Oh yeah, it's time for more beautiful scans, courtesy of GDB friend Keith Schad! By now you know the story behind these photos, and if you don't, you can go back and look at some of the other blog posts featuring Keith's pix. Today's examples are from 1958.
I believe that this first view was taken from the Disneyland Railroad as it passed the northern edge of Frontierland, affording a look into the Rainbow Desert. Those rock formations are works of art crafted by Mother Nature! Notice the little pueblos atop some of the rocks. And the Conestoga Wagon, just visible to our right.
Next is a shot taken from a Storybook Land canal boat, looking up at Casey Jr. and towering Cinderella Castle. We can also see some of the pennants flying from the spars of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship.
And how's this for a cool picture? The blue Viewliner is about to pass us as we ride on the Disneyland Railroad. It IS "the fastest miniature train in the world", after all. If they say so!
MANY thanks to Keith for sharing these great photos!
Major-
ReplyDeleteHey - it's Viewliner blue-! Cool, indeed.
Thanks to Keith.
Wow, these photos are great! Taken from viewpoints that we rarely see. Disneyland is hardly recognizable here; like it's an alternate universe version of the Park.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if those forced perspective pueblos looked more convincing in person than they do here? It's not really workin' for me; but I appreciate the effort. Oh, and look, there's the Time Portal from Star Trek again!
Such a strange view of Cinderella Castle, but nice! I think it's the lack of trees, etc. behind the castle that makes it look odd. So, what is that yeller thing in the upper left corner?
Really nice photo of the Viewliner; been a while since we've seen one this good. In the background we can see both, the Columbia (to the left) and the Pirate Ship (to the right)... at least, I think that's the Pirate Ship. We also see a bit of the SB Castle on the left edge.
Thanks to Keith & Family for the intriguing photos. And thank you too, Major.
Major, all three of these very cool pics were taken from the DL R.R., including the one of Cinderella's Castle. The train used to pass that close to the backside of Storybook Land, prior to the tracks being moved for construction of It's A Small World. That thing in the upper left corner of the pic (which JB pointed out), is probably part of the canopy on the train. That view of Cindy's Castle is a REAL rarity! Thanks for sharing, Major!
ReplyDeleteThe Viewliner was actually before my time, but does it look to anyone else like this one is getting gassed up (far right)?
ReplyDeleteOh gee, I forgot to thank Keith for sharing more family pics with us. Thank you, Keith!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, it does look like that man is pumping something into the vehicle. Maybe it ran on used french fry oil. ;-)
Behind the Conestoga wagon in the first picture you can also see a Mule Pack train winding its way down to the desert floor.
ReplyDeleteThat third one is such a strange angle, particularly of the pirate ship. It too me a minute to orient the ship in my head so that what I was looking at made sense.
It doesn’t make sense to me for that spot to be the fueling point for the Viewliner - it’s more logical to locate that at the station in. A more open area. The location and the way the man is dressed suggest to me that he’s a gardener with a watering hose. But…I can’t make out an engineer in the right side (our left) of the cab, and the location is close to the Fantasyland depot of the SFDLRR, so maybe it is a fuel stop. Hoping Steve Degaetano might know and chime in.
This is an interesting set. Thanks again. Keith!
Chuck, now I think you are right and that is a gardener with a water hose......randomly spraying guests through the open windows, as the Viewliner rolls past him. Of course, that could be Walt, and the hose could be filled with chili.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you Keith and family for these unusual views!
ReplyDeleteCinderella’s castle shot completely stumped me, I thought it might have been reversed, thank you Tokyo for reminding me of the old train route.
That Viewliner pic is so very rare. I’m going with the gardener idea only because fueling must have been “bad show”. I do wonder even today where Mark Twain and Columbia get refueled? Is there a tank under the passenger pier or in Fowler’s Harbor?
It’s too bad the Time Portal formation couldn’t have been worked into Wookie World, that would have been a nice nod to the attraction, like the Parking Lot sign in Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Broken Ride Mechanism. Maybe after Disney buys Paramount and moves Star Trek into Tomorrowland.
Thanks Major for hosting the party!
JG
Chuck, I'm no Viewliner expert, but that indeed seems a strange place to refuel. The steam trains did refuel at Tomorrowland Station, which could be done when the trains stopped there. I agree it would be bad show to have to re-fuel mid-trip.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Columbia and MT, I believe there are indeed fueling facilities on the dock--my guess is under the bales of cotton and whatnot on the left side. I bet Mr. Cozart would know for sure!
So I'm thinking the Viewliner ran out of gas or otherwise broke down during a run. That's the only good reason I can think of why they'd commit the sin of "Bad Show". Also the body language of the passengers seems to be what I would call "bemused". That one guy in the back obviously just made the comment to his wife, "See honey? Even Mickey Mouse runs out of gas sometimes! Bahahahahaha!"
ReplyDeleteNanook, I know, we see the red (pink? orange? peach?) Viewliner so often that it is almost weird to see the blue one.
ReplyDeleteJB, something I actually remember is that those little pueblos did not convince, even when I was a child. i still sort of like them, though! It really is a strange angle on Cinderella Castle, I don’t ever recall seeing another photo from this side. Yes, that’s the pirate ship, to the right(ish), and the Columbia to the left!
TokyoMagic!, I think you are right about photo #2 being taken from the train, it seems crazy to me that it used to get that close to Cinderella Castle, but clearly it did.
Anonymous, I noticed the guy, but it did not occur to me that he might be gassing up the Viewliner (which did run on a car engine, in case some readers did not know)!
TokyoMagic!, it is Oil of Olay. I still hate the idea of all those Olays being slaughtered for their oil.
Chuck, oh yeah, there are the happiest (and smelliest) mules on Earth! I agree that it seems weird that they would refill the Viewliner as it sat there at the station, but then again, I don’t know where else they would do it. I’m unaware of a “backstage” area where the miniature trains could eat and sleep.
TokyoMagic!, that gardner was going to show those guests the front side of water. Right in their faces!
JG, I admit that I was stumped as well, which is why I assumed that the Cinderella Castle pic must have been taken from a Canal Boat. But I agree with TM about the tiny bit of train awning in the upper left of the photo. I’ve seen so many examples of gardening and maintenance being done right out in the open, even back in the days when Walt would have theoretically objected to it. Somehow I have the feeling that Disney’s days of acquiring multi-billion dollar properties is over, at least for the foreseeable future.
Steve DeGaetano, perhaps on a busy day, they had no choice but to refill mid-trip? Interesting to think that those boxes and bales of cotton might hide fueling facilities. It’s kind of ingenious, if true!
Scott Lane, I can just imagine some maintenance guy walking toward a conked-out Viewliner with a gas can in hand! I’d like to believe that the Oldsmobile fuel gauges worked on the Viewliners, but one never knows. I could imagine some new driver not paying proper attention and running out of fuel!
Crazy angles! Here you leave the world of today, yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy, and enter... the Twilight Zone!
ReplyDeleteI especially love the Viewliner shot, and I know my dad will, too.
ReplyDelete"What a gas!"
Thanks, Keith and Major!
Wow, that Viewliner shot is fantastic! Thanks Keith!
ReplyDeleteRare pictures indeed! The Viewliner had a very short career so that one is even more special. KS
ReplyDeleteNice View of the Fantasyland Viewliner. Tomorrowland Viewliner was pink. It was all about transportation back then. Conestoga Wagons, Pack Mules, Casey Jr. Circus R.R., Disneyland & Santa Fe R.R. and the Viewliner as well as the aerial Skyway.
ReplyDeleteToday's pics from Keith Schad seem extra special. Thanks Keith and Major too!
As you can see by this photo:
ReplyDeletehttps://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/v470/bananaphone5000/GreatGorilla/1957_-ViewlinerC2.jpg
(Courtesy of GDB, 8/28/2015) when at the station, the Fantasyland Viewliner is facing in a different direction than today's photo. I doubt there would be any running out of gas mid-trip, but if so, that's a mighty big coincidence to run out of gas right next to a fuel hose!
I suspect it would be virtually impossible to see the Viewliner fuel apparatus, knowing how hidden the Tomorrowland Station DRR pump was.
I wish there was more on the Viewliner, but only being around about 15 months has its drawbacks, I suppose.
Melissa, this was submitted for your approval!
ReplyDeleteSunday Night, I’m sure Keith says “You’re welcome”!
KS, it seems so strange that they went to the trouble of designing the Viewliner and its track route, only to scrap it in less than two years, but Walt had bigger, better ideas at the time.
K. Martinez, it’s true, it wasn’t just Tomorrowland that was “a world on the move”!
Steve DeGaetano, aha, good reference, I sure wouldn’t have remembered which way the Viewliner faced at that station. And if I do say so myself, that’s a pretty neat photo! It does seem unlikely that the Viewliner would ever run out of gas, but it’s not impossible! Like Disney says, “Believe”!
I am, at this moment, sporting a Viewliner pin I bought at a toy show Saturday. It was swiftly rendered quaint and obsolete, and looked a bit silly compared to what replaced it. I personally identify with Viewliner.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Viewliner never ran out of gas because it was nuclear powered.
ReplyDeleteI found a photo of the backstage area where the miniature trains could eat and sleep. It looks like the hood (which is behind the cab) of the Fantasyland Viewliner is open, probably so they could check the reactor core.
DBenson, you obviously have great taste in pins! I’ll never forget when somebody put a photo of the Viewliner on Facebook, and one commenter said, “This isn’t Disneyland!”.
ReplyDeleteChuck, whoa, that’s an amazing photo! I must have seen it before, but I sure don’t remember it. I can’t help wondering if that structure was really the “permanent” (for a year and a half) home for sleepy Viewliners. It’s right next to Fantasyland Station after all. But even photos of Fantasyland Station are not common, so it is more than possible that Daveland has one of the only pix of that structure.
Hey everyone, I just noticed that Andrew has a new blog post up, all about his visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Check it out!
ReplyDeleteThese pics reinforce the idea that early Disneyland included a museum of transportation
ReplyDelete