Disneyland steam engines + train cars MOCs inspired by LEGO set 71044

[Murdoch17]

(Built and designed for my father, not for me)

The Disneyland engines with consists in order from Left to Right:

4-4-0 "C.K. Holliday" (engine 1) from 1955 pulling the my semi-fictionalized version of the Retlaw 2 freight train

4-4-0 "E.P. Ripley" (engine 2) also from '55 is pulling the post-1971 fictionalized Retlaw 1 passenger train

2-4-4 "Fred Gurley" (engine 3) started service in 1958 and is pulling the Holliday Blue excursion train

2-4-0 "Ernest S. Marsh" (engine 4) began service in 1959.

Most of the 4-4-0 models use 9v motors, as my father has that system as his preferred train propulsion type... and GatewayLUG uses the 9v style-track / motors too, so it makes it runnable at shows. The Fred Gurley is not able to be powered this way, sadly.

C.K. Holliday 4-4-0 and Retlaw 2 freight train

There were two trains at Disneyland opening day in 1955, and these were the Retlaw series. Retlaw 1 was the passenger train which was pulled by E.P. Ripley and consisted of one baggage, four passenger cars, and the observation car. Five of which are no longer used or were sold. (but the observation car is still used - as the Lilly Belle parlor car as seen in the official set) 

Retlaw 2 was the freight train, pulled by the engine as shown above - C.K. Holliday - and consisted of three cattle cars and three gondolas, plus the caboose. As you may have noticed, I chose to only use two cattle cars from that train, and no low-side gondolas... There are no pictures of those as far as I can tell before the freight cars were all converted into another train type, the same as are in LEGO set 71044. The tanker car and coal hopper are my own invention.

The two cattle cars. The two doors on each side of the identical cattle cars fold down.

The roof sections come of now as well. As you can see, no seats are inside these cars as there were none installed in Retlaw 2 on opening day 1955!

The two gondolas have been shortened from the original versions on the original Retlaw 2, but they are pretty close to it in looks!

The caboose. I made up this car, as I couldn't get the real four-world axle caboose to look good in LEGO.

The caboose has a removable roof too.

E.P. Ripley 4-4-0 and Retlaw 1 passenger train (fictional post-'71 rebuild)

Retlaw 1 was the passenger train which consisted of one baggage, four passenger cars, and the observation car,  which were pulled by E.P. Ripley on opening day in 1955. Five of which are no longer used or were sold. (but the observation car is still used - as the Lilly Belle parlor car as seen in the official set) However, in this fictional revised version of the train, this retirement didn't happen, though they were modified to suit side-seating.

The real Retlaw 1 was originally a yellow painted train, featuring front facing seats until it was mostly retired in 1971. The observation car of Retlaw 1 then became a parlor car known as the Lilly Belle after Walt Disney's wife Lillian. This fictionalized train is in the revised, post-1971 color scheme of the Lilly Belle, (which is in set 71044) and also has two passenger cars plus a baggage car with opening side doors. These cars all have side facing seats, as if Retlaw 1 were around and used in modified format after the 1971 overhaul of the Lilly Belle. As a side note, each of the cars feature a removable wall for getting at the inside details, as in set 71044.

My revised version of @TJJohn12's MOC of the Disneyland number 2 steam loco. I made it using parts ordered by my father, but it's still missing the 9v motor in this picture. As you can see, the loco is mainly dark blue, as it swapped colors with the originally dark green real-world engine. This is because the C. K. Holliday model in the Disney train Lego set is also color swapped, from what should be dark blue to dark green. So, basically, Lego used bits from both engines for the set, and we continued this trend here.

The baggage car features two sliding doors in red, though other colors are an option to stand out more. (I prefer black doors, but that's not prototypical!)

The side wall comes off, as it does on all the cars, to reveal seating. In this car, that means luggage room and two seats.

The two coaches are identical in every way, and are also quite similar to the parlor car at first glance.

The inside features side seating, as in the Disneyland park... this also allows for easier moving of figures, and placing them in any of the five seats per car.

This car is in the LEGO set 71044, but I thought you guys would like to see it alongside everything else.

Fred Gurley 2-4-4 and Holliday Blue excursion train

The Holiday Blue train was added in early1966 to replace the original Retlaw 1 passenger train which was going to be being pulled from service due to slow loading / unloading at stations. (It is also notable as the last consist added to the Disneyland Railroad.) Here it is being pulled by the Fred Gurley, also known as Disneyland number 3.

Here is my Dad's (now finished IRL!) third Disneyland loco, to accompany the C.K. Holliday one in set 71044 and the E.P. Ripley MOC I just finished for him: it mimics the real world Fred Gurley pretty well too. The real 2-4-4 loco has been at Disneyland since early March of 1958. This paint scheme isn't 100% accurate (black boiler / black domes are dark green / red here), but IT IS in line with the modification my Dad and I have already done to the other locomotives.

The roof lifts up as normal for this series. This loco is one of my Dad's few unpowered engines, as it is impossible to fit a 9v motor underneath... or any motor block, really!

The "Holiday Blue" car by themselves, with only tail-lights added to them.

The Disney train my father bought has added three Bricklinked cars with some new cartoon passengers courtesy of "The Minifig Shop" LEGO resale store in Kirkwood, Missouri. Still need get the 4th car and the Lilly Belle car built from the actual set, and add the Star Wars characters to it and the empty one on the right. I should probably put Donald Duck as a he fireman as seen in the cartoon short 'Out of Scale" from the late 1950s.

Ernest S. Marsh 2-4-0

Just to complete the first four locomotives from Disneyland, here is Ernest S. Marsh. It's a 2-4-0 based off the 1871 Denver & Rio Grande loco number 1, "Montezuma" and was readied for service at the California park for the first time in late April 1959. This LEGO version is also inspired by LEGO set 71044 for the two-axle tender, piston design, and general look of the engine, while the boiler design originally hails from set 7597.

The tender is powered by a 9v motor, and weighed down for traction by a standard weight brick.

Notes on the post and future additions:

Real life pictures will be added whenever possible. Also, Disneyland RR Number 5 - Ward Kimball - is a relative newcomer to he park and is a 2-4-4 like the Fred Gurley. It would not be interesting to have two more identical locos on the roster, so it is not included, and as it arrived in 2005, it's not quite from for the time period my dad and I are attempting to model. (He is kind of not sure if he wants another loco after Fred Gurley, so the 2-4-0 steamer Ernest S. Marsh might not get built either!)

Any questions, suggestions, or complaints? Let me know below!

EDITED 8/26/21: added Fred Gurley (Disneyland number 3) steam loco's real world MOC pictures to this post!

Edited May 13, 2022 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

First post updated with new text / pictures!

Ok, so here is my Dad's potential third Disneyland loco, to possibly accompany the C.K. Holliday one in set 71044 and the E.P. Ripley MOC I just finished building for him: it mimics the real world Fred Gurley pretty well too.

The real 2-4-4 loco has been at Disneyland since early March of 1958. This paint scheme isn't 100% accurate (black boiler / black domes are dark green / red here), but IT IS in line with the modification my Dad and I have already done to the other locomotives.

I'm not sure it has any air-pumps on the real loco, as it was originally built in 1894 and there aren't many bigger pictures of this side. But to be consistent with the other two, they are here on the loco. The roof lifts up as normal for this series.

This is the Disneyland number three, the Fred Gurley. As seen on Flickr (not my photo)

Sadly, the LEGO The Fred Gurley is unpowered, as I couldn't get a 9v motor to look good.

But  wait, there's more! Another Disneyland locomotive, a 2-4-0 named the Ernest S. Marsh, (loco number 4) that has existed since 1959 at Disneyland, for which the original C.K. Holliday tender design would do nicely for this loco in my opinion! This is one >tiny< tea kettle, even compared to the 2-4-4 type locos. I haven't designed it yet as I'm still thinking on how to do so without using small driving wheels from Big Ben Bricks.(My Dad is a purist in a major way, had to push him a bit with the red BrickTracks wheels for the C.K. Holliday from set 71044 we've still yet to build.)

Any thoughts? I know @TJJohn12 was making a Fred Gurley loco...

Edited August 4, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

NEW Ernest S. Marsh engine and NEW train cars added to the first post!

[Murdoch17]

My revised version of @TJJohn12's MOC of the Disneyland number 2 steam locomotive (E.P. Ripley), now with new longer tender for both it and the C.K. Holiday steam engine as seen in set 71044. That set is still not built, sadly. (My dad, the owner of these trains and the set in question, won't let me touch it yet!)

The motors and other wheels are at his place, so testing under the heavier loads (each tender has a single weight brick inside) should happen this weekend.

Some pictures in the first post have been updated as of now, including of the Fred Gurley (Disneyland number 3) and of the main picture. But directly above you'll see one that isn't in the main post!

Any questions, suggestions, or complaints? Let me know below!

Edited August 4, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

I just added better pictures of the Holiday Blue excursion train and pictures of the (NEW!) removable roof sections to the Retlaw 2 freight train's caboose and cattle cars. The tanker and steel coal hopper were removed from that train as well and more factual gondola cars were added instead.

Thoughts on all these changes?

[Murdoch17]

Close up pictures of Ernest S. Marsh are now in the first post!

Just to complete the first four locomotives from Disneyland's early years, here is Ernest S. Marsh. It's a 2-4-0 based off the 1871 Denver & Rio Grande loco number 1, "Montezuma" and was readied for service at the park's Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad for the first time in late April 1959. The engine is the last one built to carry the name of a Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad president. (The newer loco Ward Kimball is named after a former animator that Disney had hired and died in 2002.) This bric-built version is also inspired by LEGO set 71044 for the two-axle tender, piston design, and general look of the engine, while the boiler design originally hails from set 7597.

The tender is powered by a 9v motor, and weighed down for traction by a standard weight brick.

Thoughts?

Edited August 9, 2021 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

Well, I had my dad drop all his 2-4-4 (for the Fred Gurley, also known as Disneyland No. 3) parts off today and this is the result of today's building session for this locomotive. I was thinking I was going to be able to finish it today....

…However, I sadly could not. As you can see, the thirteen parts shown off on the screen are the missing ones, which I KNOW were ordered, as I triple checked the list before my dad ordered anything. (The 3rd party red wheels are actually here, but the remaining needed axle holder is not, so they can't be attached yet... same is true of the smokestack, which is missing the headlight holder piece to set both in place.) I guess he will have to make another order this weekend...

[Modeltrainman]

@Murdoch17 Cool! Would you mind showing off the front truck on your 2-4-0? I'm redoing Casey Jr., and he works much better, but I'd love to make him even better still.

[Murdoch17]

8 hours ago, Modeltrainman said:

@Murdoch17 Cool! Would you mind showing off the front truck on your 2-4-0? I'm redoing Casey Jr., and he works much better, but I'd love to make him even better still.

@Modeltrainman This is from the 2-4-4,but it is the same pony truck design as on the 2-4-0, except the piston cylinders don't stuck out as far on the that Ernest S. Marsh. (1 plate less on each side)

bottom view

top view.

I didn't know exactly what you needed, but it is based off the trailing truck from the Emerald Night (10194), so I think that model should give you some hints if you get stuck.

Hope this helps!

[Modeltrainman]

 @Murdoch17Thank you! That should balance better!

[Murdoch17]

On 8/23/2021 at 12:26 AM, Modeltrainman said:

 @Murdoch17Thank you! That should balance better!

Can't wait to see it finished @Modeltrainman!

I just added the completed Fred Gurley (Disneyland number 3) steam loco's real world MOC pictures to the first post!

Thoughts?

[Modeltrainman]

Very cool!

[Carolwood55]

Do/Did you have plans to modify the pistons to make them functional?

[Murdoch17]

3 hours ago, Carolwood55 said:

Do/Did you have plans to modify the pistons to make them functional?

Sorry @Carolwood55, but not really, no. These were designed for use with my father's copy of the Disney train and (sadly) he wouldn't let me modify it too much.

On 8/26/2021 at 12:24 PM, Modeltrainman said:

Very cool!

Sorry for the really late reply, but thanks @Modeltrainman!

Edited May 13, 2022 by Murdoch17

[DMRR WOLFE]

What an awesome collection! I particularly like your version of the Fred Gurley! Hope you'll make your instructions or models available sometime in the future!