I finally got around to visiting Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park. It’s a cool little museum dedicated to Walt Disney’s passion for railroads. A bit of background: Walt Disney bought a house in Holmby Hills, California and promptly built a 1/8 scale steam railroad in his backyard. He named it the Carolwood Pacific Railway after the street the house was on. The barn was a replica of the barn on the Disney farm in Marceline, Missouri, and it was built to be used as a workshop for his trains. After Lillian Disney died in 1997 the Holmby Hills house was sold and the barn was dismantled and moved to Griffith Park.

In its new location Walt’s barn was turned into a small museum dedicated to Walt’s love of trains. The barn is filled with memorabilia, photos, artifacts, model trains, and some of Walt’s personal items such as his workbench and tools.

Next to the barn is a combine railcar (a combination passenger/mail car) that ran on the Disneyland Railroad from 1955-1966, displayed alongside more Disney and railroad items. Around the corner from the railcar is a small depot built by Ollie Johnston, one of Walt’s “Nine Old Men” and also a train enthusiast.

I really enjoyed visiting the barn. There was so much cool train-related stuff to look at. Lots of photos of Disney working on and enjoying his trains, scale models of steam engines in various sizes, and actual props that were used in Disneyland. I loved the small, intimate scale of the museum, it’s very quaint and inviting. This museum is a real treat for Disney fans. Walt’s Barn is open the third Sunday of every month from 11am – 3pm. This is also the only free Disney attraction in the world, but of course donations are welcome.