| Gurley Story
(continued)
Fred Gurley himself attended, and musical
entertainment was provided both by The Disneyland Band as well as the Santa
Fe All-Indian Band from Winslow, AZ. It was really a huge event, with 40
newspaper and television writers and cameramen present covering it,
along with hundreds of Park guests.
Walt and Fred Gurley in the cab just before
the engine's name is revealed.
Walt Disney presided, and it was a happy day for him.
Fred Gurley had arranged for Walt and Ward Kimball to take the Santa Fe's
premier passenger train, the Super Chief to Chicago in 1948--a trip
that had a direct influence on Walt's ideas about Disneyland. Additionally,
it was Fred Gurley who had approved Santa Fe sponsorship in the Disneyland
trains when no other railroad would touch the Park. Now, Walt could return
those favors. Initially, the engine's cab sides were covered with bunting,
obscuring the cab lettering. But right on cue, Walt himself pulled the cord
to reveal the engine's name.
A proud Fred Gurley sits in the cab of
the new
locomotive named for him.
Fred Gurley, himself a man of few words, simply said,
"Thank you very much." Then, Walt and Gurley joined in planting a sign
designating the entrance to the new attraction. Photos were taken of the two
men aboard the train, and a 96-year-old Hopi Indian, Chief Nevangnewa,
blessed the train before it began its journey.
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad Chief Engineer
(when Walt wasn't in the Park) Harley Ilgen
looks on from the cab window as
Walt and Fred Gurley share a moment with Chief Nevangnewa.
Then, Walt and Gurley entered the cab, acting as the
engine crew, and whistled off into the new Diorama, pulling the train's new
set of Excursion cars carrying invited guests. The little locomotive from
Louisiana was now an official locomotive of the Santa Fe & Disneyland line.
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Hitchhiking Ghosts?
In
addition to being the oldest, the Fred Gurley may also be the
most haunted locomotive on the Disneyland line. It has been
reported by several of the engine crews that on certain nights, when the
weather is warm and the wind is calm, an unseen engineer rides along in
the cab.
As the Gurley pulls out of Toontown Station on evenings like
this, and rolls slowly past "It's
a Small World," the locomotive's bell has been known to start rocking
gently back and forth, beginning slowly, but eventually ringing
audibly--on its own, without having been touched by the hands of the "mortal" fireman or engineer!
The track here is exceptionally
smooth, and the Gurley is the only locomotive that behaves in
this manner. Al
DiPaolo, an eight-year veteran Disneyland Railroad engineer and now a
restorer at the California State Railroad Museum, states that it
is possible to make the engine's bell ring due to the engine's short
main rod, which, at certain speeds and cut-offs, can cause the
locomotive to waddle or "hunt." Al has made the bell ring on many
occasions in this manner.
Another engineer, currently still employed at
the park notes, however, that he has had the bell ring on its own, while stopped at a station!
Disneyland Railroad Chief
Engineer Harley Ilgen
The following explanation believed
by many of the Disney engine crews is offered: The Fred Gurley was the favorite locomotive of Harley Ilgin, a personal friend of Walt's and first Chief
Engineer of the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad in the 1950s.
Among the
"old heads" on the Disneyland line, it is widely believed that ol'
Harley made his "final trip to the promised land" in the cab of No. 3,
suffering a fatal heart attack as the train rolled through the Grand
Canyon Diorama.
Incidents of the Gurley's bell ringing on its own
began to occur shortly after Harley's death, and it is believed that the
dearly departed Chief Engineer is merely tagging along for a ride in his
favorite engine, announcing his presence by ringing the bell!
Surely
stranger things have happened in annals of railroad lore. |
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The engine--and the Diorama--were great successes, and
even had their own attraction poster. The poster featured the tiny Fred
Gurley hauling the Excursion cars amid the colorful pink and purple
backdrop of the Grand Canyon. Deer and mountain lions watch from their
vantage points as the train steams by. We are encouraged to "Ride the Santa Fe &
Disneyland R.R., the Scenic Route Around Disneyland, via the Grand Canyon
Diorama."
The second attraction poster produced to
advertise
the trains of the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad.
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