Pink Monorail Manufacturing the Magic Ep 18: How Walt riding the rails led to rides at Disneyland

Heya friends, I spent the summer of 2025 recharging my creative batteries, and working on side projects. One of which was to continue the podcast series featuring the missus. This podcast is designed for Disney fans, amusement park visitors, and history buffs. You’ll learn the roots of the multi-billion dollar theme park industry from ancient history all the way to today. The missus, and I worked hard putting these episodes together through 2024, until we had a family emergency and had to stop working on it for 7 months. We are back on it through 2025. Click on the picture or link to visit our streaming page hosted on Jim Hill Media. I hope you get a chance to listen, subscribe, and leave a review so we can climb the theme park podcast rankings!

The Pink Monorail Podcast Manufacturing the Magic Ep 18: How Walt riding the rails led to rides at Disneyland 

In the 18th installment of this educational series, Shelly & Noe Valladolid explore how Walt Disney’s lifelong fascination with trains impacted the development of his family fun park. Special guest Roger Colton sheds light on this specific aspect of Disneyland history. Throughout this episode, listeners will learn about:

• Why is Walt’s visit to the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948 considered such an important moment in the development history of Disneyland?
• Which specific Disneyland attraction was inspired by Walt & Ward Kimball’s stop at Greenfield Village?
• How the miniature steam train Walt had set up in the backyard of his Holmby Hills home influenced the design of Disneyland?
• Which lands at Disneyland Park were directly influenced by what Walt & Ward saw at the Chicago Railroad Fair?
• How many steam trains did Disneyland Park have in its fleet?

Are there any current or former theme parks, or attractions that you love? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!