Dedicated GDB readers know that Major Pepperidge loves pictures of Tomorrowland. It's my very favorite! Here's a good one taken from the upper level of the "Carousel of Progress" building, affording us a nice bird's-eye view (a lazy bird) looking toward the mighty Matterhorn; the Skway must be down for repairs, and I'm not even sure if the Peoplemover is operating, since there is one empty train on the tracks.
I had to zoom in and get a better look at the green Monorail - that's right, "Old Greenie", for the second time in one week!
The Subs and the Monorail don't look especially busy - although, in this view, it looks like there is somebody in the blue Peoplemover train, just visible behind the palm tree to our right.
The sight of Monorail Green brings me much joy... it was my childhood favorite.
ReplyDeleteNice clear shot of the Submarine dock and lagoon.
ReplyDeleteI never noticed the silver circle with the line below it on the back end of the monorail before. So far, looking at older monorail photos, it seems it's only on "Old Greenie". If I could find photos of the rear of the other Mark IIIs, I could figure out if it's on all the Mark IIIs or just green. It doesn't appear on Mark I or II. Nice set today. Thanks, Major.
Double "old greenie" sightings in one week. Wow, that's as cool as double babushka Friday. Well done sir.
ReplyDeleteI'm struck by the size of the hole in the Matterhorn that the Skyway required. Maybe its because I can see clear through to the sky! I believe the Skyway was in place before the mountain went up, yes? I still love seeing the Mighty Matterhorn from any angle!!
ReplyDeleteBill in Denver
Nice shot of Tomorrowland, plus the great Greenie!
ReplyDeleteWas the walking surface painted or was it just a black asphalt surface? It seems to have a blue-ish hue here and looks very, very clean.
Very nice cropped shot (#2), and the plants look wonderful! The white railing around the Autopia is especially inspiring.
Katella Gate, I'm glad that photo brought you joy! (Didn't your avatar used to be in color??)
ReplyDeleteK. Martinez, I saw that circle, but even on the full-resolution scan I can't really see what it is. And I don't have very many pictures of the Mark III Monorails, unfortunately.
Alonzo, what if both (two "Old Greenies" and two babushkas) happened on the SAME DAY?
Bill in Denver, that hole was there before the Matterhorn existed; they had to build around it! (The Skyway had been there since 1956).
Clyde, I believe that it actually was a blue-ish color of concrete "slurry"… just as it was sort of a terra cotta in parts of Frontierland.
K. Martinez - I believe that's a Santa Fe logo, with a line of text underneath. It's similar to in size and layout the SF logo and a line or two of text that were applied in front of the first window on each car on the Mark III's up through 1974 (see http://www.matterhorn1959.com/blog1/monorailsubs2.jpg for another view).
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I haven't been able to find a picture in high enough resolution to find out what that text actually said. My guess is probably "Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System" in a similar font to, but smaller than, the lettering beneath the cockpit bubble on the first car, but it might have said "Visit the Main Street Flower Mart" for all I know.
I found that one of the original Mark III Santa Fe emblems sold on ebay for $1,800 in 2011, but unfortunately the photo is no longer visible on the listing (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Disneyland-Santa-Fe-Logo-Panel-from-Mark-III-Monorail-1961-1968-/140619132611?nma=true&si=tmbRClQfGKZdqQH2gUW6t%252FpriTE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557).
The Santa Fe logos were on the Monorail (as well as the Viewliner) as part of the company's sponsorship deal - all rail systems at Disneyland were to display the Santa Fe logo. I'm not sure that they carried this out to the letter - I don't recall seeing Santa Fe emblems on NWRR, the PeopleMover, Casey, Jr., or the Main Street streetcars. The logos were removed in 1974 after the Santa Fe partnership ended.
I also just realized that the logo sold on ebay was mis-labelled. The listing says it was from a "Mark III Monorail 1961-68," but those are the dates of operation for the Mark II's - the Mark III's ran from 1969 to 1988. Either the seller had a Mark III panel and mis-listed the dates or had a Mark II panel and mis-identified it.
ReplyDeleteChuck - I found a close-up photo, and it says
ReplyDelete"Santa Fe &
Disneyland RY."
Here's the link to the photo:
http://davelandweb.com/monorail/images/60s/KTPBKYC_7_63_N29R_detail.jpg
Thanks for the update, Chuck. After looking around, I saw the Santa Fe logo more clearly on the rear car of the other Mark III monorails. For some reason it shows up as all silver on images of monorail green. I couldn't find a clear enough image to figure out what the lettering spelled out either.
ReplyDeleteClyde, I'm familiar with the lettering on the Mark I & II monorails. My inquiry was to find out what specifically was on the Mark III monorails. I'd assume it was the same at this point, but it would be cool to find a clear picture of the lettering below the Santa Fe Logo on the Mark III. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThat top shot looks like it's taken from somewhere hovering above the autopia, like from a peoplemover car after it's come out from around the COP theater, based upon the angle of the awning with the Coca Cola logo above it. Maybe the peoplemover was running after all, just not full.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I remember that ebay auction, and can say with some certainty that the panels were from the Mark II Monorail, and not the Mark III (I actually saved a pdf of the auction page, but the photos didn't save for some reason). I don't seem to have any good images of the Mark III's - at least not good enough to discern any logos or lettering.
ReplyDeleteClyde, thanks for the detail, that's the Mark II logo.
K. Martinez, now I am dying to see if I can find a good shot of the Mark III vehicles! I think "Mr. X" might have taken one, but I'll have to dig for it and see.
Tom, I thought it was from the top of the Carousel of Progress theater, but maybe you are right, it could have been taken from the Peoplemover as it exited.
Clyde Hughes - Thanks for the link. Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad makes sense (although I was secretly hoping it said something about the Flower Mart).
ReplyDeleteKen - I spent some more time stumbling around the interwebs, and it looks like the Santa Fe logo was a different color on each train, probably to provide as much contrast as possible. Clyde's link above shows a red logo on Monorail Blue, and this link shows a dark blue or black logo on Monorail Red (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/6308-DisneyLandHotelMonorailStation.jpg/800px-6308-DisneyLandHotelMonorailStation.jpg). Monorail Green's logo may very well have been silver.
In looking at all of these photos, it's also interesting to note that at some point those solid panels with the Santa Fe logo on the Mark III's (and the corresponding panels at the rear of each car) were replaced with windows, evident in this photo here: http://www.disneypix.com/Transportation/Monorail/MarkIII.jpg.
Chuck - glad to help. Yes the Flower Mart logo would be a pleasant surprise!
ReplyDeleteAnd just to throw even more variations into the mix, I found this picture over at Daveland of Mark III Monorail Murk taken in 1971 (http://davelandweb.com/monorail/popup.htm?images/70s/CTTSTS_7_71_N31B.jpg). There appears to be some sort of diagonal, two-tones striping applied to the panels in front of the windows. I don't ever recall seeing that before.
ReplyDeletecool views today! :-)
ReplyDeleteespecially loving the subs in the lagoon. I so wish they had gone with this original more official-looking color when the restored the ride. Much more sci-fi!
that poor little Peoplemover train looks so lonely there, and looks like Monorail Green is getting ready to do a tailgate! The Matterhorn has that diorama look to me at the peak...so neat.
I think Tom is correct about the first shot being taken from the PeopleMover after it exited the COP building and crossed over the Skyway's path. I do remember several times riding the PeopleMover with many of the vehicles running empty in the morning.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I've been looking at lots of different photos as well. It's amazing to see all the variations. It would be cool to see a full and clearly detailed image of a Mark III monorail. If only someone wrote a comprehensive history on the Disney monorails similar to what has been done for the Disneyland Railroad.