Yesterday one of those rewarding things happened; a Daveland reader out of the blue sent me this image, shot on July 18, 1955, which was the first day that Disneyland was open to the public. In the background, we can see the E.P. Ripley at the station, followed by the RETLAW 1 cars. In the foreground is the Police Communications Truck for Orange County. Other than that, not much is known about this image. Anyone out there able to elaborate? MANY MANY thanks for this way cool shot to my DLRR reader!
NOTE: I just discovered that this photo was taken by Mel Kirkpatrick, and want to credit him with it. The reader who emailed this to me notified me after his initial email who had taken the photo.
DVD/BLURAY NEWS: Next week on May 19th, “A Bug’s Life” makes its debut on Blu-ray. When it comes to the Pixar library of classic films, this one is often (undeservedly) forgotten. With the vocal talents of Phyllis Diller, this is NOT one to miss! Plenty-o-extras on this set.
See more Disneyland Railroad photos at my website.
I can't tell you anything about that fantastic communications vehicle, other than it must have spent its retirement years as my Helms Bakery truck. One Scooter Pie please!
ReplyDeleteGreat picture Dave. I can tell you one thing, Helms never used Dodge Power Wagons for delivery trucks.
ReplyDeleteWow, Katella Gate has a Helms Bakery truck? Cool! They have one at the Peterson Automotive Museum in LA. Look at the antennae on that truck, it was doing some serious radio communication.
ReplyDelete"A Bug's Life" was the first DVD I ever owned, it came free with my old iMac, and I was blown away by the beautiful picture quality. I wonder if the Blu-Ray will have the same effect?
Amazing photo, that communications truck is tool cool for words, check out that HUGE antenna! Neato little trailer its pulling. That 1954 Buick Century is looking shinny & new too! What a great find! Thank you Dave and the reader who sent it to you!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of interesting toys, but alas, a Helms Bakery truck is not one of them *sniff*.
ReplyDeleteI was making a lighthearted suggestion that after the truck became obsolete as a police vehicle, it could have seen duty as a bakery truck. Maybe I have watched the story of Susie the Little Blue Coupe too many times.
The truck was already in it's second life, probably having seen service in World War 2. The trailer is also military surplus and holds the generator to power all the communication equipment. At that time, it took a lot of power to operate all those tube filled radios.
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