The Viewliner Train of Tomorrow was a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

miniature A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to: * Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting * Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture * Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or problem ...

train that once operated alongside portions of the

Disneyland Railroad The Disneyland Railroad (DRR), formerly known as the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a 3-foot () narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction in the Disneyland theme park of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, in the United St ...

main line. The attraction commenced operation on June 10, 1957 and was billed by Disneyland as "the fastest miniature train in the world."Broggie, p. 293
/ref> Two separate trains, designed by Disney Imagineer

Bob Gurr Robert Henry "Bob" Gurr (born October 25, 1931 in Los Angeles, California) is an American amusement ride designer and Imagineer. His most famous work was for Walt Disney's Disneyland Park, and its subsequent sister parks. Gurr is said to have de ...

, and built as scale replicas of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

' futuristic ''

Aerotrain Aerotrain may refer to: * Aérotrain, a hovercraft train developed in France * AeroTrain, an tiltrotor aircraft proposed by Karem Aircraft * Aerotrain (GM), a passenger train built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division * AeroTrain (Washington D ...

'',Chronology of Disneyland Theme Park
/ref> traveled along a dog-bone track circuit (rail line with a turnaround loop at each end) through parts of Tomorrowland and

Fantasyland Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale films. Each Fantasyland has a castle, as well as several gentle ri ...

. The Tomorrowland train featured cars that were named for the

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

s, while the cars of the Fantasyland train were named after various Disney characters. The modern, streamlined trains were placed into service to represent the future of rail travel, in contrast to the steam-powered DRR which represented its past. Motive power for each train consisted of an integral head-end unit driven by an Oldsmobile "Rocket" V8 gasoline engine, mated to a Jeep transfer case powering drive-shafts to both the front and rear wheel trucks. Two 1954 Oldsmobile 88 2-dr coupes furnished the windscreen, doors and instrument console for each of the two locomotives. The attraction operated until September 30, 1958 when construction began on the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

and

Submarine Voyage The Submarine Voyage was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The attraction features vehicles designed to resemble submarines. It first opened on June 14, 1959, as one of the first rides to require an E ticket. It was part of a ma ...

.Broggie, p. 294
/ref> The

Disneyland Monorail System The Disneyland Monorail System (originally named the Disneyland ALWEG Monorail System) is an attraction and transportation system at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was the first daily operating monorail in the W ...

ultimately took the place of the ''Viewliner'' in June 1959, thereby making it one of the shortest-lived rides in the park's history. The

railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper (Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer ...

s from the attraction were later used to build the Deer Lake Park & Julian Railroad, a narrow-gauge

backyard railroad __NOTOC__ A backyard railroad is a privately owned, outdoor railroad, most often in miniature, but large enough for one or several persons to ride on. The rail gauge can be anything from to or more. Smaller backyard or outdoor railroads that c ...

owned by Disney animator

Ollie Johnston Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death from natural causes. He was recognized by The Walt ...

at his vacation home near

Julian, California Julian is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,502, down from 1,621 at the time of the 2000 census. Julian is an official California Historical Landmark (No. 412). The Jul ...

.Broggie, p. 103.
/ref> File:20_Disneyland020.jpg, Tomorrowland Viewliner station under construction. File:23_Disneyland022.jpg, Tomorrowland Viewliner (Venus)

Notes

References

External links

{{Disney rail transport 1957 establishments in California 1958 disestablishments in California 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States Amusement rides introduced in 1957 Amusement rides that closed in 1958 Disneyland Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Railroads of amusement parks in the United States Tomorrowland

See also

Notes

References

External links