Walt Disney’s Barn

I had a great experience here with some old friends. It was a different but fun time and got to see some very interesting things. Walt’s barn is amazing and to be able to see that in person totally makes this trip worthwhile. Thanks to S and C for taking me here while I was visiting!

This is a wonderful little piece of history that is a must see for any Disney lover or miniature train enthusiast. It’s not a big place, but it’s packed full of memorabilia. There are many lovely volunteers that give very informative tours. You can feel the passion of the volunteers for this diamond in the rough. Plenty of parking. Only open once a month, so plan accordingly.

Disney groupies delight! This is a very historical spot for Disneyland junkies to visit in L.A. as it where ol’ Walt dreamed up many of the original attractions. He kept a collection of ¹⁄₅^th steamer engine trains here and it was essentially his escape when the pressures of being an imagineer would get to him. Who knows how many nights Sir Disney would burn the midnight oil at this little red barn. It is a very nice little stop to see some museum quality displays of his life and the history of his hide out. Well maintained and located at the opposite end of Griffith Parks L.A. Live Steamers Train Station. You do pass by the red barn when you ride the little trains too. Many beloved fans maintain the barn and it usually has a lot of informative volunteers there to answer any questions or provide fun facts abound. My kids were too anxious to ride the trains than to appreciate this fully. On the weekends that it is open, I would suggest taking them to Travel Town Museum and then the steamers first before you take little ones to this significant spot.

Only open one day of the month on the third Sunday, but don’t twist your vacation plans around a visit here because it’s a short 15-​minute visit. On the plus side, both admittance and parking are free.
The property has Disney’s train barn moved from his Holmby Hills estate. It’s filled with train and monorail collectibles from Disneyland and Walt’s miniature train (about the smallest train that can still carry people). Additionally, there is a steam demonstration that powers various motors, one heavily restored narrow gauge rail car, and an outdoor model train layout using the same scale at Walt’s train. The content is more about Disney’s interest in trains than it is about trains.
One of three train rides at Griffith Park, the Live Steamers (see
) line goes around the Disney Barn, but not part of the Barn.

Pretty neat little place, cool little venue showing the history and trains of Walt Disney! If you have seen it it’s worth a stop and see! But its Only open the third Sunday of every month.

Ever wonder where Walt Disney came up with the crazy idea of having a huge plot of land surrounded by futuristic trains, dedicated to a mouse named Mickey and amusement rides for the whole family to ride? Well, every man needs his man cave, and what better place than your own barn to do some serious brain storming for what Walt Disney would eventually call Disneyland.
Disney’s Barn is located next to the Los Angeles Live Steamers and is free to access, however, there is a suggested donation of $ 5. Upon simple glance, it looks just like a miniature barn that Walt had specially made for his Beverly Hills Carolwood property, but there is much more than what meets the eye.
On July 19, 1999, Diane Disney Miller dedicated the barn as a new place to learn more about her father. Miller, was Walt’s eldest daughter who had arranged for volunteers to dismantle and remove the barn from her father’s Carolwood property and place it in Griffith Park. Walt’s barn is labeled as the birthplace of Imagineering (where imagination meets engineering). It was in this barn, with his trains, that Walt got one of the very first inspirations for what would eventually be called Disneyland. He envisioned a park that was surrounded by a miniature train — today the Disneyland Railroad is a full-​scale railway with five passenger trains hauled by four live-​steam locomotives circling the perimeter.
Knowing a little more about the history of the barn you look at it in awe. This is where Disney had first visions of Disneyland?! Crazy! The barn is filled with great Disney artifacts such as his shave kit, railroad hats, original Disneyland tickets, blueprints, signs and posters. You literally get to see Disney’s ideas unravel in front of you while walking through the barn.
If you love Disney and history then you should love this place. Don’t plan on this being an all day event, you will probably be there for an hour to just look in the barn and walk around. The staff that works here is very knowledgeable about the barn’s history and is also very courteous.
Go get your Disney history on!
Cheers!

Only open on the 3^rd Sunday of each month (11a-​3p), Walt Disney’s Barn is an extension of Travel Town (train museum) in Griffith Park that features the relocated original barn that Walt Disney used to house his miniature train collection. It’s now been converted into a mini-​museum of Disney memorabilia with an emphasis on Walt’s passion for trains (of course).
The grounds are fairly small, containing; Walt’s Barn, a restored train car used during the original opening of Disneyland, and a steam locomotion display. All the docents are really friendly and knowledgeable and it was great hearing about the history behind Disney, his trains, and the early days of Disneyland. All in all, it probably doesn’t take more than an hour to take it all in so if you’re a Disney or vintage train enthusiast, go check it out!
While there is a donation box present (which we contributed to), the visit to the Barn is free as is the parking adjacent to it. If you go, do yourself a favor and spend the $ 3 it costs to ride the miniature train ride (that you straddle like a horse) that begins near Travel Town and runs thru Walt’s Barn (not to be confused with the other train ride that runs inside Travel Town). Surprisingly, the ride is much more extensive than it looks from the outside and is well worth the $ 3 and I promise it will definitely make you feel like a kid again!

Walt’s Barn is a replica of the barn from Walt Disney’s family farm in Marceline, Missouri, which he had constructed at his residence on Carolwood in Holmby Hills to serve as his workshop for his passion — building miniatures and model trains. In 1999, his family moved the barn to Griffith Park. It is a very small structure but it packs loads of information about Disney’s passion for trains and how that related to the opening and development of the park. They also now have an original coach fro the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad (the original railroad at the park from 1955). It only has a few fans inside, and it fills up, so prepare to be warm. They also have a cute play table outside for the kids — a train table with toy trains. There is not much to the place… you can do the entire thing pretty exhaustively within an hour… but it is a very cool place for any Disney lover. Parking and admission are free, and there is one portapotty. There is no food onsite, but they have picnic benches and tables and encourage picnicking. The volunteers from the Foundation are knowledgeable, enthusiastic and friendly. It’s only open on the third Sunday of each month from 11AM to 3PM, weather permitting (i.e., if it’s raining, it’s closed). I highly recommend arriving early, because there was always a line of people waiting to get inside. For our family, with a picnic, it made for a lovely couple of hour long adventure.

A must for any Walt Disney, train and Disneyland fan! Walt Disney’s Barn has so many wonderful artifacts from Walt’s life and the many projects he was associated with, especially focused on his love of trains.
Take your friends and family and a picnic to sit in the grass and talk while you look at the Barn that Walt built on his Carolwood Drive home in Holmby Hills. The Barn stood as a workshop for his Carolwood Pacific Railroad — a miniature live-​steam locomotive and train set that ran around his home.
There are many wonderful volunteers who all have different stories and experiences.

We are huge Disney fan so being able to walk around in something Walt touched and worked in was awesome. It’s a cute little place filled with Walt’s trains and other personal Disney memorabilia I think any true Disney fanatic would love to visit here. You can’t ride the travel town trains from here but they pass through and there are some cute miniature buildings at the entrance. The area is kept green and pretty and it is free though a 3 dollar donations is suggested so they can keep the place running Its only opened on the third Sunday of each month and it is small so it seems a little crowded at times but I still think it’s worth the look.

Train enthusiasts and Disney fans can find something great to enjoy at the Carolwood Barn.
Train enthusiasts get a look at some fantastic small scale trains and the equipment used to make them.
For Disney Fans it is a great hit because you get to see Walt Disney’s backyard barn where he worked on his small scale backyard train. You can also find other items of interest to Disney fans. Many items belonging to Ward Kimble and Ollie Johnson’s trains.
A fantastic extra is the «Retlaw» (Walt spelled backward) 106 combine train car from Disneyland. The Carolwood Foundation is also working on refurbishing part of the French Village from the original Storybook Land Canal Boats.
Come on out, enjoy and support this fantastic foundation!

Train enthusiasts, look no further! You simply won’t find more dedicated, happy people simply beaming with pride and knowledge about all things train-​related. On a particularly dreary day it was nice to come here and interact with all the friendly folks who know far too much about trains, but definitely fascinating!

«Walt’s Barn»
Carolwood Pacific Historical Society Museum
5202 Zoo Dr
Los Angeles, California 90 027
805−498−2336
Open to the Public 11:00 — 3:00 p. m
on the third Sunday of each month — use East Entrance.
$ 3.00 Suggested donation. «World’s only free Disney park.»
Walt Disney’s «thinking place.»
This carbarn built for fabrication, storage and operation of his live steam garden railway, the Carolwood Pacific, replicates in miniature the barn from his family’s farm in Marceline, MO, of his happy childhood memories, where he first meet a little mouse named Mickey. Relocated intact from his Holmby Hills backyard it features an extensive collection of artifacts relating railroading to Walt Disney inside the space he would tinker and mill while planning Disneyland and feature films,
Walt touched this.
Knowledgeable docents are happy to answer questions about the history of the structure, its collection and upcoming events.
Ollie Johnston’s Railroad Depot
Ollie the animator built this playhouse for his children (display only) is nearby. The telegraph can be heard tapping out Walt’s opening speech July 17, 1955 «To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land…» in landline telegraphy, the same as the Frontierland Depot today.
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad #101
«The Combine» was Walt’s favorite car. This combination passenger coach/​baggage express r.p.o. reminded him of his memories taking a break from being a news-​butch on the Missouri Pacific RR reading about wildlife and dreaming of the future. Built by Disney Studio carpenters in 1954 as part of two trainsets; #101−106 Grand Canyon pulled by the #2 flagship locomotive, a passenger train for Main Street and #201−207 gondolas, cattle cars and a caboose #208 pulled by the #1 locomotive «C.K.Holiday» a freight train for Frontierland, it was featured in the opening day live telecast extravaganza.
Train rides are not available here.
To enjoy an excursion around the track, one must exit and walk around to the west entrance of the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum.
+34° 9′ 18.15″, –118° 18′ 5.79″
34.155 122, –118.301 607

Disclaimer — I’m a ginormous Disney geek!
Back in the «olden days» of Hollywood, Walt Disney lived in Holmby Hills and had a really amazing train set in his back yard that he would show off to visitors and take them riding on.
He also had this barn where he worked on the trains and that’s what this is!
It used to be at his house, but some crazy person bought Walt’s house and LEVELED it! (Who in their right mind would destroy Walt Disney’s house?!)
So, the Carolwood Pacific Society disassembled it and rebuilt it in Griffith Park at the Los Angeles Live Steamers.
If you’re way into Disney or trains, I’d say you should definitely visit.
And if you have kids, I’d at the very least recommend visiting the Los Angeles Live Steamers — riding the trains is way cool!
Check the website for hours. The barn is typically only open the 3^rd Sunday of each month!