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.
16 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.
You drive a car. You fly a plane. You ride a motorcycle. You sail a boat. One never “drives” a train. You “run” a train or locomotive. Please write this on the board 50 times!
Cool pics today Major. Don’t forget—Griffith Park also features the only free Disney attraction around—Walt’s barn, with the original Retlaw 1 combine car nearby.
How is it I have never heard of this place, the trains I mean, not Griffith Park, which everyone knows is named after Andy Griffith, like Knotts Berry Farm is named after Don Berry.
Looks like a lot of fun for sure, Major, you should go tomorrow and send pics. Why are trains so much fun, and little trains even more so? Men, boys, and little trains.
I never had a rattlesnake pet, but I ate a rattlesnake empanada at the Death Valley Lodge once. Tasted just like chicken.
Steve D, thank you for the terminology tip. I don’t want to be caught using noobie terms in front of the Train Fans on GDB. A similar one that bugs me is “firing” an arrow. Everyone knows arrows don’t use gunpowder, yet the error persists. I blame the media.
Thanks Major!
JG
JG, perhaps I shouldn’t have said “never.” In England, it’s perfectly acceptable for the train driver to drive a train!
@ JG-
"... Griffith Park, which everyone knows is named after Andy Griffith." Well - what a nice story. (Everyone knows it's actually Melanie Griffith).
In reality, it's another one of those "fun" names: Griffith J. Griffith. And why not-? When I worked at LACMA back in the 1970's, the folks in the Membership department kept an internal list of 'amusing' names, which included: Robin Robin, Rose Rose and Baldwin Baldwin. 'Fun' names for places in the So. Cal. area of note are Moorpark Park and The William Tell Motel - which is no longer with us.
[Once again...] "thank you" Blogger. (That was me).
Anonymous (Nanook?), I feel guilty because Griffith Park isn’t that far away (maybe 20 minutes on a traffic-free day?) and I just don’t go that often. I always like it when I’m there, though.
JB, those high squeaky voices! Like nails on a chalkboard. I remember that even as a kid I thought that Chip and Dale were kind of annoying. I liked them, but they were annoying! I think that the Live Steamers group has get-togethers where people bring their own miniature locomotives, I guess it makes sense that there would be a variety of gauges. Wow, even having a tarantula and an iguana is kind of unusual. I knew a girl who had an iguana, I swear that thing was six feet long from nose to tail. It kind of creeped me out, though it never did much. As for cramping legs… you’d just have to do some stretches beforehand. You can do it! I believe in you.
TokyoMagic!, I thought that they still did the Ghost Train at Griffith Park, but looking it up I see that they haven’t done it since 2018. I wonder why? Money in the bank, guys, come on! I’d heard that they were restoring that Nature’s Wonderland Mine Train, but have not heard of any progress reports. There was a guy who built his own miniature (but rideable) reproduction of a Disneyland Mine Train, and it looked incredible, to my eye it looked perfect! Are they building a wildlife bridge over the 5 freeway? I know they are building one over part of the 101 out near Liberty Canyon, and while they have built the part that spans the freeway, it looks like it’s going to be a while before they finish the thing, progress seems slow now.
TokyoMagic!, man, that station looks like it is right out of a Disney cartoon!
Chuck, yes, you should go sometime, but be careful who you go WITH. Some people are weirdos. I guess that the photos could be from a private event, or just from a slow day? The controls on those trains are simple, but don’t EVER press the big red button! “So Dear to My Heart” might be forgotten by most humans, but not by US!
Steve DeGaetano, I know, can you believe the ignorance of that kid who wanted to drive the train? Some people! I’m embarrassed for him. I think I already told you the story of visiting a museum in Bishop, CA, with my mom and brother, and walking up some steps to look into the cab of an old locomotive. My mom said, “Where is the steering wheel?”. Sad trombone.
JG, I am grateful that Andy Griffith and his brother D.W. gave that park to the City of Los Angeles. So generous. Don Berry? What about Ken Berry, who was on the same show as Andy?? Granted, the show went way downhill after Andy left (and arguably after Don Knotts left). I’m not sure why trains are so fun, but they definitely are. I don’t think I’ve eaten rattlesnake, I prefer rat. Those little crunchy bones! I’ve given up on trying to avoid embarrassing myself, just let it happen and get it over with! Also, can you “fire” an arrow it is is a flaming arrow?
Steve DeGaetano, AHA! See? Those people in England know what’s what!
Anon, interesting, my mom knew somebody named “Rose Rose”. She also knew a woman with a very unfortunate name, but I hesitate to put it here out of at least a little respect. I’m not a total monster! But I admit that I have to stifle a laugh whenever my mom says the name. I think it’s fun that the folks at LACMA kept a list of silly names!
Nanook, I knew it!
Chipmunks and miniature trains sounds like on of those '70's Disney movies, where the parents leave the dogs and pets at home only to come home to a completely trashed apartment, with toilet paper and yarn strung everywhere and pots and pans on the ceiling...those darn dogs were after the chipmunks! In any case: Griffith Park is definitely a gem in LA, and a wonderful "free thing" for those visiting. As a kid we went to Travel Town on a field trip and I was mesmerized. We also visited the "old" LA Zoo: The Zoo that was there before the "Three's Company" Zoo opened. They still had the cages and pens there: and one of the pens still had monkeys in it: which we all squealed over. We did not get down to the infamous Disneyland inspiration Merry Go Round: but I did pass that a few times a week on my "short cut" to Glendale from Beachwood Canyon. On my commute home I would often stop at the Observatory and walk around: most definitely one of my favorite spots on planet earth. These were the days that not too many people went up there: there was always a parking spot, and it was so quiet: up there looking over the city below: and the Hollywood sign across. On the other side of the hill I was in a funny little short film about inmates escaping from an insane asylum. It doesn't sound funny, but it was (strangely) a comedy. I played both the "evil male nurse" AND the inmate: and in one scene, though the magic of Hollywood: I was shown actually beating up myself. Note: The first thing you need to do on a set is show up, and the male nurse actor did not: hence: I was thrust into the shot, (and the editor had more work.) The final scene is me and another inmate skipping and twirling through the Burbank side of Griffith Park in the brush: emancipated. I got covered with stickers and foxgloves while I suffered for my art. Griffith Park was and is a great and very close filming location: just a few steps from the chaos of Hollywood and Vine. I did more than a few jobs there: and now home to Walt Disney's Barn from the old Manse in Holmby Hills. What a great thing that it was saved, as not much of anything on the old Carrolwood property is left: with a big Jed Clampet estate on the land now. You can join the Carolwood Society, and it is open to the public one day a month. https://carolwood.com. Thanks to Griffith J. Griffith for the gift to LA 100+ years ago. He has an interesting story: look him up. Everyone visit Traveltown, and thanks Major.
Bu, you/we need to find a clip from your comedy work....I want to see that!
Steve, I have a question: Do you 'launch' a rocket, and then 'ride' in it? THIS PHOTO got me thinking about it....
Thanks, Major, for today's fun side trip.
Major, some of my best friends are weirdos.
Bu, your visit to the old zoo is a perfect illustration of what happens when you don’t have a plan. Details get neglected and then an entire monkey cage gets left behind.
Soo (I got my spelling from today’s locomotive), I was just looking at that photo yesterday!
Chuck, thanks for the link to the documentary. I enjoyed it. But like I said, the chipmunks' voices are indecipherable (as is the duck's).
JG, I thought Knott's Berry Farm was named after Fannie Farmer... Live and learn!
Major, I don't know if I ever thought of Chip and Dale as annoying. But they were certainly single-mindedly persistent (about everything!) In fairness, I suppose we weren't really expected to understand much of what they were saying. But we got the gist of it from their body language, and pantomiming, of their plans.
Bu, were they "Hello Kitty" stickers? And it's sad to think of all those foxes without their gloves.
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