Ward Kimball is a Disney legend. His contributions to Disney range from animation (he created Jiminy Cricket, Cinderella’s mice and more) to music (a member of the Firehouse Five Plus Two, recording at least 13 jazz records) to directing (he won several Academy Awards) to trains (Walt consulted with him when it came time to build the Disneyland railroad and in 2005 Disney named one of their locomotives after him). Ward worked at the Disney studios for 38 years, retiring in 1972 but he continued to consult with them afterwards. He died in 2002.

Of all his accomplishments, the one we’re focusing on here is his backyard railroad, Grizzly Flats. Ward had two steam locomotives, a passenger car, handcar and a station built from a movie set prop. He also has a marvelous collection of toy trains including early Lionel and some wind up tintype trains. The videos below are from an interview he had with Tom Snyder from the “Tomorrow” show around 1978. It’s a must see for fans of Disney, trains or live steam!