How about this neat shot of a Mine Train, pre-Nature's Wonderland? Ol' Number 3. Did the individual locomotives have names, or just numbers? I'll call this one "Betty Lou"! She wasn't a real steam train, but look at all of that detail... it's pretty convincing. It's like an oversized toy. If I had been able to work at Disneyland back in those days, I think that piloting one of these babies would have been my dream job. In 1959 (one year later) I would transfer over to the Monorail! If only this photo had been shot with a stereo camera!
This blurry image will give you a headache if you look at it for too long. Sorry! But I figured the photo was worth posting because you can see the Viewliner crossing the lake in Tomorrowland. Did the lake have a name (I'll call it "Betty Lou"!)? It's hard to imagine an attraction like this being built to only last a little over one year! The cost of designing and building the trains and the track must have been considerable. But Walt wanted his Monorail, and there wasn't room enough for two little trains of the future... so it was "goodbye, Viewliner!".
Why is it that most of the Viewliner shots are blurry? Was the train that fast? ;) Great shot of the Rainbow Caverns train!--things didn't move so fast in the old days.
ReplyDeleteI do have two very nice clear shots of the Viewliner, at least! I am sort of saving them for the day that I decide to stop blogging, and I will run a week or two of extra nice stuff! That won't be for a while though.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shot of “Betty Lou” (the train Betty) that would be stellar in 3D!!
ReplyDeleteHere's my theory on the many blurry photos’s of the Viewliner. Obviously she had some sort of “Cloaking Device” which disrupted the shutter speed of nearby cameras, those few lucky clear shots (Major, we want to see those) are when she was at stop or the cloaking device was broken. Or maybe as Progressland states, the thing was that fast, so fast it out-raced the camera!
Though it's blurry, that's a fine shot of Lake Betty Lou!
ReplyDeleteOh, I missed that earlier. Yes, Major, the lake had a name. It was... (ready? you'll never guess!)... Tomorrowland Lake.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you from experience that those little Mine Train locomotives (there were 3)were a blast to operate. How lucky could I have been? They weren't named. Now to see one in ruin along the river brings tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteYou can sort of still see them in operation at Knott's, under the guise of the Calico Mine Train. They're not identical, but the cars are laid out in a similar fashion (including a jump seat!) and the engines, while not as cool as the ones at Disneyland are still pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad they're letting maintenance go there, though.
Out of focus or not, the Viewliner still rules. To see a picture of part of the train is one thing. To see the complete train is awesome. Lake what...? Great pic Major. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Stop teasing me with holding back on Viewliner pics, I can't stand the pressure. Just pretend your gonna stop blogging and post the damn things. LOL
We must be high atop "Holiday Hill" in that second photo. I know that it has had other names, I wonder if "Betty Lou Hill" was one of them?
ReplyDeleteAnd if, in fact, it is related in any way to Billy Hill.