Travel Town, Los Angeles, December 1970
Griffith Park is one of the jewels of Los Angeles - one of the largest urban parks in North America, though much of it consists of steep hills and long hiking paths. Look out for mountain lions! But there are features such as the Art Deco Griffith Observatory, Travel Town, the merry-go-round where Walt Disney watched his girls while he dreamed of Disneyland , and "L.A. Live Steamers", which we will be visiting today.
Want to ride a tiny train? Well you can! Over the years a number of different locomotives have been available for the public to enjoy; in the early years they actually were steam locos, but today they tend to be electric, or gasoline-powered, or chipmunk-driven. As many times as I've been to this general area, I've never been on one of the trains - partly because they operate only at specific times. Look at this kid! He has the whole outfit, even the hat! I'm assuming that he didn't actually get to drive the train, but you know kids. The old-timer might have had to chase after him, Buster Keaton style.
Dad (?) gets into the spirit of things. Personally, I'd want to sit behind a live-steam locomotive, but even a little "diesel" like this one would be fun. In the background - some of those steep brush-covered hills I mentioned earlier. Catch a rattlesnake for a free pet! It looks like the depot to the left was called "Switchville" (not to be confused with "Lidsville").
One last photo... Dad is having a blast! Maybe I need to make a point of visiting L.A. Live Steamers when the trains are running.
5 comments:
Major-
Travel Town is one of Griffith Park's little gems. I spent many a day there as a young lad - although not as nicely decked-out as the young fella we see in the 1st image.
Thanks, Major.
You can always tell if you're riding a chipmunk-driven miniature train by the high squeaky voices of the captive chipmunks. Don't bother trying to figure out what the rodents are saying, it's indecipherable.
Interesting how they have several different gauges of track available to accommodate a wide variety of trains.
Looks like "Dad" is making that narrow locomotive awfully top-heavy. I'd be worried about tipping over!
I never had a rattlesnake for a pet but I did have a tarantula, an iguana, and a couple of peacocks/peafowl.
The engineer, standing farther down the track, looks huge amongst all the miniature stuff. I dunno, I think my legs would cramp up if I had to sit awkwardly for several minutes like Dad is doing.
Major, if you ever do ride one of the trains, be sure to take pictures and post them here. Thanks for today's photos.
Fortunately, I've been able to ride the L.A. Live Steamers trains a few times. They used to do a really cool event around Halloween, called "Ghost Train." The volunteers would do an incredible job with scary props, sets, and effects, and the trains would run at nighttime. I believe they stopped doing this event about 5 or 6 years ago. The last time I went, they were using the one surviving engine from DL's Nature's Wonderland Mine Train, as a prop with smoke coming out of it's stack. I think it had just been given to them that year or the year before. Now that makes me wonder how their restoration efforts with it are coming along. If I remember correctly, they also have Frank Thomas' miniature train station from his backyard railroad. And of course, Walt's original R.R. barn from his backyard, is next door to all of this.
Major, you mentioned the mountain lions.....do you know if that bridge over the 5 freeway (for the wildlife to safely cross) has been completed yet?
Ooops, it's Ollie Johnston's (not Frank Thomas) miniature train station, which can be seen among the L.A. Live Steamers collection:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LALSRM_-_Ollie_Johnston_Miniature_Train_Station.jpg
This “Griffith Park” of which you speak sounds interesting. I should plan a visit someday with a friend.
This looks like it may have been a private event, sort of a “Hey, Jimmy - my boss, Mr. Singlefordenbrasen, has invited us out to run one of his trains at his train club in Travel Town. Wanna go?” “Oh, boy, Dad - that’d be swell!” sort of things.
I would be willing to bet that Jimmy is actually running the train. The controls are actually pretty simple, and it’s not like he has to steer.
Switchville was the designated discipline area for unruly children.
JB, I once saw a documentary about chipmunks and miniature trains.
TM!, thanks for the link to Ollie Johnston’s station. It’s amazing how many variations on the So Dear to My Heart depot that Disney and Disney employees built.
Post a Comment