Slide of the Week RSS
Disneyland Monorail
Anaheim, California, 1961
Whooshing by on the highway in the sky, passengers travel in supreme space-age style between the Disneyland Hotel and Tomorrowland. I certainly hope they all heard the “Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times” recording because there are no windows!
The monorail is like an airplane without wings, or a cross between a snake, shark and catfish. It also has a foot-long hot dog/Oscar Meyer Wienermobile feel to it. Never have green tinted glass, ribbed stainless steel panels, lipstick red, and pinstriped white looked so great together. The design is so brilliant that it’s still fashion-forward nearly fifty years later.
The earliest concept sketches of Tomorrowland included a monorail. But as Disneyland was being built Disney had neither the technology nor the money to build his vision of the mass transportation’s future. Then while visiting Europe in 1958 he found a prototype monorail running on a track on a rural farm being developed by Alweg, a German engineering company. Within one year Disney had married the technology with a futuristic design and it was ready to go.
In the days leading up to the ribbon cutting and “first ride” ceremony, every time the engineers ran the monorail around its track for a test run — it caught on fire. Finally the dedication day came. All eyes were on the first official passengers, Vice President and Mrs. Nixon, and their two girls as they boarded the futuristic transportation vehicle along with a very nervous Walt Disney for the trip. Disembarking, Nixon had no idea that it was the first time the monorail had gone around the track without catching on fire!
Here’s to you and the Monorail!
Posted Thursday, February 16th, 2006 under Slide of the Week.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Quite timely, this photo (a beaut, she is, too — part sub, part luge, part sunglasses case).
Just saw these photos of Walt Disney’s private rail car from the Disneyland Railroad. Apparently the car is restored and back at the park.
http://laughingplace.com/Lotion-View-192-4.asp
They’re also giving some tours of Walt’s apartment, which he maintained above Main Street USA land, there in the park.
http://www.ocregister.com/multimedia/disneyapartment/
I grew up going to Disney World, of course, since I lived in GA, and now FL. When I first (and the only trip) took my own children to DisneyWorld, We got on the Monorail(which is actually ‘outside’ the World, to ride to the area where one purchases tix. This was my favorite ‘ride’ and I cried the whole time! Now we save so that we can ride the NY subway, the DC Metro, and of course, ATL’s Marta. The ‘monorail’ ‘rides’ are sometimes a favorite part of the trip for the kids! Thanks for the great pix!
Through out the early ’60s, at least one “E” ticket out of every one of my ticket books (remember them?) was reserved for this shiny, shimmering, streamlined hunk of steel!
By the way, those of us from that era who went to Disneyland regularly from the eastern suburbs of Long Beach remember a drive through twenty miles of unbroken (or so it seemed!) orange groves!
I love the nostalgia of that shot. Remember the kitch of the old Monorail Cafe at the Disneyland Hotel?
Full information about the current plans for the monorails is available at http://www.miceage.com and http://www.micechat.com
I love the Monorail. It’s the vision of the future that was promised to me when I attended Disneyland back when I was a mere child.
And sadly, it’s the future that has not come to pass yet. Weren’t we all supposed to be flying around on personal jet packs by now?
Thanks Buz for the cool links! WOW! This brings back memories. My first trip as a child was 1970. I seem to remember the smell of burnt rubber when ridding these first incrantions of the monorail. Later in life as I reached legal drinking age, the Monorail represented my transportaion to the one fun thing that you cannot find within the park perimeter……Alcohol ! Short ride to the hotel and to the bar ! Whoo Who ! !
Thanks Charles ! Love your stories ! ! ! !
Charles! Your site is beautiful! Congratulations!!
Back in those glorious 60s, my friends and I would take the monorail over to the hotel to have a few cocktails in the station bar and then return to the park, in just the right festive mood for the Jungle Cruise, if not the Tea Cups….
Been getting you wonder photos for a couple of years now. Always give you books away as gifts. Now just wanted to say I LOVE the new website. Good stuff.
I heart the new look! Who’d a thought the slide of the week program could be improved??
Handsome Mr. Charles!
Ah the Monorail! What a romantic mode of travel ! However, public transportation of all kinds carries with it many etiquette challenges. Ladies, do you know how to sit properly in public transport? I thought not. Let’s turn now to _Secrets of Charm_ by John Robert Powers and Mary Sue Miller (1954).
That John Robert Powers! He wants all women everywhere to look and behave like models at all times, in all situations! Thus his prescription for, as he calls it, “Sittin’ Pretty.” And yes, the kicky “n’” is his, not mine.
“You will never collect all your charm credits if you consider getting in and out of a chair as a mere functional act of your own concern. How you comport yourself makes an impression on witnesses, just as surely as a seismograph records an earthquake. Bounce and flounce as you seat yourself and you are certain to be thought too young in years or too kittenish in approach to be taken seriously. Heaves and hoists center focus on awkwardness, overweight and age. Grace control connotes a discriminating charm that extends far beyond the act itself.”
“Sittin’ Pretty” includes foot positions, shoulder squaring, and several arm and hand poses. Let’s get,then, to what will help on the Monorail: “Sittin’ Tight”:
“In this jam-packed world, it may well happen that you will not on occasion to have space to dispose yourself in the ‘Sittin’ Pretty’ position … But there is no reason why lack of space should ever be allowed to affect graceful looks. There is a way to sit in small areas that, although practical and comfortable, is still charming.
Stand in front of your seat and wheel about-face. (Don’t back into the seat; it’s like backing a horse into a stable.) As you turn, see that your feet are together and that the backs of your legs touch the seat. With both control and dignity, lower yourself to sit squarely on your ’sittin” bones, and when seated, draw the right heel into the left instep, keeping both legs perpendicular to the floor and the knees together. (Just let the knees gape and you’ll look ten pounds heaver!) It’s only in a stampede that you should ever draw the legs under you. As a final fillip, rest your clasped hands in your lap or atop your purse.”
Mr. Powers goes on to remind, “Sit neither as a sack of meal nor as a moving target. Sit still — dynamically still. It is both a captivating attitude and a social grace — one over which few damsels can claim mastery.” Practice at home, ladies. I believe you can master dynamically still sitting!
Now, anyone for a nibble of fudge from a delightful confectionery on Mainstreet?
xoxo!
Miss Sharon
Since I am turning 50 in 2 months I am getting excited finding as much of my past as I can and this site along with all the good things Charles brings to bear helps tremendously. The fact is, we kids of the late 50s and early 60s had it good. The Monorail is still a resource that Los Angeles missed the boat on. LA doesnt GET IT! They could have had 3 times the amount of mass transit with monorail systems as opposed to all this underground junk (which is a terrorist playground!). I say elect Walt Disney for transportation commissioner (in absentia). Touche for monorails and cheers to Charles!
Hello,
It’s always wonderful to see the photos on this site. It gives people my age (i’m 32) a change to see people and things from the past to see how they lived then. I’m going to Disneyworld this coming may for my honeymoon and can hardly wait to ride the monorail. As always Charles, my hat’s off to you and keep up the good work. Looking forward to your new book coming out next month.
This picture was taken about the year before I first visited Disneyland and I sure remember hearing about the Mono-Rail and saw it, but was not able to ride on the day I visited and I think that was in 1962.
The thought of a futuristic world was fascinating. One could hear sonic booms around the county and knew it had something to do with supersonic jets like the X-15 or 58-Hustler. Instead of it being something of dread; I looked to the future of brightness, shiny surfaces like Rodger Dean art and the Jetsons.
This is so wonderful, and I love the comments. Miss Sharon, you’re a gem! I used to work at the park, and once we had a Monorail anniversary event around year 2000 with designer Bob Gurr at the controls. We were given honorary monorail ‘wings’ to wear as Bob told stories over the intercom as we rode. The train was filled with regular guests, but Bob told everyone very candid stories of Walt making Bob test drive the monorail for days on end and bemoaned his slave-driving ways. But he told it with such candour that he sort of forgot himself and his stories were peppered with some words like ’shit’ and ’son-of-a-bitch’ that normally wouldn’t be heard on the monorail intercom. It was hilarious because it was so unexpected. It was like he was doing stand-up or something. I will never forget that monorail ride and I will always treasure my wings!!!
You mean me and my friends weren’t the only ones who took the monorail to the hotel cocktail lounge!!?? We thought we were so clever! But didja smoke a joint on the sky ride?
YIKES, 1961–I was working at the park at that time. Is that the “Man Eater”?? One of the Monorails ran over some poor dude trying to get into the park w/o benefit of a ticket.
Thus the name–sad but true.
i have a set of monorail glasses with the name builders name on them and was searching ebay for them and stumbled on your site. very nice