Monday, July 09, 2012

The "Fred Gurley", October 1967

I've always liked the trains at Disneyland, but over the years my appreciation has grown considerably. They're just cool, that's all there is to it!

This first image is a nice photo taken near the exit - be sure to get your hand stamped if you plan on returning ( always got my hand stamped even if I wasn't returning... it was like a temporary tattoo) - and there's the "Fred Gurley"; named for the then-chairman of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Fred Gurley went into service on March 28, 1958. It was the third of Disneyland's five locomotives, and the oldest, built in 1894. Hey, that's when I was built too!


There's the brave, dependable, and lovably crusty engineer, making sure that everyone is safely aboard before getting underway.  Notice the water tower, which still has the Santa Fe logo! Most of you probably already know that this picture was taken as the train paused at New Orleans Square's station, which makes you super awesome.


21 comments:

K. Martinez said...

Coming from a family of train enthusiasts, I was a big fan of the Disneyland Railroad from the start. As a reference to the Santa Fe (ATSF) connection to Disneyland, I always thought it would be cool if they added a railroad attraction in DCA styled after the Super Chief streamliners, perhaps on the scale of the Tomorrowland/Fantasyland Viewliner. Great pics as always!

TokyoMagic! said...

Wow, so even as late as 1967 they had the lovely chain link fencing across the park entrance and exits!

Chiana_Chat said...

A favorite thing at a favorite place at a favorite time in beautiful color. I love this blog! Thanks as always Maj.

Nancy said...

Never miss riding the train....that would just be wrong!!!

Debbie V. said...

Major - I'm pretty sure you weren't made in 1894....oh wait, you meant 1958 :)

That second pic - I can just feel, smell and hear the sounds (toot, toot) of a beautiful day at Disneyland.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

I agree with Nancy (and Mike Broggie) I never visit the park without taking the grand circle tour.

I love the shot of the old exit. I miss the old turnstiles and the rachety sound as you passed through (after handing them a paper ticket). Now it's hand them your bar code and wait for the "bling" or the dreaded "uh oh". Just not the same.

Maybe I am a dinosaur and need to retire to the diorama. All the greens you can chew, over and over and over.

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, I think my only experience with trains was at Disneyland... even now I've only been on a few other trains, and most of those were in Europe.

TokyoMagic!, chain link gets the job done, even if it looks kind of crummy.

Chiana, thank you for the nice words!

Nancy, I'm with you... I never miss the Disneyland RR. One time it was closed for refurbishment and I was so disappointed.

Debbie V, no, I meant 1894!!

Alonzo, does the new machine actually make an "uh oh" sound if things aren't A-OK?!

Katella Gate said...

Yes, the trains were a definite ritual in our family. It was traditionally the last ride of the day, and it took us straight to the exit!

Anonymous said...

Major: Sorry to disappoint, but that is NOT an exit, nor was it for hand stamping. That is the security gate for employees, special guests and the press, etc. The exit for hand stamping was always on the other side. This gate was where I would get my date in free for date-nite.

CoxPilot

Melissa said...

He ain't crusty; he's my brother...

Major Pepperidge said...

Katella, I try to ride the train once during the day and again at night!

CoxPilot, there is a big "exit" sign to the right... but it wasn't really an exit?? As for the hand stamp, I just assumed that wherever there was an exit, you could probably get your hand stamped in case you were planning to return. Live and learn, I guess...

Melissa, if he's your brother, can he get me into the park for free?

TokyoMagic! said...

Every time I left the park in the seventies or eighties, it was through those turnstiles on the far right of that pic.

I think if your ticket or pass doesn't scan correctly, there is kind of a "Zoing" sound.

K. Martinez said...

Major, for all the extensive traveling I've done in this country, I've never been outside the United States. I hope someday to make it to Europe.

Cox Pilot, I can understand the gate next to the booth/kiosk being a security entrance, but I have seen several vintage photos of people walking out of this specific exit (under exit sign). I used this exit many times myself throughout the years. Here’s some samples.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/bananaphone5000/GORILLA3/2-69--Exit.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/bananaphone5000/GORILLA3/5-60-LotC.jpg

David said...

What strikes me -and what makes today's gates so much more appealing- is that they used everyday fencing at its exit. It looks tacky, and almost prison like. Which seemed odd for all those Imagineers that could not come up with a practical, yet appealing fencing to protect the guests.

It's odd how I focus on the mundane.

Anonymous said...

K. Martinez has it correct, as all others about the EXITs. The exiting was through those turnstiles to the right. The one to the far left, next to the booth, was the one I was talking about. I didn't mean to create confusion by my comment, and I guess I was not looking at those on the right. There used to be a sign to tell people that if they were returning to the park, please exit to those couple of exits to the far left (our right) to get you had stamped.

The last couple of years I worked there, they would not let employees bring in guest, or even come back without a ticket. Sooooo . . . after work, we went out the front and got stamped, then came back through the front.

CoxPilot

Rick West said...

Great shots, as usual. My girlfriend and I rode the Railroad at Disneyland last night from Main Street to Fantasyland, and it struck me - I REALLY miss the heavy CHUG CHUG CHUG of the engines. And the smell that you could really whiff as the engines opened up along Rivers of America back in the day.

Now, they are really very silent, and have lost a BIT of that "train magic" that is so engrained in my memories of Disneyland. Not sure what triggered the thought last night, because we ride the trains often. I just really focused on that and pondered it more than usual, I guess.

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, do you know if there was another set of exit gates on the opposite side of the train station?

K. Martinez, you could certainly spend a lifetime exploring the US, and still not see it all. But Europe is pretty neat; pick a destination you've always dreamed about (Paris? Rome? Barcelona?) and give yourself time to really enjoy it!

David, the chain link had to be a budget issue; I have no idea how long a fence would have to be to surround the entire perimeter of the park, but it had to be a LOT!

CoxPilot, I figured you must have thought that I was referring to the security gate, although I only said that the photo was taken "near the exit". Just an understandable mixup!

Rick, I don't really remember the chug chug chug… maybe I sat too far away from the locomotive. In fact, I still haven't ever detected the french fry smell that people claim to notice, from the reclaimed fry oil!

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, Yes...I believe there were exit gates on the other side of the train station and entrance (I think you've posted at least one pic of them in the past....possibly with more chain link visible and maybe even a bicycle rack?) But I know my family never exited the park on that side. We also never entered Town Square through the tunnel on that side....it was always through the tunnel on the west side of the train station, near City Hall.

TokyoMagic! said...

Ha! I thought I was going to be too lazy to search your blog for it, but I found it pretty easily. Here's a link to your picture of the Exit on the other side (with more chain link):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/bananaphone5000/NEWGORILLA/7-59Exit.jpg

Anonymous said...

TokyoMagic: Your link to the photo of the exits on the other side has the sign I was talking about. Also, notice the Black Light to the far right of the exits. That was used to detect the hand stamp (which was invisible to the eye)

CoxPilot

Anonymous said...

Such fun to read all the memories, especially the details of what corridor to enter and exit.

Mom and Dad were traditional, in on the east, out on the west.

My family now goes in and out the west, since we stay in Grand California, it's the straight route, sigh.

As a boy the train was often the last ride, Round Tripped from Main Street Station. Today we often do it in pieces, from NOS to Tomorrowland (or ToonTown, when the kids cared about it), then later in the day, from Tomorrowland to Main Street and out.

I dont think I have made the round trip in daylight for over 40 years.

JG