Tom Morrow
05-05-2007, 11:46 PM
HO-scale model of Lillybelle, Walt's first train, released
http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-TrainSet.png
Model-train shares Disney magic with a new generation (http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/may/06/a-toy-story/)
Ventura County Star - CA
A Thousand Oaks man with lifelong ties to Walt Disney's magic is helping to market the first model-train replica of the backyard railroad that was part of the inspiration for Disneyland.
Michael Broggie who knew Walt Disney and spent much of his childhood on the Disney studio lot and his business partner got the Disney family to license production of the scale model electric train. It went on sale at Disneyland last month and will be available nationwide in late June.
The train is a replica of the "Lillybelle," a five-car freight that Disney named for his wife and had built in the early 1950s at his Carolwood estate in Hollywood's Holmby Hills. Dubbed the Carolwood-Pacific Railroad, the track encircled the grounds, transporting passengers through a tunnel, over a trestle and up and down hills. Broggie called it the Mickey Mouse creator's first thrill ride.
With a locomotive, a tender, two gondolas, a boxcar and a yellow caboose, the toy is an HO-scale model, which means it was built exactly 1/87th as big as the original. Disney's train was about one-eighth the size of the real thing, Broggie said. The toy's box shows Disney riding the original miniature train in his backyard.
Under development for more than a year, an initial order of 2,000 "Lillybelle" electric trains was manufactured by Bachmann Trains Inc., a 134-year-old Philadelphia company that is the world's largest model train producer. Production was licensed by the nonprofit Walt Disney Family Foundation, which will be paid an undisclosed percentage of sales as a royalty.
complete article (http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/may/06/a-toy-story/)
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http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-TrainSet.png
Model-train shares Disney magic with a new generation (http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/may/06/a-toy-story/)
Ventura County Star - CA
A Thousand Oaks man with lifelong ties to Walt Disney's magic is helping to market the first model-train replica of the backyard railroad that was part of the inspiration for Disneyland.
Michael Broggie who knew Walt Disney and spent much of his childhood on the Disney studio lot and his business partner got the Disney family to license production of the scale model electric train. It went on sale at Disneyland last month and will be available nationwide in late June.
The train is a replica of the "Lillybelle," a five-car freight that Disney named for his wife and had built in the early 1950s at his Carolwood estate in Hollywood's Holmby Hills. Dubbed the Carolwood-Pacific Railroad, the track encircled the grounds, transporting passengers through a tunnel, over a trestle and up and down hills. Broggie called it the Mickey Mouse creator's first thrill ride.
With a locomotive, a tender, two gondolas, a boxcar and a yellow caboose, the toy is an HO-scale model, which means it was built exactly 1/87th as big as the original. Disney's train was about one-eighth the size of the real thing, Broggie said. The toy's box shows Disney riding the original miniature train in his backyard.
Under development for more than a year, an initial order of 2,000 "Lillybelle" electric trains was manufactured by Bachmann Trains Inc., a 134-year-old Philadelphia company that is the world's largest model train producer. Production was licensed by the nonprofit Walt Disney Family Foundation, which will be paid an undisclosed percentage of sales as a royalty.
complete article (http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/may/06/a-toy-story/)
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