More Road Work, October 1963
Back in February I posted a photo of Main Street USA undergoing some sort of extreme maintenance, possibly having to do with the improvements or changes on the Streetcar tracks. Here are two additional photos showing more views of that work. I wonder if they were able to make the new pavement blend in with the old, or if the repairs remained obvious for a long time? The truck to our right has a small crane on top of it for some reason.
Guests who'd heard about Disneyland's legendary tidiness might have been a little dismayed at the disarray, but hopefully the work didn't ruin their good time.
11 comments:
Major-
So much for any sort of motorized [or horse] powered contrivances running up/down Main St. USA. The only vehicle (other than that crane-topped baby) is that "white" Chevrolet truck (1947-1955), with its 'infamous' five-window cab.
Thanks, Major.
Wow...no construction walls! Just a rope draped from tree, to lamppost, to tree. They would NEVER do that today!
Ahh, c'mon... if they really had wanted to keep running the vehicles, there would be easy ways to get them around the work.
This was actually Disney's first attempt at Utilidors. After about a day's worth of digging, someone said, "This is really tough work, Walt. You might as well just build a new park!" The rest is history...
At least there wasn't a moose out front turning people away. It's a long way down the holiday road. Thanks major.
As for Disneyland's "legendary" tidiness, I'm afraid they might've been a victim of their own PR machine. While the Disney Parks might've be the cleanest and tidiest, they were not flawless. Not even in Walt's time.
Thanks, Major.
Sorry, I can't figure out what is going on here. Looks like the rail bed has been filled up with AC paving mix, which is odd.
The casual protective barriers are something to see, for sure.
Thanks for these pics, Major.
"As for Disneyland's "legendary" tidiness, I'm afraid they might've been a victim of their own PR machine. While the Disney Parks might've be the cleanest and tidiest, they were not flawless. Not even in Walt's time."
My Dad was the world's most skilled "Glass-half-empty" guy. I rarely heard him give anything a compliment that wasn't at least a little backhanded. The only unqualified praise I can remember him giving anything or anybody was the cleanliness of Disneyland (which he visited as a young Marine long before I was born) and the Magic Kingdom (when I was a kid). He joked that they must have somebody following the pigeons around with a pooper scooper.
Nanook, yes, I would assume that there was a notice out front saying that the Main Street Vehicles were not operating. I do wonder what could possibly require such major construction just 8 years after the park opened! Why is the truck with the five-window cab “infamous”?
TokyoMagic! maybe they would use a purple and gold rope?
Andrew, you know, if they could have a guy like that, only more olde-timey….!
stu29573, see, it’s this glimpse into Disney history that I love learning about! ;-)
Jonathan, it took me a second to get your reference. Believe it or not I have never seen that movie!
K. Martinez, we’ve certainly seen plenty of photos on GDB with vehicles parked where they shouldn’t be, and trash right out in the open. That being said, Disneyland probably tried a lot harder than most places…
Anonymous (JG?), I could see that perhaps there had been more wear and tear on the tracks or the roadway than they had expected, but it’s so hard to figure out what they’re doing!
Melissa, ha ha, I’m glad your dad had something to like about Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. Do you remember what his favorite rides were?
Hello Major, yes, that was me. Sorry I didn't sign the post.
It's really odd that they would fill in the roadbed with paving materials. Were they waiting for new rails to be delivered and filled up the hole so no one would fall in during the wait?
My parents also commented on how clean Disneyland was, especially in comparison to other parks and fairgrounds.
JG
Disneyland was originally closed Mondays and Tuesdays, which was when most major construction happened.
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