Monday, September 12, 2016

Beautiful Monorail!

Here are two especially beautiful photos of the Mark I Monorail Red, scanned from a contact sheet; the images were roughly 4" X 5". I don't know anything about the origins of the images, but these are so nice that they might be publicity shots. 

This first one is my favorite. There's something about the juxtaposition of the sleek, futuristic Monorail, the tropical lagoon, and that beautiful sky... wow. 


And there she goes... at this time, the Monorail did not leave the park, so the ride was considerably shorter than it is today. As usual, my desire to snorkel my way through the Submarine caverns is considerable!


17 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

I think the beauty of the images speak for themselves.

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

WOW!!! Just beautiful! And both Submarine falls too. Thanks, Major.

steve2wdw said...

This almost looks like concept art....awesome!

Scott Lane said...

Wow! These pics are so beautiful I almost want to whistle at them.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

I concur, both are awesome. Pic #1 is postcard perfect.

Chuck said...

Wow - with the exception of the Monorail, waterfalls, conifers, streetlights, landscaping, and lagoon, this looks almost exactly like my backyard.

In the second photo, there is a pipe that runs in front of the top of the waterfall. Any idea what that does (other than pique my curiosity)?

Unknown said...

Golly! With that swoopish angle #1 put me in mind of Bob Gurr's concept art, which steve2wdw has already hinted at. Somebody had a better than average camera because that second shot was taken with a longer focal length than you'd find on any cheap camera, for sure.

Tom said...

What steve2wdw said: the way the monorail is making that curve, nose pointed toward the future, brilliant crimson against the backdrop of blue tones has all the characteristics of a stylist poster painting.

Just beautiful.

Matt said...

wow, that is just so idyllic

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, it is true - these are about as good as it gets.

K. Martinez, I should have mentioned that these are both courtesy of “Mr. X”. Better late than never.

steve2wdw, I agree, the first one reminds me a little bit of Bob Gurr’s concept artwork.

Scott Lane, those were the days when the Disney Imagineers could perform miracles.

Alonzo P Hawk, it really would have made a beautiful postcard.

Chuck, I noticed that pipe as well, and can’t imagine what its purpose could be. It almost looks like a safety railing to prevent people (or things) from getting swept over the falls, but that doesn’t make much sense.

Patrick Devlin, d’oh! I should have read ahead. Great minds think alike. The quality of the photo is the reason why I think that these were publicity photos. Or maybe they were just taken by an enthusiast with a good camera. Perhaps a Rolleflex.

Tom, you might notice that these have an overall soft blue cast, which I was tempted to “correct”, but I finally decided that I liked it for its added dreamlike quality.

Matt Hunter, makes you wish you were there, doesn’t it?

Anonymous said...

Great shots. I don't believe they were taken by a guest as both pics are taken from locations which the public could not access. That second shot is in the middle of the lagoon. By standing on a sub?? KS

JG said...

Major, these are "blow the doors off" wonderful. Simply beautiful pictures.

@Anonymous KS, I think these are both taken from somewhere along the length of one of the two submarine docks, in locations not accessible to guests.

http://davelandweb.com/sub/images/50s/KTPBKYC_6_59_N28RX.jpg

I have no idea what the pipes at the waterfall edge might be, but I think they are visible in the pic linked above.

I always wanted to snorkel through those caves, maybe towed by a sub. Photos of the inside of this structure are extremely rare. There are a couple on the internet, but not very good.

JG

Anonymous said...

The "pipe" was used to curtain the cavern exit when work was being performed or the falls were off (and the attraction was closed). I'm not sure why we don't see the matching pipe/rod over the cavern entrance.

Chuck said...

Thanks, Anonymous!

Major Pepperidge said...

KS, interesting, it didn’t even occur to me to think about where the photos were taken from.

JG, yes, I think you are right about the pictures being taken from the docks. I definitely wouldn’t want to be towed by a sub… I’d use swim fins and take my sweet time!

Anonymous, thanks for the info, that makes sense.

Melissa said...

Best keen!

Melissa said...

Best keen!