Instead of simply painting the car's name on the sides in straight block
lettering, as was done with the previous cars, Disney applied the name in large,
flowing letters, as if they were on a banner. In between the words "Grand" and
"Canyon," there was a large oval vignette of the famed chasm, in brilliant
color.
A rare color view of Retlaw 1 on Opening Day. Grand Canyon's distinctive
window
pattern can be seen, as well as the oval vignette showing the car's namesake
canyon. Research to date has not produced a clear view of the painting.
The car's window treatment was different from the others was well, with six
sets of large double windows on each side, instead of the coaches' rows of 12
small single windows. Inside, the seating was arranged with seats along the
walls of the car. The "bench" seats were built four seats abreast, with
passengers facing the central aisle of the car, and each other, as opposed to
the standard front-facing "school bus" seating that was used in the other cars
of the train. The car's rear observation deck was shaded by a green-and-white
striped awning; and while the deck was surely inviting to passengers, a brass
sign affixed to the door was discouraging in its message: "Passengers Are Not
Allowed To Stand On The Platform."
The Grand Canyon waits at Main Street Station. The sign warning against
standing
on the platform is visible on the door. Two authentic signal lanterns are on
the deck, just to the right of the drumhead. Marker lamps are missing.
Photo by Roger Broggie, courtesy Michael Broggie.
Hanging on the car's rear railing was the train's "drumhead," a circular,
lighted tail sign. The drumhead on Grand Canyon bore the name of the
train, "Santa Fe & Disneyland Limited," surrounding the typical Santa Fe cross,
and a yellow stylized rendition of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Often, a pair of
railroad signal lanterns rested on the deck near the railing.
The passenger train of the Santa Fe & Disneyland Limited was the pride of the
fleet for several years, but times were changing. Issues arose in the mid-1960s
with the addition of the Primeval World diorama. The cars had very small
windows, and made viewing the pageantry of the Pleistocene difficult for many
guests. Additionally, the cars were hard to load and unload, since each
passenger had to go through one of each car's two doors, single file. The
recently acquired "Holiday" cars, with their sideways-facing seats and larger
entryways eventually caused the Park to remove the Retlaw 1 passenger train from
general service.
The cars were used only on rare occasions, usually during rainy or cold
weather, and the cars of Retlaw 1 made their final run around the Park on a
gloomy, drizzly day in 1974. In that year as well, the Santa Fe dropped its
sponsorship, and the railroad simply became the Disneyland Railroad we know
today. After that, Walt Disney's wonderful yellow passenger cars were
unceremoniously put into storage in the back of the Disneyland roundhouse--Grand
Canyon among them.
As luck would have it, there would be a reprieve for the most glorious car on
the Disneyland Railroad, however. The car had a champion.
