As we reported late last month, the Disneyland Resort recent shuttered some major E-Ticket attractions following inspections from California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA). Most of the rides, including Soarin’ Over California and California Screamin’, swiftly returned to service, but the iconic Space Mountain remained off-limits to guests for the past 3 weeks.

Happily, Space Mountian returned to service on Friday night (May 3) and resumed normal operating hours as of Saturday, May 4. To clarify earlier coverage, Disney was fined $234,850 after a contract employee was injured in a fall last November while cleaning the exterior of Space Mountain, but the current closure was a voluntary action (not mandated by Cal/OSHA) intended to ameliorate related safety issues that had previously been “grandfathered” approval. Disneyland has not yet announced whether it will appeal the fines, or if further safety modifications to Disneyland attractions (or similar rides at Walt Disney World) will be made.

In a related note, similar employee fall protection issues have led Disneyland to change watering procedures for the Disneyland Railroad. The steam-powered locomotives are currently receiving water on every trip using a firehose, instead of the overhead watering systems used for the past six decades. Guest rides in the tender car have also been suspended for the time being. The impact on most visitors who aren’t steam-engine authenticity experts should be minimal.

Space Mountain Reopens but Disneyland Still Faces OSHA Issues is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

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).

All photos by Seth Kubersky/ images copyright Disney

Disney Gallery Farewell: All Aboard… A Grand Circle Tour of the Trains of Disney is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.