Viewliner Station
There goes the Viewliner, on an exciting figure-eight through parts of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland! The Viewliner was basically a scaled-down version of General Motors' Aerotrain, and it survived at Disneyland for only 15 months before being removed (and eventually replaced by the Monorail in June of 1959).
This Tomorrowland Viewliner had cars that were named after planets, while the blue Fantasyland train had cars named after Disney characters. For some reason the blue Viewliner seems to have been photographed much less than its sibling, maybe they didn't run it all the time? For a nice color photo of the blue train, see "Disneyland: The Nickel Tour".
It's pretty interesting to compare this photo to yesterday's post, and observe the considerable changes that occurred in just about a year. And for those of you who are interested (DisneyDutchman!), you finally get a pretty good look at the back end of the Viewliner train...I've provided an enlargement for ya.
12 comments:
Wow- the sign on the end of the station is wonderful. And that is a very nice view of the Yacht bar. Definitely influenced by the architects and graphic designers of the period.
WOW! They ripped out the view liner and built the Sub lagoon in a year! Amazing! Why was there a Yacht bar before the sub lagoon? Did they know what the future held when they built the bar?
tikimoose, the sub lagoon was where the Phantom Boats used to operate (of course it was radically changed for the subs). Don't forget that the Matterhorn and Monorail were also added (the Matterhorn replaced that dirt hill at the top of the photo).
WOW! WOW! WOW!! The absolute ultimate pics!!!! Both the Viewliner rear and the Yacht Bar. It doesn't get any better!!!! Thank you so much for these ultimate views. You've made my day!! The Yacht Bar originally opened as the Yacht Club on July 18, 1955 next to the Tomorrowland Boats area. It was picked up and moved to the location in the pics when they built the Viewliner. Thanks So Much Major!!! DD
Can anyone tell me what that object is to the right of the orange skyway cab, on the ground between the lagoon and Snow Hill?
It almost looks like some double decker bus but somewhat lifted off the ground. Or was it a building set up part way into Snow Hill.
BTW, was Snow Hill what the dirt mound was called or do I have it wrong?
Mojave- good eyes, that is one of the double decker Omnibuses driving around Snow Mountain (Hill.) There are some early conceptual images with the Omnibus driving around the Matterhorn. The Omnibus must have been driven around Snow Mountain in 1958.
How on earth can you say that your slides don't compare to everyone else's! Amazing shot...
Great shots! And thanks matterhorn for the explanation of the Omnibus.
Wouldn't it be amazing to walk around Disneyland then? Hopefully soon, when technology is better, we can have beautiful virtual worlds of Disneyland throughout the years to walk and explore.
Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone! I didn't even notice the Omnibus, but I think I saw a photo of it in Tomorrowland in The E-Ticket.
I just got a new scanner, it is SO much better than my old one that I need to scan everything over again. Urg! But it will be worth it.
Holy cow! I've read about the Viewliner and I've seen close-up shots of it but NEVER have I seen WHERE it actually ran!
Holy cow! While I've seen many close-up shots of the Viewliner, I have NEVER seen WHERE it ran in Disneyland! I love this!
I recognize this is an old post but I don't see this answered. The Yacht Bar replaced the Yacht Club (same building, different name). From the opening there was a lagoon in the Tomorowland area though its shape and nature changed until the Submarine Voyage in 1959. Initially it was used for the Tomorrowland Boats (aka Phantom Boats) so the Yacht Club was intended to connect with that. In both versions there were large nautical alphabet signs. At least some of them spelled out YACHT for those who were familiar with them (like the inside info for the Frontierland telegraph sounds). Some of the pictures seem to show the Yacht Club at different angles and I wonder sometimes if it was moved in its lifetime. The counter service offered both Coke and Pepsi products which seems like such a foreign concept today.
I just found some of my digitized 8mm film clips purchased in 2000-2005 and included are the Viewliner sign and some glimpses of the train and Motor Boat Cruise of the era. I might see about rescanning those films rather than using a service which provided mixed results based on the attention span of the operator and the source material.
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