View source for Roger E. Broggie

{{short description|American mechanical engineer (1908–1991)}}
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{{Infobox person
|name=Roger E. Broggie
|image=Roger Broggie.jpg
|birth_date={{birth date|1908|10|2}}
|birth_place=[[Pittsfield, Massachusetts]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1991|11|4|1908|10|22}}
|death_place=[[Carmel, California]]
|occupation=[[Mechanical engineer]]
|yearsactive=1939–1975
}}

'''Roger Edward Broggie''' (October 2, 1908 – November 4, 1991) was an American [[mechanical engineer]]. As he worked with [[Walt Disney]] and [[the Walt Disney Company]], he is considered the first [[Walt Disney Imagineering|Disney Imagineer]].

==Early life==
Broggie was born in 1908, in [[Pittsfield, Massachusetts]]. He graduated from [[Mooseheart, Illinois|Mooseheart Child City]]'s high school in the western suburbs of [[Chicago, Illinois]] in 1927.<ref name="Broggie2014pp129-130">{{Harvp|Broggie|2014|pp=129-130}}.</ref> With vocational machine shop training, he moved to [[Los Angeles, California]] where he worked for companies such as [[Technicolor]] and [[Bell and Howell]].<ref name="Broggie2014pp129-130"/> He worked at [[General Service Studios]] with film industry pioneers including [[David O. Selznick]] and [[Charlie Chaplin]].<ref name="Broggie2014pp129-130"/>

==Disney career==
In 1939, he joined the Disney Studios as a precision machinist. Broggie's initial assignments included installing the [[multiplane camera]] at the new Burbank studio, working with [[Ub Iwerks]] on special effects.<ref name="Broggie, Roger E.">{{Cite web|title=Broggie, Roger E.|url=https://d23.com/a-to-z/broggie-roger-e/|publisher=[[D23 (Disney)|D23: The Official Disney Fan Club]]|access-date=May 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906013106/https://d23.com/a-to-z/broggie-roger-e/|archive-date=September 6, 2015}}</ref> In 1949, Broggie worked with Walt Disney to create model trains for Disney's 1/2 mile-long [[Carolwood Pacific Railroad]] located in the backyard of Disney's home. Broggie is credited with supervising the building of the ''Lilly Belle'', a one-eighth scale miniature working [[live steam]] locomotive named for Disney's wife, [[Lillian Disney|Lillian]].

Promoted to head of the Disney Studios Machine Shop in 1950, Broggie became the transportation specialist. He created the special effects for the film ''[[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]'' and as the plans for [[Disneyland]] were developed in the early 1950s, he oversaw development of the [[Disneyland Railroad|Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad]], the [[Disneyland Monorail System|Disneyland Monorail]], and the [[Matterhorn Bobsleds]] at Disneyland. He was instrumental in developing the mechanical aspects of all Disney attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, including the [[Omnimover]] ride transit system (with co-developer, Bert Brundage).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Broggie|first1=Roger E.|last2=Brundage|first2=Bert W.|title=United States Patent: 3554130 - AMUSEMENT RIDE SYSTEM|url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=3554130.PN.&OS=PN/3554130&RS=PN/3554130|publisher=[[United States Patent and Trademark Office|USPTO]]|access-date=14 December 2017|date=1971}}</ref>

He and his machine shop coworkers developed the first fully functioning Audio-Animatronic human figure in the form of a seated [[Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln|Abraham Lincoln]] in 1963. Between 1973 and 1975, Broggie worked on the [[EPCOT Center]] project at [[Walt Disney World Resort]] in [[Florida]].<ref>Walt Disney's Railroad Story</ref>

After retiring to Carmel, California, he continued to consult for Walt Disney Imagineering. He was named a [[Disney Legends|Disney Legend]] in 1990 and died on November 4, 1991, at his home in Carmel.

==Tributes==
[[File:Roger E Broggie on track.jpg|left|thumb|[[Walt Disney World Railroad]] No. 3 ''Roger E. Broggie'']]
The Walt Disney World Railroad's (WDWRR) No. 3 locomotive was named after Broggie.<ref name="Broggie2014p332">{{Harvp|Broggie|2014|p=332}}.</ref> During its rebuild, Broggie did not like the sound of the locomotive's original [[bell]] and commented that it "sounded like a [[hammer]] hitting an old [[frying pan]]."<ref name="Broggie2014p332"/> Per advice of Broggie, WDWRR restoration supervisor George Britton secretly swapped out the No. 3 locomotive's original bell with the ''[[Liberty Belle Riverboat|Liberty Belle]]'' [[paddle steamer#Stern-wheeler|stern-wheeler]]'s bell.<ref name="Broggie2014p332"/> On October 21, 2003, his sons [[Michael Broggie]] and Roger Broggie, Jr rededicated the No. 3 locomotive in honor of their father.<ref name="CarolwoodChronicleWinter2004">{{Cite magazine|last=Broggie|first=Michael|date=Winter 2004|title=View from the Cupola.......|url=http://carolwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CarolwoodChronicle-Issue20-2004Winter.pdf|magazine=Carolwood Chronicle|issue=20|publisher=Carolwood Pacific Historical Society|page=8|access-date=May 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531221321/http://carolwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CarolwoodChronicle-Issue20-2004Winter.pdf|archive-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref>

On March 30, 2007, he was honored with a window on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland. The text reads: "Can Do Machine Works / Mechanical Wonders / Live Steam Engines / Magical Illusions / Cameras / Roger Broggie, Shopmaster / Advisor to the Magic Makers".

{{Clear}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Disney|Trains}}
*[[Chadwell O'Connor]]
*[[Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts]]

{{Clear right}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Cite book|last=Broggie|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Broggie|year=2014|title=Walt Disney's Railroad Story: The Small-Scale Fascination That Led to a Full-Scale Kingdom|edition=4th|publisher=[[The Donning Company|The Donning Company Publishers]]|isbn=978-1-57864-914-3}}

==External links==
*[https://www.mouseplanet.com/7187/The_Roger_E_Broggie The Roger E. Broggie]

{{Disney Legends Awards 1990s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broggie, Roger E.}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Disney imagineers]]
[[Category:People from Pittsfield, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California]]
[[Category:20th-century American people]]