Ollie Johnston

In Memoriam

by Jan-Eric Nyström

OLLIE JOHNSTON

1912-2008

Ollie Johnston, veteran Live Steamer and the last of Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men", passed away on 2008-04-14.

I met Ollie the first time at the Disney Studio in 1976, and have visited him several times over the years. I treasure the correspondence we've kept up for over 30 years, discussing everything about steam and animation.

He was a dear friend, extremely talented, yet affable and modest.

He animated many of Disney's most beloved characters: Pinocchio, Bambi, Baloo, Bernard and Bianca, to name just a few.

He built a backyard railroad at his home in Flintridge, CA, where he ran three 1 inch scale engines, and he also restored and ran a full-size narrow-gauge Porter engine on his property in Julian, CA.

We miss him!

May he rest in peace.

Ollie's Backyard Railroad

See also La Canada Valley Railroad.

by Jan-Eric Nyström

Ollie's loved treasure, the full-size narrow gauge engine, named "Marie E." was sold to John Lasseter, the CEO of the PIXAR animation studio, famous for "Toy Story" and "Monsters, Inc.". Don Young made designs in 1" and 1-1/2" scale of this Porter engine, and many live steam models have been built of it.

The pictures below were shot during an unforgettable trip to California in 1993 - Ollie let us ride on his train (and even drive!)

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  The lush surroundings made the experience even more exhilarating. All photos Copyright 1993 Jan-Eric Nyström, used with permission

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  Note how the track bed changes in front of the house - for most of the loop, there are wooden crossties under the track, but in front of the house, there is a concrete foundation for the rails.

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  My girlfriend trying out the battery-operated diesel loco. Is Ollie worried, or what? Marie, Ollies wife is "playing caboose"...

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  A driver's view of the engine, coming out from the shade under the trees into the California sunlight...

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  Shooting a picture of Ollie, proudly posing on his engine.

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  The picture turned out thus:

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  He also has two miniature steam locomotives (pictures below taken on an earlier trip in 1989). One is a Shay-type engine, which is interesting because the pistons are vertical, rotating a drive shaft that powers all the wheels.

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  Here's his other miniature steam engine, a Pacific, built in 1949 by Laurence Hiney.

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  It would have been too much of a hassle for Ollie (born in 1912) to fire up the live steam locos just for us, but he did roll them out onto the track. I was very happy indeed to see them and take pictures of them.

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Video

Ollie Johnston's railroad is featured in a segment of the video "An Introduction to 1 inch Scale Railroading" (produced by The Iron Pony), starting at time mark 26:50.
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Fate of the Railroad

Dan Smith reported the fate of the Johnston home at 748 Flintridge Ave., La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011:

Ollie Johnston had a Cliff May house with a miniature steam train on the same hill, but it was demolished after his death in 2008.

References

• "Early Years 8 - Early Member Oliver M. Johnston Jr.", SCLS
• "Ollie drives the Marie E around Disneyland "
• "Early Member Oliver M. Johnston Jr.", Southern California Live Steamers
• "The Brave Engineer - Ollie Johnston", Southern California Live Steamers