A ride into the past
If all goes well, sometime in October, I hope to be heading east. By train, of course.
That’s not unusual. Several times a year, I find myself making the occasional day trip out of the Bay Area. Los Angeles or Reno as the destination. Good rides with good folks.
No, this trip has a different destination. One which you will probably read about here as it unfolds. But part of the way, I’ve ridden once before. And there lies today’s tale.
My great-grandfather (Christopher Cameron Walker) started his employment career riding on various ranches out in the Pine Valley. He went to work as a locomotive fireman for the Southern Pacific at Wadsworth, Nevada on December 1st, 1900 (and never rode a horse after that). His job took him east, along the original route of the Central Pacific. The railroad was pretty much as it had been since it was constructed in the late 1860’s as part of the Transcontinental route. Ties in the alkali dirt across the Silver State.
Nevada was a pretty rugged place in those days. Towns were not what one would call developed by any means. The pleasures of running water, electricity and indoor flush toilets were limited to the bigger cities. Roads were dirt and at best a chancy proposition. If you traveled, it was by train or by horse (and wagon).
Over my own years, I have been out to visit some of the places that Chris Walker worked and lived in. In some, the only difference between now and then is the passage of time. In others, where once was a community along the railroad, it takes a good eye to find remnants. In only a few, progress has brought prosperity and growth. Yet in all of them, it only takes a bit to leave civilization behind and find yourself out in the open with nothing but the sagebrush for as far as the eye can see.
Nevada east of Reno is hardly flat. And contrary to popular belief, it is not all desert either. In some years, I have seen so much green along the way, you would think you were a lot closer to the equator than you are. And in others, dry doesn’t being to describe it. Water has a habit of being found where and when it wants to. Ask the people who live out here and they will share all about it. Be it the snows of winter or the rains of summer. Water is life and death, too.
In later years with the railroad, Chris was number one in seniority out on the Salt Lake Division. His usual trip was aboard the City of San Francisco one way between Sparks and Carlin and the reverse aboard another passenger train. I have several train register books from a station in the middle of those two right after World War II.
When he retired, his last trip east to Carlin was on the Streamliner (powered by a diesel locomotive). West, he brought the “Gold Coast” to Sparks, aboard a steam locomotive. It was 51 years with the railroad without a day sick or without an accident to his credit.
In the fall of 1980, I rode the train east of Sparks for the first time. Making that trip, I was making a connection to Chris and all of the times he rode the same rails between there and Carlin. It was pretty thrilling then, and I’m looking forward to it again later this year. Crossing the Silver State by train as passengers have for more than 143 years isn’t as dull as one might expect.
Why does the Future have to be the past?
A recent discussion on Faceboook brought up the old chestnut with cries of “Bring back the PeopleMover to Disneyand!”
Yet after the success of Carsland across the Esplanade, I have to take the topic of this posting as a position. Why does the Future have to be the past?
Tomorrowland is one of those places in the Park that people seem to love and hate all at the same time. Yet as the future is always changing, it presents some of the biggest challenges to the folks at Imagineering. One can recall how there were plans put forth that would see Tomorrowand 2055. An exciting place with all kinds of new ideas, right? Until Michael Eisener torpedoed it all in a meeting with the line, “What if the future is a farm in Montana?”
I am one of the first to admit that Tomorrowland over the years has shown us some of the best that Disneyland had to offer. Everything from the Flying Saucers to the Rocket to the Moon to the Autopia to the Submarine Voyage to the Monorail to the PeopleMover to the House of the Future right up to Star Wars in 3D. Some of the best and brightest folks Disney could find brought these projects to life. And the clock has been good to many of these attractions. Letting the favorites be enjoyed by millions of guests.
Eventually, time catches up with many of these. Let’s be honest. They just wear out. Beyond the design lifespan. At that point, it just becomes time to move on.
So I feel with most of Tomorrowland. The footprint of the buildings is pretty much as it was in the late 60’s. Heck, some of the buildings go back to 1955.
If the folks at Imagineering really want a park that can rival what Universal Hollywood has in store with Harry Potter, Tomorrowland is the perfect real estate to work with. Frankly, I would only leave three key items in place. Space Mountain, Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear. All the rest? Time to go.
Yes, that’s what I said. All of it. Even the Monorail needs a redesign. Gone? Autopia, Submarines, Innoventions, the Tomorrowland Terrace. And especially gone, the Rocket Rods – aka the PeopleMover track.
Think about it. That is a lot of Disneyland real estate. Imagine what kick ass attractions could inhabit that space. Enough Blue Sky to make some of the best and brightest at Imagineering come up with something we really have to enjoy. Does it have to have a movie tie in? Maybe, maybe not. But it does need to be something that proves that those folks in Glendale have more waiting for us than to contract out pieces, one at a time. And how many of the favorite attractions over those 55 years had movie tie in’s?
Yes, the company needs to wisely invest for the future to insure shareholder value. And that is really what this all comes down to. Being honest, Disneyland needs something that can carry it beyond just the next few summers. It needs a vision that takes advantage of all that space and makes it over into the next “must see and do”.
Disneyland was never meant to be a museum. Standing still has never been part of the project. There are all kinds of quotes from Walt that say just that. Time to suck it up and move forward.
Sorry, folks. I really don’t see bringing back the PeopleMover as practical or positive in Tomorrowland. As a transport system from parking lots, maybe. Even that has issues of capacity and all weather operation that raise questions.
So, no. The Future does not have to be the past. It was great while it lasted. But shouldn’t it be a challenge ahead? That’s the direction I hope it’s headed.
More than just a shirt
It is a fact.
More people who come to Disneyland seem to leave most, if not all of, their brain at home.
How else can one explain this question? And yes, it has been asked by guests, over and over during the 57 plus years…
I get that for some folks all of a day at the Park is a bit too much. Overload, if you will. Just a bit much to process. They can’t take it all in.
The sad part is that they shouldn’t try. This is one time where quantity versus quality is not the best idea. Sure, you can be “go, go, go, go” from park opening to park closing. You can map out an attack and methodically travel from land to land. If it’s 1:45 pm, then we must be in line for Dole Whip at the Tiki Room. (And yes, I’ve seen just this. But never been a participant.)
Disneyland is really all about the shared experience. That same kind of thing you get at a movie with a good audience taking in everything a film maker has crafted to be on the screen. Yet it is not about rushing through, missing the details. For in the details, Disneyland has a good many smiles and memories, waiting to be explored.
Like the 3:00 parade.
Don’t miss it.
More than a train… a symbol
A good idea that the traveling public bought into.
The Zephyr was more than just another train. It was prosperity. At a time when folks needed to feel as if they had something to be proud about. These Zephyrs stopped in towns all across the Midwest along the Burlington Route. “Gleaming stainless steel.” The march of progress come from the big city to the small town. All on wheels. Heck of thing…
A few Zephyrs still ply the rails today as part of Amtrak, still carrying people off on adventures.
A symbol indeed.
Oswald
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Who???
To the average Disney fan, this character doesn’t mean much, if anything. But in the history of animation and Disney, he is as important as Mickey Mouse.
I won’t recap why. Wikipedia does it just fine. Safe to say that is was an experience as well. One that Walt Disney learned from. And moved on, never to remember.
In 2005, at Disneyland’s 50th, Bob Iger shared with Diane Disney Miller that he had secured all rights to Oswald from Universal MCA. It was reestablishing ties with the past.
Diane later admitted it was nice to hear but had no idea who or what Oswald was. Because Walt never spoke of him. He had just moved on and put everything related to the character behind him.
I have to wonder what Walt would have thought about the revival that this Lucky Rabbit is enjoying today. If nothing else, a good laugh, or a friendly chuckle.
It is undeniable that Oswald shares much of Mickey from those first days in animation. As so much of Walt was Mickey, would we have seen the same if Oswald had stayed in the spotlight? Can anyone imagine what the character might have changed into over the years? Pie eyed Oswald. Oswald with Donald and Goofy in “Lonesome Ghosts”. It could go on and on…
Indeed, one Lucky Rabbit.