Wednesday, August 07, 2019

Monorail and Lagoon, July 1960

Here is a trio of pictures featuring the still-pretty-new Santa Fe/Alweg Monorail humming above the peaceful lagoon. It's interesting to me how different the water can appear depending on when the photo was taken... sometimes it looks greenish to turquoise, other times bright blue, and in today's late-afternoon pix, a deep Winsor Blue.


Aw, the Monorail looks like a puppy in its 3-car form. "Li'l Stubby". Someday it will grow big and strong. It's hard to believe that less than 2 years earlier, none of these impressive structures existed. 


The only thing missing from this photo is the Peoplemover track, which wouldn't come along for another 7+ years.


14 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Ahhhhh... "Li'l Stubby". What a cutie-! The only other thing missing from the final image could just be a Mermaid.... Here's to more Windsor Blue.

Thanks, Major.

Chuck said...

That Windsor blue water really compliments the cerulean blue sky. I love the way GDB has embiggened my vocabulary (or, at least with regards to shades of blue).

I know it's there, behind us or just out of frame, but my subconscious keeps screaming "where's the Matterhorn???!!!" Of course, it does that all of the time, so I guess I should just ignore it like the other five voices in my head.

Anonymous said...

I knew something was missing- but it wasn't until you mentioned the PeopleMover that I remembered what it was. Great photos!
Mark
InsightsandSounds.blogspot.com

Andrew said...

That "Windsor blue" is the real deal! And if you look at the second picture long enough, it even begins to look a little black.

I wonder what that antenna above the Monorail platform was used for. Probably instant communications with Walt at the studio: "Li'l stubby isn't cutting it for this thing's capacity!"

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, you’re right, a few mermaids are always welcome additions… to pretty much anything!

Chuck, never mind that I mis-typed the color’s name (d’oh), and that it should have been “Winsor” blue. I corrected it, but have to cop to the error. The mistake is understandable when you consider how often I write to my friends at Windsor Castle. That darn Matterhorn was always moving around; in those early years it was shy and didn’t like to have its picture taken. “Does this bobsled make me look fat?”. No Matterhorn, you’re perfect to me.

Mark, when you get used to photos with the Peoplemover track criss-crossing the lagoon with the Monorail track, and then you see a picture without the Peoplemover track, the scene does look odd; like a living room missing a piece of furniture.

Penna. Andrew, the water looks so dark that it is easy to imagine all kinds of large sea creatures lurking just below the surface, waiting to eat something (or someone) that happens to drift by! I think I’ve read that the antenna was used for in-park communication, but I don’t trust my memory one bit.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

The photos look to be late afternoon/early evening. The mermaids were probably off the clock and bipeding their way home on dry ground. I do see their "Li'l Cubby" at the end of the sub dock. Nice photos that show that perfect part of the day right before all the lights come on. Thanks for posting.

JG said...

Everyone today has a good eye for details.

Alonzo spies the mermaid habitat and Andrew spots the radio antenna.

My guess on the antenna is that it is for station communication with the monorails out on the route. On a past thread, a former CM with monorail pilot experience described the elaborate protocol of speed limits, horn sounding, and similar actions required at different places on the track. Much of this was accompanied by radio calls since the monorail was too far from the Tomorrowland station to communicate by pistol shots, as was done when it first opened.

Fun stuff today, Major, no blue is too blue, true blue, etc.

JG

Anonymous said...

JG...I'm assuming the reference to 'pistol shots' is a tip of the hat to the Jungle Cruise. The Jungle was far too wet and green to start signal fires and radios were far too expensive to be handed out and entrusted to CMs. KS

K. Martinez said...

Nice pics today. I check everyday and always enjoy what you share. Thanks, Major.

JG said...

@KS, I knew the oldtimers would get it. LOL

JG

MRaymond said...

Love these early shots of the monorail. The antenna on the Monorail station is directional and aimed. A review of some old aerial photos shows an identical antenna on the monorail roundhouse and they are pointing at each other. Seems silly for the short distances.

Melissa said...

Looks like you should be able to dive into the lagoon from the Monorail station

Chuck said...

MRaymond, I actually think those were the supports for the string that connected the two soup cans at either end.

Seriously, your observation intrigues me, but I haven't (yet) found any contemporary photos with great enough resolution to show the antenna on the other end. I believe you completely; I'm just looking because I'm curious to see what the other antenna looked like.

And now that I think about it, this would have been taken during the short, 1959-61 existence of the first (of three) monorail roundhouses, the one that was parallel to the DL&SFRR just NW of the Fantasyland Station (extreme right of this photo). I think I've seen three pictures total of that structure, all of them aerials, and the one I linked is the best of them. I'd love to get a look at something closer-up.

Major Pepperidge said...

Alonzo, I agree, I think that these are from later in the day. I’m kind of surprised that the Matterhorn’s shadow isn’t cast over the lagoon, but I guess that only happened at certain times of the year.

JG, you can always spot mermaid habitat because there will be a treasure chest that opens every few seconds as it expels air bubbles. Hm, I wonder if that antenna WAS just used for Monorail communications! It’s certainly possible of course. We need Mike Cozart to chime in.

KS, I must have read about pistol shots being used as some form of communication for the Jungle Cruise, but if so, it’s gone now…

K. Martinez, I’m glad you keep checking in!

JG, I didn’t get it…

MRaymond, the plot thickens! The Monorail roundhouse, eh? I can neither confirm nor deny it, but I like the theory.

Melissa, I’m sure thousands of kids wanted to dive in. I always dreamed about swimming through the ride with my scuba mask!

Chuck, I swear I thought I’d heard that the antenna was for inter-park communication, but I admit that is a pretty general description - it could have been specifically for the Monorail. Now that you’ve mentioned that second roundhouse, I wish I had some images of it as well! That’s the sort of thing that I hope the Disney Archives has, though it doesn’t do much good if they don’t share them with the public...