The Railroad Zone: Disney Train Connections in the Desert

This Pacific Electric Red Car #717 is operational at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. It has appeared in many movies including “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” Photo by Mark Eades

Do you recognize this Pacific Electric Red Car? If you’re a Disney fan you should. It was used in the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”

It also still runs many weekends at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California.

That same Red Car and many others are housed at the outdoor museum, and were the inspiration for the Red Cars seen at Disney California Adventure.

The museum was started by a group of men concerned that the Red Cars were disappearing in the fifties. The group began as the Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California and immediately went to work collecting what they could of the old system that used to serve much of Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

An electric streetcar from the Los Angeles Railroad plies the narrow-gauge rails at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. Photo by Mark Eades

The growing collection was initially housed at Travel Town in Griffith Park, but when the Ventura Freeway was going to claim some of that land, the group purchased the land in Perris and moved it there in 1958.

Named the Orange Empire Railway Museum, it collecting more and more railroad-related items including steam engines, cabooses, diesels, various cars, more Red Cars and other trolleys and more.

This steam locomotive belonged to Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney’s “nine-old-men.” Ward arranged for the locomotive and its passenger car to be donated to the museum upon his death. The family retained the locomotive for a number of years. The steam engine was originally used on a sugar plantation. It has no actual brakes. Photo by Mark Eades

Among the steam engines at the museum are two related to Disney – they once belonged to Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney’s nine-old-men of animation.

Ward owned two engines, some passenger cars and other train-related items that used to run on tracks at his home in San Gabriel.

He donated money for a barn named after his railroad at the museum, and designated it to receive his collection.

As you can see in the photos, the Grizzly Flats Railroad equipment still lives. The smaller engine, the Chloe, does not have a brake system, so the museum does not try to operate it.

This steam engine belonged to Ward Kimball. It was built in 1881 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. It is a 2-6-0 Mogul type. Brakes were added in 1901. It weighs 44,000 pounds. The tender weighs 20,000 pounds. The Orange Empire Railway Museum is looking for donations to help pay for its restoration. Photo by Mark Eades

The larger engine, the Grizzly Flats/Nevada Railroad #2, however, does and the museum is seeking donations to get it back into running condition with its other operational engines on the rails.

The museum is run by an all-volunteer staff, and members can learn how to do almost anything, including becoming an engineer for a steam locomotive – though that takes years to get certified by the state.

The museum is located at: 2201 South A Street, Perris, CA 92570.

You can find out more about the museum, including when its rolling stock will be operating (usually weekends) on its website, oerm.org.

You can see more photos in a slide show here.