Ghost Town and Calico Railway

[@connerrolofson1585]

Both D&RGW 340 and RGS 41 from the earlier footage look like they were older than they were and later footage shows them looking how they appear today, with the two looking like they were originally built in 1881 by Baldwin, with D&RGW 340 having the Rio Grande speed lettering from the 1940s and RGS 41 having Rio Grande Southern’s lettering logo.

[@ShawnPickettPauley]

I heard👂 of the Rio Grande River. I'm an adventurous🧭 fan of the Pecos Bill♂️🤠💚 legend. I promise💛 you will have friends💑 in Neola Town🏙, Iowa State🏞, U.S.of N.A🇺🇲. Have a good😇 summer🌻 time⏰. 🌠🦸‍♀️🌌, 🎼🎺🎵, 🥳🎊🎆!

[@WaltsNephew]

But, you know, I think their appearance today reflects their original design when they rolled out of the Baldwin Works (as opposed to their more fanciful colors from their beginnings at Knott's in the '50s)

[@MrRGS41]

1950s wra Knott's tried to make the equipment look as though it was in the 1880s. 1990s to today Knott's has the equipment looking as it did in the 1940s and early 1950. Kind of funny.

[@tinkershell1856]

Love this old footage! I seriously need to get back to Knott’s ❤️

[@WaltsNephew]

Thank you! I need to go back too. It's been quite some time since I've returned to see the C-19s

[@richardstrainsandmore]

Those two locomotives have come a long way through hard work in the San Juan mountains to wearing circus tent paint schemes! What’s interesting is that clip at 11:06 has the stock car at the very front of the train. I wonder if that’s from when they used to have more open air cars, I think there were 4 at some point.

[@WaltsNephew]

Quite right! I can't recall a single time in my lifetime those stock/cattle cars were couple directly to the engine. I didn't even realize that when I put that footage in this compilation hahaha Good eye!

[@richardstrainsandmore]

@@WaltsNephew that’s the first time I’ve seen it coupled that way as well. Somewhere there’s an aerial photo from the 1970s that shows a consist of 4 of those short stock/covered cars but that’s all I’ve ever found. I can only assume they weren’t used often or very popular

[@WaltsNephew]

Perhaps they came to the same realization that Walt did: people don't want to feel like cattle ;)

[@MrRGS41]

The stock cars were kind of a short lived thing. They purchased 4 of them from the D&RGW. 5576, 5771 5731, and 5510. The later 3 were sold off. 5576 was rebuilt into the open gondola car. The current stock car (9519) is a former gondola. I have seen the same photo of the 4 stock cars in 1 train.

[@richardstrainsandmore]

@@MrRGS41 that is interesting, that’s a very roundabout way of building a new stock car from a gondola and a new gondola from a stock car. I wonder why they were so short lived, something to do with low capacity maybe? Or uncomfortable seats?

[@DanielGomez-gw4kt]

Even though it's still called the ghost town and calico Railroad at Knott's Berry farm. And now that I think of it, because the trains run between calico ghost Town, The roaring twenties and the boardwalk areas. They should rename it as the Knott's Berry Farm Railroad, and at the same time they should still keep the name Denver and Rio grande, so everybody can know that all of the trains and the steam locomotives were originally made by that Railroad company. But it should carry a new name as the Knott's Berry Farm Railroad, while still keeping the name Denver and Rio grande

[@WaltsNephew]

That's an interesting concept, but I think since they only have one station stop the name will remain the same. After all, it's a nice nod to the name Walter Knott gave the line all those many decades ago

[@mediatrainfan0282]

They were the first D&RGW locomotives and rolling stock I’ve seen in person.

[@WaltsNephew]

Is that right! As you might expect, the first engines I saw in person were the Disneyland engines

[@markbass7145]

Where did you get the 1950's drone footage...lol

[@WaltsNephew]

Hahaha I think it's helicopter footage from the '70s or '80s

[@markbass7145]

@@WaltsNephew It has to be early to mid 70's because Roaring 20's hasn't been built yet. Also at 6:57 I think that's the actual farm house from when Knott's was a working farm.

[@aidenayers2486]

I really wish they kept maroon on the boiler that looked nice in my opinion

[@larryaldrich4351]

The demographic has radically changed among visitors. Now KBF doesn't have a single blue eye.

[@markrhuett]

And now it's turned into a gang hangout with people starting fights.

[@maxwellharris507]

To think, those two engines were built by Baldwin in 1881

[@WaltsNephew]

Yes indeed! It's hard to beat Baldwin quality when it comes to engine design and construction

[@justinratcliffe947]

This one's awesome. I'm fascinated by Rocky Mountain Railways. Btw did you hear about the rail strikes in the UK? Sir Topham Hatt must be very cross

[@WaltsNephew]

Thank you! I figured since I don't really dabble in Knott's Berry Farm, I might as well do a real "pull out all the stops" video charting the history of the railway in breadth. And, you know, it's hard to not associate English railway problems, or "confusion and delay," with the Fat Controller hahaha

[@justinratcliffe947]

@@WaltsNephew Btw have you ever watched an old cartoon called Train Mice? It came out in 1983 and is pretty good. I have an old vhs copy of it but you can watch it here on KZbin. Just type in Train Mice 1983 and it should come up. It's worth a view. It's about a German mouse who rides trains throughout Europe but he's trying to get to Basil, Switzerland because he thinks it's a mouses paradise

[@WaltsNephew]

I'll give it a look-see if I have some spare time tomorrow

[@justinratcliffe947]

@@WaltsNephew Yeah it's definitely worth a view at least once

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Why is the Disneyland Railroad "infamous"?

[@ShawnPickettPauley]

Actually, I like it more like, famous 😇. I promise💛 you will have friends💑 in Neola Town🏙, Iowa State🏞, U.S.of N.A🇺🇲. Have a good😇 summer🌻 time⏰. 🌠🦸‍♀️🌌, 🎼🎺🎵, 🥳🎊🎆! P.S, what's "infamous"? 🤨 ❓ 🤨 ❓ 🤨

[@WaltsNephew]

Ohhh you know, after thoroughly looking up the definition of "infamous," I regret having used it hahaha I used it colloquially. I'll change it to just "famous." Thank you for pointing that out!