disney Miniature Railroad and it’s publication faded away after two years when Walt’s interest shifted from backyard live steam railroading to a full size steam railroad in his Anaheim theme park. Walt called on Bagley once again, this time as a resource assisting with creating the initial designs of Disneyland Railroad narrow gauge locomotives #1 and #2, the C.K. Holliday and E.P. Ripley, as well as a steam engineering resource for the studio built Mark Twain Riverboat. As a member of the Los Angeles Parks Department and active with Southern California live steamers organizations, Dick Bagley served on a committee considering the construction of a seven mile long narrow gauge steam railroad that would run between Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. He was never a Disney employee or Legend, or does his name appear on any of Disneyland’s Main Street windows, however long time steam engineering resource Dick Bagley played an instrumental role in the parks development and his name often appears on the Acknowledgment pages and in the Indexes of literature relating to Walt Disney railroads.  -Bill  9/23

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