The Disneyland Railroad is now in operation, as are the ships on Rivers of America. And for the first time, there is a bend to the left. Pixar's John Lassiter takes us on a tour of the revamped railroad.Disney tour. Lassiter was also featured on a recent episode of Jy Leno's Garage.
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Cool thanks for sharing!
I'm going to Disneyland next week. looks like I picked the right time to go!
Steve, while the lead from the engine house to the main line did have a bend to the left, the main line always turned right, correct?
Here is an image of the update with the slight bend to the left:
No, Bob. In the early years, the track in the back stretch jogged to the left. You can see this in early aerial photos of the Park taken directly overhead (near the top of this photo). This left curve was pronounced enough to be visible from the trains cars.
Enjoyed the behind the scenes steam tour at Disney World and hope to return to Disneyland one day.
Nice video.
Great news!
smd4 posted:
I don't know? Looks like Pocono to me. Where's the tunnel turn? 
Steve, if anyone knew about the slight curve to the left, it would have to be you, after all, you wrote the book. I don't believe anyone at DRR today was aware of it, Lassiter even said the new alignment was the first curve to the left.
I just found out that Disneyland has at least one popcorn wagon that has a miniature steam engine in the window.I am fascinated with the old Cretors popcorn wagons.Does anyone here have any information on the Disney popcorn wagons and if the display steam engine runs or not?
Dan986 posted:
I just found out that Disneyland has at least one popcorn wagon that has a miniature steam engine in the window.I am fascinated with the old Cretors popcorn wagons.Does anyone here have any information on the Disney popcorn wagons and if the display steam engine runs or not?
I'm not a particular fan, but I am aware of them. The little characters do operate turning the popcorn drum, so presumably the link to the steam engine below moves with them (I honestly don't know if the steam power is actually used to power them, but it would seem somewhat unlikely for the cast members to have to maintain the steam engine operation in addition to selling the popcorn).
Here's a link to a fan page with a bunch of the popcorn carts.
-Dave
Dan986 posted:
I just found out that Disneyland has at least one popcorn wagon that has a miniature steam engine in the window.I am fascinated with the old Cretors popcorn wagons.Does anyone here have any information on the Disney popcorn wagons and if the display steam engine runs or not?
Not being an expert on things Disney, but working at The Henry Ford's Greenfield Village*, I'd venture to say that the steam engines are run on compressed air. Inside the Museum are some very large steam engines that are demonstrated from time to time that use compressed air to illustrate the mechanisms in operation. As far as the popcorn wagons themselves, I have no information, but would venture a guess that they are reproductions. I imagine that since original ones are rare, and using them on a daily basis would subject them to a LOT of wear, it would make sense to use modern reproductions. I could be wrong. The Disney folks are good with such things and have expertise in many fields.
Maintaining steam engines is labor intensive, so it's a treat to see their locomotives in operation. At Greenfield Village, we have three steamers used in rotation on a daily basis on our railroad. And ours are actually coal fired.
*By the way, I drive Model T's at the Village, and they are actual cars from the era. As original as they can be, engines and all.
There are about ten of those popcorn wagons strewn throughout the Park. The machining on the steam engine castings/forgings looks too precise to be reproductions (to me). The flywheels of the engines extend below the base. I believe an electric motor turns the flywheel, which in turn rotates everything else. Doubt it's compressed air.
smd4 posted:AmbBob posted:And for the first time, there is a bend to the left.
That's not true.
from Disneyland web site;
A Turn for the Best
The train will now traverse across several trestles elevated above the river and make a left-hand turn to continue around the park. This is the very first time the Disneyland Railroad is circling to the left around the park! It will be like you are experiencing the ride for the first time.
bigdodgetrain posted:smd4 posted:AmbBob posted:And for the first time, there is a bend to the left.
That's not true.
from Disneyland web site;
A Turn for the Best
The train will now traverse across several trestles elevated above the river and make a left-hand turn to continue around the park. This is the very first time the Disneyland Railroad is circling to the left around the park! It will be like you are experiencing the ride for the first time.
Disney is incorrect. Even the images in the link you posted above show the left hand curve. Of course it wasn't as tight as it is today, but it is a left-hand turn nonetheless.
See the photos at bottom of this page.
Dave45681 posted:Dan986 posted:
I just found out that Disneyland has at least one popcorn wagon that has a miniature steam engine in the window.I am fascinated with the old Cretors popcorn wagons.Does anyone here have any information on the Disney popcorn wagons and if the display steam engine runs or not?
I'm not a particular fan, but I am aware of them. The little characters do operate turning the popcorn drum, so presumably the link to the steam engine below moves with them (I honestly don't know if the steam power is actually used to power them, but it would seem somewhat unlikely for the cast members to have to maintain the steam engine operation in addition to selling the popcorn).
Here's a link to a fan page with a bunch of the popcorn carts.
-Dave
Thanks for the link.That was the information I was looking for.
I've been informed by a friend who works in the DL Roundhouse that the popcorn steam engines at Disneyland are in fact reproductions, and are powered electrically.
What are "popcorn steam engines"?
Each popcorn cart at the Park features a small steam engine (not a locomotive) which is rigged to make it look like a tiny Disney character is turning a popcorn drum. Cretors, who made popcorn wagons early in the last century, had the idea of putting the steam engine (which were operated under about 30 lbs of steam pressure) in the window in front of his popcorn carts to entertain his customers.
THREAD HIJACK ALERT!
If you want to talk about the Disney popcorn machines, start a new thread. This one is about the Disney Railroad.
So maybe the Disney announcement should have said it's the first time the railroad turns left in a manner noticeable to more than 0.1% of the people who ride it.
It's pretty obvious they meant it's the first time it's noticeably turned in towards the center area of the park rather than being routed further outward away from the center when it's been modified in the past.
I guess technically once Galaxy's Edge (Star Wars Land) is completed, it will be going "around" that part of the park counterclockwise, since Galaxy's Edge is on the other side of the tracks vs. the rest of the park. (True for Toontown as well I guess, but there doesn't seem to be a significant curve there, but I guess there could be a slight curve in that area that I just can't see on Google Maps.)
Dave45681 posted:So maybe the Disney announcement should have said it's the first time the railroad turns left in a manner noticeable to more than 0.1% of the people who ride it.
It's pretty obvious they meant it's the first time it's noticeably turned in towards the center area of the park rather than being routed further outward away from the center when it's been modified in the past.
If you had gone to the link I provided above, which has a picture from one of the cars, the original left-hand curve was obvious to everyone. The Disney press release is simply inaccurate.
Big Jim posted:smd4 posted:
I don't know? Looks like Pocono to me. Where's the tunnel turn?
It does look like Pocono. I'm liking Bill Elliot's kid.
NACAR fans are revolting!
Farmer_Bill posted:NACAR fans are revolting!
Gee. That seems kind of harsh. After all, they're people too. 
smd4 posted:bigdodgetrain posted:smd4 posted:AmbBob posted:And for the first time, there is a bend to the left.
That's not true.
from Disneyland web site;
A Turn for the Best
The train will now traverse across several trestles elevated above the river and make a left-hand turn to continue around the park. This is the very first time the Disneyland Railroad is circling to the left around the park! It will be like you are experiencing the ride for the first time.Disney is incorrect. Even the images in the link you posted above show the left hand curve. Of course it wasn't as tight as it is today, but it is a left-hand turn nonetheless.
See the photos at bottom of this page.
why do you have to be such a ______ (fill in the blank) about this?
"So maybe the Disney announcement should have said it's the first time the railroad turns left in a manner noticeable to more than 0.1% of the people who ride it. "
Well then, the other 99.9% must be blind!
Looks pretty dang left to me!
bigdodgetrain posted:smd4 posted:bigdodgetrain posted:smd4 posted:AmbBob posted:And for the first time, there is a bend to the left.
That's not true.
from Disneyland web site;
A Turn for the Best
The train will now traverse across several trestles elevated above the river and make a left-hand turn to continue around the park. This is the very first time the Disneyland Railroad is circling to the left around the park! It will be like you are experiencing the ride for the first time.Disney is incorrect. Even the images in the link you posted above show the left hand curve. Of course it wasn't as tight as it is today, but it is a left-hand turn nonetheless.
See the photos at bottom of this page.
why do you have to be such a ______ (fill in the blank) about this?
Stickler for accuracy?
I don't know. I guess it comes from wanting to make sure people know the truth about things, instead of relying on press releases.
smd4 posted:If you had gone to the link I provided above, which has a picture from one of the cars, the original left-hand curve was obvious to everyone. The Disney press release is simply inaccurate.
For whatever reason the site that hosts those pics was blocked from the computer I was sitting at yesterday, so I saw the discussion, but not the image. Thanks for assuming I didn't care enough to follow the link though, that was great.
Just so I'm sure I "get it", we are talking about the part circled in red below, correct?
I'm very curious to know exactly what part of the circle that pic from the train car was taken from.
I can see the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship restaurant, but I'm not sure that's in the aerial (can't make it out that well). I am guessing it must be (unless my DL Encyclopedia is wrong) as I believe the restaurant opened only a month or so after the Park did.
Big Jim posted:"So maybe the Disney announcement should have said it's the first time the railroad turns left in a manner noticeable to more than 0.1% of the people who ride it. "
Well then, the other 99.9% must be blind!
Looks pretty dang left to me!
With the added context of that photo, but from the aerial alone, you will note in the referenced thread on the other site that even Steve thought (back in mid-May) that it would "probably not even noticeable as a curve to passenger".
So 99.9 % f the people who may go to DL or read about this new path on the web "must be blind" because they don't see that perspective? Uhhh... OK......
Do we have a date on the photo (didn't seem to say in the referenced thread - OP said he didn't remember source)? It seems to be accepted the aerial is from sometime near the parks' opening. All I could say from the photo from the train was that it had to be taken before ~1982, since the Pirate Ship restaurant was removed during that Fantasyland renovation. It's probably much earlier though, the trees would probably be a lot more filled in if it was closer to '82 than '55.
I find it amusing and/or sad that the topic has evolved from the way Steve posted his original observation in that other thread (that going left for the first time is "not quite true" - which was a fine observation, IMO) to where we seem to be now, "pitchforks and brimstone, Disney is lying to the public, the train OBVIOUSLY turned left in the past" (paraphrasing of course). I guess I expect no less here these days, no matter the subject.
I'm not going to spend hours upon hours searching for an aerial photo that might be a little different though to show the curve as seen from that car view. They may be the same, they may not.
I'll just look forward to riding the train over the new scenery over the ROA the next time I make a visit to DL though. Whether it's the "first time" or not, I'm sure It will be a cool new view!
I need to admit I might be more excited to get some photos of the trains running over the new trestle and waterfalls either from land or from the deck of the Mark Twain or Columbia! As much as I wasn't a fan of the shortening of the ROA for the SW Land expansion, I think they made a nice upgrade to the scenery with the re-route.
-Dave
Precisely, Dave. The pic from the train car was probably taken close to where the left side of your red oval is.
OGR Webmaster posted:THREAD HIJACK ALERT!
If you want to talk about the Disney popcorn machines, start a new thread. This one is about the Disney Railroad.
Calm down,asking about information on the steam engines in the popcorn wagons at Disneyland was hardly a hijack,more of an interesting detour.I was reaching out to OGF readers that may have information on a topic I am very interested in,which they thankfully shared.
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