While going through this particular batch of slides from 1958 for the first time, it was a pleasure to find these photos of the Viewliner! I think you'll agree that they are especially nice.
How about this first beauty, showing the Tomorrowland Viewliner (as opposed to the blue Fantasyland version) as it crosses the bridge over the water? Pretty sweet. Maybe it's just a trick of the camera, but it appears that there are very few passengers aboard the train.
As always, I am impressed by the hills in the background, considering that Disneyland was carved out of flat orange and walnut groves.
And howsabout this neat photo? I love the pinkish-orange color.
Let's zoom in for an even better look. I wonder why the Viewliner was built with the driver's seat on the right?
Major-
ReplyDeleteAny day with the Viewliner is a great day-!
Thanks, Major.
Holy Cow!!! These are incredible. I'm wondering if the two pics could be merged? It looks like that partial tree on the far left of the second pic might be the same one we see on the far right of the first pic. Of course merging it would make the pink Viewliner be in two places at the same time. Is that Walt riding the Viewliner in his blue sweater and straw hat in the second pic?
ReplyDeleteI decided to not be lazy and try to merge them myself. If you lower the second pic just a tad, it almost works. There is probably just a little "strip" of the view in between the two shots that is missing....but you can see a bit of the water continue in the lower left corner of the second pic and the telephone poles in the background continue across the horizon in both pics.
ReplyDeleteI love these. I am always stunned at how great looking thses trains came out. The fact that Bob Gurr cobbled together the locomotives out of two junkyard Oldsmobiles is still amazing. Thanks for posting. Happy friday.
ReplyDeleteGot to love those side view mirrors.
ReplyDeleteBoth of today's images are beauties. Love the Viewliner train's reflection as it crosses over Tomorrowland Lake. The telephone poles behind the back of the park are always cool to see too.
ReplyDeleteBesides the Autopias, is that a bit of coach car from the SF&D Railroad I see in the second image?
I still think they should've named the observation cars on both Viewliners "Pluto". Thanks, Major.
I like the Viewliner logo. On the front. I had never seen that before.
ReplyDeleteThe Viewliner is do dieselpunk! That is od about the driver's seat - I wonder if there was something in particular they needed to be able to see on that side?
ReplyDeleteMaybe the junkyard Oldsmobile that it was cobbled together from was actually a mail truck? Or British?
ReplyDeleteGreat pics. So nice to see such clear, pretty shots of such a short-lived attraction.
Engineers always sit on the right in locomotives...
ReplyDeleteA great opportunity to study the little train in detail. Like anonymous 01, I don't recall the logo, although it was probably there all along.
ReplyDeleteThe original monorail is definitely a lineal descendant of this little engine, which is pretty cool. The cars are almost identical. Notice the stainless steel quarter panels, open windows and how the cab heels over a little on the turn, some complex suspension going on under there. Anyone know how fast this train went?
Also noticing the split windshield for the first time. Reminds me of my old Chevy truck, and a far cry from the bubble domes to come.
How cool it would be to turn this back into a car...
JG
Nanook, imagine if you had the Viewliner AND orange juice!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic! I never thought about merging the two photo - as you said, the Viewliner would be in both pictures, which would be weird. But maybe cool! I would love to believe that Walt is sitting in the back of the train with his straw hat - if that is him, why couldn’t he have sat in the front seat??
Alonzo, when you read about how Bob was practically a kid straight out of school, without a ton of experience, it is truly amazing what he managed to accomplish.
Gnometrek, I assume that they are “off the shelf” GM mirrors?
K. Martinez, that certainly is part of one of the old yellow passenger cars.. good eye! And you’re right, Pluto would have been the logical name for both.
Anon, it does show up in other photos, but you can really see that logo clearly here.
Melissa, somehow I think “dieselpunk” (a new term to me!) would be more grungy and greasy, but I like the word!
Tom, did Oldsmobile even make trucks? I’ve never heard of such a thing. It seems unlikely that they would go to the trouble of using a British vehicle when Detroit was so powerful at that time.
Steve DeGaetano, I figured that must be the reason…
JG, if only I had my Bob Gurr book handy, he might have the answer to your question about how fast the Viewliner could go. Yes, the split windshield is very reminiscent of a lot of 1940’s vehicles. I’ve always loved the steel quarter panels.
If that is Walt, maybe he didn't sit up front because he was trying to "blend in".
ReplyDeleteI think the 1990s Tomorrowland remodel was a sort of halfhearted attempt at somethong in the dieselpunk vein. But they missed out on all the cool sleek streamlinef styling they could have used, in favor of the "stick a bunch of candy colored crap all over the existing structures and hope nobody notices" school of design.
ReplyDeleteSo cool!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe train is leaned over in the turns because the track is banked. This is common in railroading and is called "superelevation." The degree of bank is relative to the radius of the curve. And yes, the monorail beam uses the same practice.
ReplyDelete