[Question] What's your favorite Disneyland Railroad Steam Locomotive?

[Right Down Broadway]

So, in Disneyland, most ride vehicles are identical. The Matterhorn Bobsleds all look alike. The POTC boats and the Autopia cars are the same (aside from color). The HM Omnimovers are the same. But when it comes to the trains, we are treated to five very different looking steam locomotives.

Sure, the "bones" of the E.P. Ripley and the C.K. Holliday are the same (the basic frame, wheels, and boiler). Same goes for the Fred Gurley and the Ward Kimball--which were technically built as identical Baldwin catalog engines, except for fuel source.

Even so, all five steam engines are remarkably different in appearance. Some have straight smokestacks; some have "balloon" or diamond smokestacks. Some are painted red, others are predominately green. Some are "tank" engines, others have separate tenders to carry fuel and water.

So do you have a favorite Disneyland Railroad steam locomotive, and if so, why? I'll start off:

While I like all five engines for different reasons, I do has a particular favorite. As a student of the Victorian era, the E.P. Ripley has always seemed to me to be quintessentially Victorian. The early electric style headlight; the beautiful contrast of her red drive wheels and overall green paint scheme, and above all, that jaunty brass cap on her smokestack (the straight smokestack signifies the engine as being a coal burner. What's more Victorian than a coal-burning steam locomotive?). The engine just seems like what one would see pulling into the station in 1895.

A close second might be the Ward Kimball, because of its interesting and convoluted history.

So...what's your favorite Disneyland Railroad steam locomotive?

[Dutchman]

That's easy, as a former employee of Cedar Point, #5 "Ward Kimball". She left Baldwin as the "Maud L" a name she carried from her days as a sugar plantation locomotive through her time on the Cedar Point & Lake Erie.

[MRaymond]

Locomotive #1, the C.K. Holliday. I love the Diamond smokestack and all the brightwork. Like the E.P. Ripley, she screams praises to early railroad locomotives. A close second are two locomotives that have only circled the DLRR a few times, the Chloe and the Marie E.

[Right Down Broadway]

Locomotive #1, the C.K. Holliday. I love the Diamond smokestack and all the brightwork. Like the E.P. Ripley, she screams praises to early railroad locomotives. A close second are two locomotives that have only circled the DLRR a few times, the Chloe and the Maud L.

Great choice on the C.K. Holliday!

Well, as noted above, the engine that *was* the Maud L. still circles the Park. The Maud L never circled the Park--at least under her own power. She was towed, however, if that's what you're referring to.

[BigThunda]

Great thread idea!

Pix of each locomotive in the OP would be great!

[kjhorton25]

Locomotive #1, the C.K. Holliday. I love the Diamond smokestack and all the brightwork. Like the E.P. Ripley, she screams praises to early railroad locomotives.

Give me the C.K. Holliday every day of the week! Most of the time it's pulling the sideways facing cars behind it which are infinitely better than the forward-facing ones imo. That and it's the most beautiful steam engine I've ever seen in person. Just an absolutely beautiful machine.

[MRaymond]

Great choice on the C.K. Holliday!

Well, as noted above, the engine that *was* the Maud L. still circles the Park. The Maud L never circled the Park--at least under her own power. She was towed, however, if that's what you're referring to.

I fixed my post, I had Maud L. stuck in my head from the previous post.

[Right Down Broadway]

Very cool MRaymond! I don't know of any other theme park that has ever hosted "foreign" motive power! I believe this would have been Chloe's first time at the Park, and the second time for the Marie E.

P.S. I never realized how close those two engines are in appearance!

[MRaymond]

Very cool MRaymond! I don't know of any other theme park that has ever hosted "foreign" motive power! I believe this would have been Chloe's first time at the Park, and the second time for the Marie E.

P.S. I never realized how close those two engines are in appearance!

I don't know the whole story but I know the Marie E was pulling the Chloe in this pic. Maybe the Chloe needs a rebuild before it can power itself since it's a museum piece.

[bayouguy]

I like them all...as long as the whistles and bells continue to work properly...

[Dutchman]

Probably because Chloe a uses wood for fuel, and Marie E is an oil fired locomotive as I recall. Even with the spark arresting smokestack some slip through, especially when the locomotive is "worked". In other words, the likely hood of her starting a fire was such that she was towed around cold. The Kimball family were using her until they family sold the property that the house and the Grizzly Flats RR was on. The Emma Nevada and the passenger coach and a lot of what made up the GFRR was donated to the museum in Perris, CA, which is also where Chloe and her passenger car went also.

[Right Down Broadway]

Probably because Chloe a uses wood for fuel, and Marie E is an oil fired locomotive as I recall. Even with the spark arresting smokestack some slip through, especially when the locomotive is "worked". In other words, the likely hood of her starting a fire was such that she was towed around cold.

Doubtful. If Disney was worried about sparks, there'd be no fireworks. It's more likely that the engine just hasn't been fired up in so long, there'd be issues.

[steveb48]

Chloe was being pulled by Marie E. Although we fired up Chloe a couple weeks before this event to do some evaluations, she wasn't deemed reliable enough to run on her own for this event. I have hopes that she will be restored. You can find more, including pictures of that steam up, on the Project Chloe page on FB.

[Eagleman]

As locomotive's
C.K. Holliday ,is #1 on my list....
But , Really love them all

[TFN5459]

I might be in the minority here but my favorite is #3, the Fred Gurley. Something about the Forney design of the #3 and the it's green paint job with the brass and red trim accents just appeals to me. Also from a mechanical standpoint, it is said to be one of the best running locomotives on the Disneyland Railroad, though it may be the oldest. The #2, EP Ripley and #5, Ward Kimball are tied for second for me.

[Right Down Broadway]

Nothing wrong with the Fred Gurley! That engine, too, has a very unique and interesting history as a former sugar plantation locomotive.

In early 1959, it starred as a "stand-in" for the not-yet-completed Ernest S. Marsh in a newspaper supplement to tout the coming 1959 new attractions at the Park. They basically slapped a "Marsh" nameplate on the cab and hoped no one would notice!

[Eagleman]

I just know, I enjoy being a the Main Street Station
and hearing about taking that Grand Trip around "WALT DISNEY MAGIC KINGDOM"
Be surprise to see, what locomotive's comes my way ......

""Al-Board""

[Dutchman]

#2 the "E. P. Ripley" is at the Hillcrest Shops undergoing an extensive overhaul.

[Right Down Broadway]

#2 the "E. P. Ripley" is at the Hillcrest Shops undergoing an extensive overhaul.

I had heard that. I wonder what exactly is being overhauled?

[Dutchman]

When they are sent out for work, it usually entails running gear work, bearings and bushings renewed, piston rings and glands replaced, re seating of the cylinder valves plus what ever is needed to the boiler in compliance with the state regulations