From 1955 until approximately 1960, Disneyland guests had a choice of three vehicles in which they could tour Frontierland. First up is the rarely seen Yellowstone Coach, of which I only have 3 shots of in my vintage collection, starting off with this 1955 image.
Image #2 from my Yellowstone collection:
And this black and white shot, taken before opening:
A 1959 image of a stagecoach:
Zooming in on the guests inside:
Here's a vintage August 1956 view of a Conestoga Wagon.
A closeup of the driver:
A December 1955 newspaper ad for Disneyland trumpeted:
“You will ride the Conestoga Wagon in Frontierland—one of the most picturesque and vital vehicles in history. It was the Conestoga, not the Covered Wagon, that developed the West. The great wagons were first built in the Conestoga Valley of Pennsylvania, with water tight bottoms that permitted safe crossing of rivers. You will also ride authentic stage coaches, pack trains, and buckboards in this remarkable re-creation of the old West.”
A Buckboard is the name for a four-wheeled wagon drawn by a horse. The "buckboard" itself is the front-most board on the wagon that could act as both a footrest for the driver and protection for the driver from the horse's rear hooves in case of a "buck."
Before somebody chimes in, "But Dave, the ad says they also had a Pack Train! That means there were four types of vehicles!" A Pack Train is just a fancy way of saying mules. Although not a mechanical vehicle, yes, they do deserve to have a photo in this post:
See more vintage & current Disneyland Frontierland transportation photos from my collection on my main website.
5 comments:
I find it fascinating that they had these kinds of transportation in the parks. They look both fun and very authentic to the atmosphere. I'm sure liability and costs were the reason for their demise.
That is actually the "Yellowstone Coach", the buckboard was basically a flat wagon that looked extremely dangerous. I've only seen photos of it from the earliest days of the park.
I wonder what became of that Yellowstone Coach, since it is such a beautiful vehicle that I'm sure was custom made for the park.
I have a fairly vivid memory of a childhood ride in a stagecoach, but cannot recall if it was from Disneyland or Knotts.
I think it was Knotts, but I am enjoying these photos anyway.
JG
Great post. My first visit was around 1965 so these vehicles were before my time. I believe Major is correct about the Yellowstone coach. Thanks for sharing these great vintage photos.
Looks like my collection is lacking a buckboard!
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