Disney Gallery Farewell: All Aboard… A Grand Circle Tour of the Trains of Disney

In a recent blog post, I related my reverence for the Disney Gallery on Main Street U.S.A. as a respite from the rush of the Disneyland Resort, and shared some snapshots from the gallery’s 2011 Art of Mary Blair exhibit.

Today, I want to share a final farewell to the gallery’s current inhabitant, which is about to depart the station. On June 30, a new collection called Crowning Achievements – Creating Castles for Magical Kingdoms will debut, displacing the existing exhibition entitled All Aboard… A Grand Circle Tour of the Trains of Disney.

If you are in Anaheim between now and June 27, when the railroading exhibit ends its run, I highly recommend you set aside half an hour to examine it. Walt was famously fond of trains, having worked as vendor on one as a boy, and even built a scale train layout (known as the Carolwood Pacific Railroad) in his backyard. The final remaining intact fragment from that track is one of the treasures of this collections, appropriately displayed in the former bank vault.

Other interesting items on display include artwork, models, and memorabilia representing iron horse that have run around each Disneyland-style park; the only iconic element, other than a central castle, to exist in every Magic Kingdom worldwide.

Other train-based Disney attractions are also paid tribute here, including the extinct (but not forgotten) Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland.

Topping it all off, a working model train runs along the perimeter of the gallery ceiling, adding a dash of whimsy and kinetic interest to the museum environment.

If you are interested in learning more about Walt Disney’s locomotive legacy, I also encourage you to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, and “Walt’s Barn” in Griffith Park (preserved by the Carolwood Pacfic Historical Society).