Did any American town ever have such a grand train station? I'm not talking about big cities of course. Just a regular, prosperous 'burg. Not even Fort Collins, Colorado had a train station that was anything like this one (Fort Collins was used for much of Main Street's inspiration by Imagineer Harper Goff). Barely visible in this photo are signs for the debut of the Columbia.
There used to be quite a few vehicles running up and down Main Street; here's a li'l red Gurr-mobile. Notice the signs for the new Alice in Wonderland attraction.
And this yellow vehicle appears to be a variation of the red one.
If there is a real American town with a train station like that (and a steam train to go with it), I wanna move there!
ReplyDeletewhat nice pictures....gives a nice portrait of a sleepy Sunday back in that day when ppl didnt work and instead visited and spent family time together :)
ReplyDeleteI remember the yellow car. My parents have some really lousy 110 prints of Mouseketeers riding in that vehicle as part of a parade during a family visit in 1975 or 76. I seem to remember Roy Williams and Bobby Burgess in the vehicle.
ReplyDeleteMan, I love the photos of Disneyland operating at much less than today's capacity!
Maybe it is just me. I don't know. Let me know if I'm wrong. The past two summers, I have taken my family to Disneyland. Granted it was in July. The place is packed with people. I mean almost every square foot is occupied. Main Street is a glut of people on the sidewalks and on the street. It is like being in downtown New York City at lunchtime. Then I look at some of these old photos from 1950's and the early 1960's and the park seems like it is only being visited by 100-200 people. It seems like more people have been going to Disneyland since the mid 1980's. I remember back in the 1970's and it was crowded, but not like it is today. You would think the yearly price hike would put people off from going.
ReplyDeleteI know what you guys mean about the recent Disneyland crowds. Seems that the last two years have been especially bad on days that used to be slow.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you've seen the trip reports on the Vintage Disneyland Tickets blog, you'll see that it can still be relatively uncrowded - - if you can go at the right time of the year, on the right days!
Anonymous, a large reason for the increased crowding is the ever-growing popularity of the Disneyland annual passes among California residents. In So. Cal alone, there are thousands of passholders who seem to spend every spare moment of their lives at the resort. They take up tons of parking spots, too.
ReplyDeleteNothing against annual passholders, but there has definitely been a negative impact on the park as a side effect.
I remember riding in that yellow car once...many moons, many buffalo...
ReplyDeletemy guess is that the station building is overwrought for the scale of the town, done because of the fascination with the train. I would really enjoy a larger Main Street, and a return to the variety of shops selling goods similar to those a real town would have, instead of a giant Disney Store. I know, the old street was just an opportunity to sell ad franchises, but it was less crass somehow than what we have today.
Now that that marketing has a Giant Disney Store outside on the way to the hotel, can we return to themed merchandising on Main Street?
grumpy grumpy grumpy
JG
JG, I don't even mind the themed merchandising as much as just the acres of generic plush dolls, t-shirts, and other crap that really have nothing to do with Disneyland.
ReplyDeleteHear! Hear!
ReplyDeleteJG
Awesome post - Major is right, there are still a few slow days (mornings) and all the Main Street Vehicles are running strong on those days! Just saw the red and yellow cars last week :-)!!!! Just found out the Red car was the first Main Street horseless in service, May 12, 1956!
ReplyDeleteRich; I hear ya about the AP's - yeah I have one, but I rarely go on those crowded days and usually I've vacated my parking spot before Fred, Martha and the kids even arrive.