March 29, 1955 – Disney Brokers Deal with Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway Company
On March 29, 1955, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company became an official sponsor for the new Disneyland park, particularly lending the Santa Fe name to the proposed railroad attraction. This sponsorship, which cost $50,000 a year for five years (almost $474,000 in 2019 dollars), allowed the railway attraction to be known as the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad; this name would be changed to simply the Disneyland Railroad when sponsorship ended on September 30, 1974. The money from this sponsorship allowed the attraction to be ready on opening day of the park, July 17, 1955, and featured two steam locomotives: the C.K. Holliday (named for the founder of Atchison and Topeka Railway, Cyrus Kurtz Holliday), and the E.P. Ripley (named for Edward Payson Ripley, the first president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway).
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