Sunday, May 06, 2012

TPE: Riding on the Viewliner



It may not be as sleek (or long lasting) as its replacement, The Monorail, but I would still love to venture back in time and squeeze into the Viewliner for a ride between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. I remember seeing my first image of the Viewliner; I had no idea what this miniature was, or what it was doing on the railroad tracks next to the E.P. Ripley.

Apparently, it was inspired by this train, the Aerotrain:



Seeing Walt with a young guest, you get an idea of the scale of this thing:



And a front side-by-side view with the C.K. Holliday; this really looks odd to see the "future" right next to the past:



The Skyway gave guests a great view of the Viewliner:



From one great photo, I get many fantastic zoom-ins!



The Tomorrowland Viewliner Station:



Station Signage:



The Space Bar:



And last (but definitely not least), the original round Skyway buckets:



Enough digressions, let's get back to the Viewliner, in all its bright salmon-colored glory:



And let's not short-shrift the blue Viewliner, shown here at the Fantasyland station:



At the Tomorrowland station:



Last one for today shows plenty of energy: The Skyway, The Autopia, and The Viewliner. Note that the Matterhorn is still part of the future when this March 1959 photo was shot:



See more vintage Disneyland Viewliner photos on my Viewliner web page.

5 comments:

  1. Interesting: Tickets for the Fantasyland Viewliner 'MUST' be purchased at the Tomorrowland Ticket Booth.

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  2. I wonder if the Viewliner was a one way trip from station to station or if both trains ran simultaneously so you could do a round trip returning to the original station you departed from. Anyone know?

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  3. After a closer look at the photos, it looks like both trains stop at both stations.

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  4. The greatest train ever built !!!

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