Ward Kimball in Perris

The other day, after I got my hair cut, I noticed a small image in the distance out of the corner of my eye. It was a lucky catch. I swore that I saw a solid, white silhouette of Jiminy Cricket above the name ‘Perris.’ I tried to get a good look from where I was, but I couldn’t quite focus on it enough to be absolutely certain. The odd part was that the sign is at my home town’s (Perris) new bus/Metrolink station (the Metrolink part is still not complete). I knew that Ward Kimball had donated his train collection to the Orange Empire Railway Museum (yup, that’s in Perris, too!) years ago, but I didn’t think that there were any other connections to him.

Last night, I did a little bit of Internet sleuthing, and low-and-behold the transportation hub is dedicated to dear Ward! So, I went out this afternoon to take pictures. The “sign” that I saw is one of three small banners that feature the same Jiminy Cricket silhouette that is on the lamp of Disneyland’s Ward Kimball locomotive (engine #5). There are also two small plaques, and each covered station features two panels with a photo of Ward and some of the Disney characters that he animated.

This certainly was an unexpected surprise. To think that there is a little more Disney magic in my home town than what I knew.

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