Walt’s Lilly Belle

Enter the Disneyland Railroad Station and you’ll see what many guests assume to be just a decorative model train placed by the Imagineers to add a sense of nostalgia to the station, but it is far, far more important than that, for it is a tribute to Walt Disney’s life-long love of trains and a very important piece of Disney history.

Of all the "rolling stock" Walt Disney ran on his "Carolwood Pacific" railroad in the backyard of his Holmby Hills home, none was more important to him than the "Lilly Belle", a magnificently constructed miniature steam engine. Hand-built by Walt and a small group of Disney Imagineers, and named after his Walt’s wife, Lillian, this detailed 1/8 scale reproduction of the Central Pacific #173 pulled guests riding atop railcars along 2,615' of track, which wound its way around bends, over long trestles and even through a 90' tunnel under Lillian Disney's treasured flower beds.

The model train inside the case at the Disneyland Railroad Station in Town Square is a full-sized reproduction of Walt Disney's prized "Lilly Belle" steam engine and Tender, and it was painstakingly crafted with precision by Roger Broggie Jr. and his sons.

You’ll find Walt’s original Lilly Belle on display in the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, CA. (Below)

Learn more in the book The Hidden Secrets & Stories of Disneyland.