Today I have two random photos to share with you - but they're both good ones!
I always love pictures of the ticket booths, with guests lined up to buy their 10, 12, or 15-coupon ticket books. This one is undated, but I would guess that it is from around 1967 (an educated hunch). A 15-coupon adult book cost $5.35, which seems like a bargain - adjusted for inflation that would be around $41. Which still seems pretty good until you factor in the 50-cent parking fee. Outrageous!
Next is this fascinating photo from October, 1963. Main Street is in shambles! It appears that the streetcar tracks are being redone for some reason, so the whole center of the street is a mess. I wonder how many days/weeks it took the crew to make these repairs? If anybody out there knows why the tracks were being reworked, please chime in.
This black and white photo sometimes shows up on places like Facebook, often described as being from1955. But the Sunkist store can be seen on the right, and that opened on July 31st, 1960. So neener-neener!
Major-
ReplyDeleteA shawl but no babushkas. Hmmmmm. Love the young fella with the tan, stripy shorts, white shirt and white
'shades'. There certainly has been a lot of re-working of the Main Street "rails" over the years.
Thanks, Major.
Nanook, is that kid that you pointed out, actually you?
ReplyDeleteI want a shirt with the same black and white print, as that older lady is wearing (first pic).
Major, I don't think it was the streetcar tracks that had to be reworked. I think it was the asphalt that finally had to be redone, after eight summer seasons of women's high heels sinking into it! ;-)
Okay, seeing the tracks "exposed" like that, I can't help but think of the Fred Gurley steaming down Main Street, holiday cars in tow. Anyone else?? I really like the signs on all of the old Main St. facades, as well. Unique behind the scenes stuff like this is always really fun - I can't help but think how they would completely cover the street with construction walls if this was to be done today (which it sort of was, I think). Both pictures are great, thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics Major. Love that old B&W one.
ReplyDeleteTokyo, I guess that would be sort of an abstract Polynesian pop pattern. It would make a great shirt.
Thanks Major.
The photo of Earl Vilmer inspecting the original track in later editions of my book clearly shows cross ties under the rails, like any regular railroad.
ReplyDeleteWhen Disney replaced the horse car rails a few years ago, I was very much amused when Disney said they were going to preserve the old rails for posterity, as if they were sacred 1955 originals, which came off as pandering to the Disney die-hards who couldn't bear to see any of Disneyland's "history" trashed.
I love behind the scenes looks at Disneyland. Some of my favorites are when they were erecting the Moonliner and building the Sub Lagoon. Thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteThe first picture is a treasure trove of late- Sixties textile prints, but my eyes are immediately drawn to the cute middy blouse. Helloooo, sailor!
ReplyDeleteMan, I can't imagine the foot-traffic nightmare there would be if they tore up part of Main Street today!
Nanook, I’d like to think that there were three or four babushkas just outside of the camera’s view!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, that lady’s black and white shirt looks like some crazy German Expressionist (or maybe Russian Constructivist?) design. And I believe you’re right, all those ladies’ heels stuck in the asphalt must have cause plenty of problems!
Andrew, I wonder what the “gauge” of those streetcar tracks is? The same as a narrow gauge RR? I for one think that they should run the DLRR through the streets of the entire park. I’m tired of that old “grand circle tour”! ;-)
DrGoat, well I sure didn’t got to “abstract Polynesian pop” for the pattern on that shirt! But I like it.
Steve DeGaetano, maybe I’m just jaded by now, but the last thing I was worried about was what Disney was going to do with the old tracks that they replaced. Do you know if the tracks themselves wear out from the streetcar wheels going over them a zillion times? It seems like it can’t be harder on steel track than multi-ton locomotives.
Jonathan, I think everyone on GDB likes a good “behind the scenes” look!
Melissa, I hope that sailor girl hadn’t jumped ship. Otherwise they’d keel haul her behind the Columbia.
I think Steve nailed it. 1955 construction shows the rails being held by wood ties, this photo is concrete. How much would wood ties degrade in 8 years, in dirt, under asphalt? I would bet they started spreading or becoming uneven.
ReplyDeletePhoto 1 is fascinating for the hair and clothes alone, to say nothing of the prices.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, these construction photos are fun for me. When they re-worked the rails recently, the construction walls were very well done and didn't obstruct traffic too much. I have no idea of the service life of streetcar rails, but part of the stated reason for the last re-do was to improve the paving, which is now brick. Part of this "pixie dust" program, I guess.
Disney is right in step with the rest of the commercial construction world in drastically limiting the views into their projects. Photo imagery scrims and big walls are much more common than in the past. Maybe insurance, I don't know.
JG
My hometown has paved-over streetcar rails all over town. When they turned one city street into a pedestrian mall a few decades ago, they left a spot right in the very center dug down to the red brick with embedded rails. It's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteChuck, are you still with us?
ReplyDelete@ TM!-
ReplyDeleteOh no, that’s not me. And besides, I’d be sporting more ‘daring’ shorts, and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing dark glasses with white frames: Too Las Vegas/Miami Beach for my tastes-!
MRaymond, if you mean the B&W photo in today’s post, notice that it has to be post-1960. I don’t know, are RR ties dipped in creosote? I would think they’d last a long time, but also admit that I don’t know a damn thing!
ReplyDeleteJG, I’ve seen photos of relatively recent Main Street construction, where they build an 8 foot high wall up the middle, it makes Main Street feel so claustrophobic and weird. I’m kind of amazed that they left things so open in 1963, as if they trusted guests to keep out of the mess. Just a small rope barrier was enough! I knew that taller buildings used scrims, I always assumed that part of that was to prevent debris from going where they don’t want it to go.
Melissa, maybe you’ve heard of the famous L.A. “red car trolleys” (as seen in “Roger Rabbit”, there are still areas where you can find the partially paved-over tracks where those trolleys ran 60 years ago.
Lou and Sue, I’m going to assume that Chuck is resting!
Nanook, “daring shorts”… the mind reels. The frames on the kid’s glasses look weirdly beige, which might actually be worse than white.
Major, I guess abstract Polynesian pop is the closest I could come. My stream of consciousness goes off on a tangent sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI did notice the guy on the far right in the yellow shirt has on one of those crazy straw island hats. Love that.
Wooden railroad ties exposed to the elements can last 20 - 25 years. So I'm not sure why everything was replaced so soon. I imagine it would take an exceeding long time for the rails to wear down. Those horse cars probably only weigh a few tons, if that, fully loaded. I'm baffled.
ReplyDeleteI'd imagine that the rails were fine, but since the paving was last minute, it was probably due for replacement by 1963. By then, they were thinking long-term and likely decided to upgrade the horse car rails while they were repaving.
ReplyDelete