Classic Skyway Views, April 1962
Happy monday everybody! Today I have two excellent photos taken from the much-beloved Skyway.
It's a beautiful sunny day, and we're gliding over Tomorrowland towards Matterhorn. Is it just me, or does it look particularly huge in this photo? It seems as if the colors of the Skyway buckets were similar to popular car colors back in the day, but I could be wrong. It's always good to see the Yacht Bar!
Our photographer turned to look behind him (or her) for a look at the Monorail station, with the blue Mark II Monorail train. Beyond that is the Autopia, barely visible through the various trees and shrubs, and then the yellow passengers cars of the Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad can be seen, presumably stopped at Tomorrowland Station (how did they load/unload so many cars?? That train is long). Rural Anaheim stretches into the distance as well.
13 comments:
I'm makin' a round-trip - comin' back to belly-up to The Yacht Bar. Get a snack and a (real!) Coke as the flags flap above and the "alpine" waterfalls of the Matterhorn sound to our right. That little engine sound to our left could be our CoxPilot at the flight circle. As it usually is, it's a nice day at Disneyland.
Gosh that is a long train when you see it from this angle.
Those early Skyway bucket colors are great - also I dig the old "curve" in the monorail beam near the Yacht Bar.
Man that's one LONG train in the second photo, does it have 7 cars attached??? People must have been entering/exiting in the dirt!
The original "Retlaw 1" passenger train had 6 cars: one combine care, four coaches and one observation car, the "Grand Canyon" which is now the Lilly Belle car. It did take a long time to load and unload. That fact, along with the period authentic small size of its windows led to the train's eventual replacement by the excursion and 'Holiday' trains we see at the park today.
I have wondered something, but never asked...what was the purpose of the "center" cable on the Skyway?
Great question TokyopMagic, of course I don't have the answer.... But I wonder if it has something to do with the red light on some of the buckets, what are those lights for and how do they get power?
Wow, I've never noticed the lights on top! The fiberglass gondolas that replaced these didn't have the lights, did they? Maybe those lights were battery powered. I wondered if the extra cable could have been for stablizing/securing the gondolas for mid-air rescues. I remember one incident in the '70's where the fire department had to come in and get everyone out of the gondolas one at a time using the fire engine ladder. There was a photo of the rescue in the L.A. Times. I used it at school for "sharing/current events."
I've never noticed the lights on top of the old Skyway buckets either! Could it have been considered a kind of aircraft warning light? Or maybe they just looked cool.
I can't imagine climbing down a ladder from the Skyway's higher elevations... yikes!
And for David Meek... thanks for the information about the trains. It looks like that train is about 2/3 longer than the station, could they load and unload the back cars, or did the train have to move up a bit?
The center cable was an electrical line for the mini lights along it. It really really was a nice effect when riding the buckets at night.
Chiana: "Welcome to the Thimble Drome. This flight demonstration is presented by the L. M. Cox Manufacturing Company of Santa Ana, California, the worlds largest maker of ready to fly model planes. The first plane you see in flight is our smallest, the Little Stinker, powered by the tiniest internal combustion engine in the industry. This small engine is only .020 cubic inches of displacement, and turns at over 20,000 revolutions per minute. All the engines are fueled by a mixture of nitro-methane, alcohol and castor oil.
The next flight is one of our favorites, of the 1911 Curtis Pusher and . . . "
Oh well, I won't go on. I can still recall every word.
so cool, CoxPilot! youre so lucky to have those great early DL memories. i am envious for sure...
i was going to say also that is the first time i have ever noticed that third wire between the Skyway cables. we got lots of interesting info today..thanks to all!
as for Monorail Blue....oh so beautiful! looks like it was indeed a sunny and busy day at the Park
Thanks CoxPilot, that is so cool. What a great memory you have. :) 20,000 rpm! That's fast enough to shave Sasquatch hehe
Please continue your spiel CoxPilot! It would be a treat to know the whole bit. Lost audio is so hard to find - and your memory is the next best thing. Thanks!
Great pics, Major.
CoxPilot, I do hope that you preserve your spiel in some way, even if you don't do it here! You might be the only person who knows it.
I miss the Skyway. Even though the buckets always used to creep me out.
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