You Have GOT To See THIS!

[Miningman]

My first thought was the Civil War..if he was 20 back then he would be 66 in the film and he dosen't appear to be that old. 

[Flintlock76]

Oh yeah, that poor guy with the crutches.  I wondered how he lost his leg as well.  Industrial accident?  Vehicular accident?  Going up San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders?  Who knows?

But he definately doesn't appear to be old enough to be a Civil War veteran.  

My mother's grandfather lost a leg building one of New York's subway lines, not the original one from 1904, but a later one.  No, I don't know which one.  But he carried on all right for the rest of his life. 

[Miningman]

 think the guy sold newspapers first, then walked up to the camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXRnGwbrnOo&t=10s

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXRnGwbrnOo&t=49s

[Penny Trains]

Flintlock76

Maybe Disneyland was Walts "12 inch to the foot" scale layout?

That's pretty much exactly what was going on.  Some of the imagineers even referred to the project as "Walt's big train set".  He had the Lilly Belle set up for awhile on the studio grounds so he could break her in while the trackwork was being constructed at home in the Holmby Hills:

There, he gave rides to anyone who asked, including Salvadore Dali:

And until his insurance guys stepped in and put a stop to it Disney's park would have included his backyard railroad.  Somehow building full size locomotives was easier for the underwriters to swallow than the miniature. 

[Flintlock76]

"Walt's big train set."  I kind of guessed as much looking at the concept drawing, looks like I'm not alone in thinking that.

Is that Ward Kimball running the Lily Belle with Salvadore Dali along for the ride?  I could be wrong but it kind of looks like him.  

There's a great quote from Maestro  Dali...

"Picasso is a Spaniard.  Me too!  Picasso is a genius.  Me too!  Picasso is a Communist.  ME NEITHER! "

Mabe the insurance guys had no problem with full-size trains because it's harder for people to fall off?  

[Penny Trains]

Flintlock76

Is that Ward Kimball running the Lily Belle

Yep.

Flintlock76

Mabe the insurance guys had no problem with full-size trains because it's harder for people to fall off?

I have no idea.  My only guess is that maybe they were worried about kids losing fingers and/or ganging up and tipping the small trains over.

When you remember that what Walt was after was an amusement park in only the most basic definition of that term it's easy to understand why nobody understood what he had in mind.  One banker famously told Walt at their first meeting that "we don't fund kiddielands" but later after seeing Disneyland under construction gave him what amounted to a blank check!    It was ALL unprecedented and all accounts point to a Lionel set from the late 40's as being the catalyst.

[Flintlock76]

Wow.

To paraphrase what Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph said...

"What hath Joshua Lionel Cowan wrought?"   Need we say it?

Disneyland!