*Some sources cite a soft opening date of June 21st, 1957.

At Disneyland there is a "story behind the story" of every attraction, every attraction is a living experience for the guest. Disneyland ride-through attractions or adventures have officially been defined as an “individual show, ride, or exhibit designed to produce an entertaining Guest experience. Disney attractions stir the imagination, enliven the senses, and provide the participants with positive, innovative entertainment, which is the essence of the DISNEYLAND Show.” It is important to review the story of the attraction, tell the story, explain it, and create interest. This is the story of the Viewliner.

“Concept”

You may recall hearing how Walt Disney, on the eve of Disneyland’s first day of operation, promised that “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow, to add new things, as long as there is imagination left in the world.” One such “new thing” was the shortest-lived attraction - the Viewliner! The Viewliner “high speed train of the future” was designed and built by WED Enterprises, Inc., debuting during Disneyland’s second year, in 1957. One Associated Press article “Plan Trip Into Drop of Water, Liberty Square for Disneyland” (by Bob Thomas, published April 20, 1957) briefly divulged the big project. Upon being invited to Walt Disney Studio, Bob Thomas mentioned, “Walt gave me a preview of his ambitious plans at his Burbank studios. He showed models and sketches…plans call for… the train of tomorrow, a half scale, high speed streamliner.”

Some of these viable project Concepts (as seen above), were supported by a well-developed business case and built expectation.

Does the body of the Viewliner look familiar? It should, for two reasons. First, artist Sam McKim created some of the earliest concept art of the attraction, inspired by the experimental GM Aerotrain! Did you know that the General Motors Aerotrain was christened (in August of 1955) a month after Disneyland opened? The streamlined electric train was thereafter tested on the rails of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central.

The second reason why the Viewliner may look familiar, is that the cab was comprised of quite a few Oldsmobile parts. The trains were prepared at the Walt Disney Studios Machine Shop.

This concept is rarely-seen, published twice to our knowledge. It may have also helped inspire its successor - the ALWEG-Disneyland Monorail! You may notice the influence of the aforementioned Aerotrain on the look of the engine and its stock, and the Viewliner Train of Tomorrow’s elevated tracks over the Motor Boat Lagoon and nautical themed area!

Soon after, Bob Gurr had elaborated upon Herb’s concept, with proposals for “streamlined train” engines and coach exteriors created by February 1, 1957.

In order to lay the rails, the land was “graded” (or, leveled), and then construction began on the rails. According to Michael Broggie : “Rails were spiked atop plates into five-foot-long wooden ties, themselves treated with creosote and seated in rock ballast. As a safety feature, the track’s block-signal system could apply the brakes electronically if a train ran through a red signal.” Joe Fowler (Disneyland Operations Committee) oversaw the Construction & Maintenance division including Engineering, New Construction, Maintenance, and Janitorial related to the installation of the attraction.

This narrow-gauge railroad layout would be of the most expensive Disneyland attractions to date! The authorized construction costs of the attraction were divulged in expense reports :

•$53,264.88 (for two engines)
•$81,202.40 (for all 10 coaches)
•$33,521.48 (for track, ties, and bed)
•$20,748.40 (for the trestles)
•$13,411.32 (for the block signal system)
•$1,981.70 (for the P.A. systems for the stations)

Yes, at $204,130.18, the Viewliner was truly one of the most expensive Disneyland attractions by 1957! Once complete, each 5,000-pound locomotive was unloaded onto the rails with the help of a crane.

“55er” Joyce Belanger recalled: “On opening day for the view liner, Walt was at the controls. There were some beautiful new flower beds at the station and as everybody crowded closer and closer to see Walt, they got into the flowers. This kinda bothered Walt a bit and he asked the people to ‘Please keep off the flowers!’”

Bob Gurr also attended the opening and dedication, dressed in an Engineer ride operator costume.

“Railfans” (and automotive fans) would appreciate that each of the 18’4” Viewliner engines were a 0-4-4-0 (8-wheel drive) type engine, weighing 5,000 pounds, and powered by a modified 1954 Oldsmobile 88 gasoline-powered engine! The Viewliner engines had an automatic transmission, drive shafts, and differentials. Where the full-scale Aerotrain would move at speeds of 120 miles per hour, the Viewliner (capable of speeds of 60 miles per hour) operated at comparative speeds of 30 miles per hour in Disneyland. As a “sidelight,” “at an actual ground speed of 30 mph, the Viewliner speedometers registered 120,” according to Michael Broggie (in Walt Disney’s Railroad Story”). According to “Walt Disney’s Railroad Story” by Michael Broggie (page 297), this may have been owning to the fact that “each car featured two speedometers… calibrated to register four times the train's actual speed.” Regardless, this was all very impressive considering the attraction’s narrow 30-inch gauge rails, rails that ran around and over Tomorrowland Lake!

During its “peak” attendance periods of its short heyday, the Viewliner was often operated by a maximum of 2 engineers, 2 ticket takers, 4 platform men, and 2 relief men.

The attraction had two 32-seat trains with an average total guest capacity of 12 (for the passenger cars), and 16 (for the observation car). Guests sat inside the comfortable and modern 2,000 pound aluminum and steel-frame passenger coaches or observation coach of each train. Pictured above, one of the Tomorrowland Viewliner’s younger passengers enjoys the view from one of the best seats!

Communication speakers allowed the engineer to make announcements. Automatic electric doors (also controlled by the engineer), and vacuum operated brakes (on every wheel) kept the guests safe inside the coaches for the duration of the ride. The 16’10”-long Coaches (like the engines) featured standard automotive parts (particularly, General Motors components within their suspension assembly), a gimbel bearing connection, and two speedometers.

The names of the two train engines (and their rolling stock) were :

•Tomorrowland Viewliner - and passenger cars Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and observation car Saturn.

•Fantasyland Viewliner - and passenger cars Pinocchio, Cinderella, Bambi, Alice, and observation car Tinkerbell.

A fond farewell is issued to a couple of Disneylanders aboard the Viewliner on this cover of Disneylander. Little did anyone know that they would be bidding “Vaya con Dios” to the Viewliner a year later.

Admission for the 3-minute trip aboard the Fantasyland Viewliner or Tomorrowland Viewliner was one “B” Admission Coupon (or, 25 cents, for one adult), the same as a round of ammunition in the Main Street Shooting Gallery, entry into the Mickey Mouse Club Theater, or a ride aboard the Conestoga Wagons in Frontierland! This translated into the Santa Fe & Disneyland Viewliners yielding total revenue (in management fees for Disneyland Inc.) of $19,594 for the fiscal year (52 weeks) ending September 29, 1957 and a total of $35,524 for the fiscal year (52 weeks) ending September 28, 1958.

Soon after its grand opening, the Viewliner Train of Tomorrow (with Walt at the controls) was amazingly preserved on film in the “An Adventure in the Magic Kingdom” episode of Walt Disney’s “Disneyland” television series (filmed during “Walt Disney Studio Day at Disneyland ” in 1957, and airing on television in 1958)!

All together, each 96’8” Viewliner train could easily pull in alongside one of two stations (each, with a 109-foot loading platform) - one in Fantasyland and the other in Tomorrowland (pictured above)!

By the details of 1 (of 3 of) Sam Mc Kim’s c. 1958 Disneyland Wall Map (“1958 A”), it appeared that the Viewliner’s tracks and trestles were to run over the tides of Tomorrowland Lake and the “Submarine Ride” (with its “Coral Forest,” “Port Royal,” “Graveyard of Lost Ships,” “Mystery Lights,” “Mermaids,” “Creatures of the Deep,” and “Atlantis” Show Scenes.

During the Viewliner’s operation, the Fred Gurley became the seventh train in the Park. There were four types of trains - and a total of seven additional trains are in use at Disneyland. Two Western mining trains carry visitors over Rainbow Desert and through the colorful Rainbow Caverns in Frontierland. In Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, two sleek, futuristic Viewliners speed passengers between the two lands. And in Fantasyland, the unique Casey Jr. trains huff and puff up hill and down adjacent to Storybook Land.

While the Viewliners were still in operation, this promotional “Disneyland U.S.A.” booklet distributed to potential National sponsors (or, “Participants”) in Disneyland. This map of “Coming Attractions” labels a coming “Nautilus submarine ride” to be installed in the area of the Tomorrowland Lake. By the time this publication was distributed, the final touches were likely being added to the ALWEG-Disneyland Monorail Trains - successor of the Viewliner Train of Tomorrow.

The Viewliner Train of Tomorrow was one of the fastest of Walt’s Disneyland trains, and sadly one of the shortest-lived Disneyland attractions! Here, we catch a glimpse of the Tomorrowland Viewliner Train of Tomorrow, during one of its final runs in August of 1958. When the Viewliner Trains of Tomorrow had ceased operation (on September 30, 1958) after 15 months of operation, a grand total of 1,452,870* guests had stepped “all aboard” for a grand figure eight tour (According to one Disneyland Attractions & Media Reports, prepared for 1971)!

*As a sidelight, Walt Disney’s Railroad Story (by Michael Broggie) gives a slightly different figure, stating : “During its operational life, the Viewliner attraction carried 1,430,683 ‘B’-ticketed passengers.”

By September 28, 1958, an appraisal of Disneyland “land improvement” assets valued the Viewliner Turnstile at $523. That same day, WED Enterprises, Inc. began to remove the Viewliner tracks and ties (job #4010-516) at a cost of $2,376 and remove Viewliner electrical equipment (job #4010-517) at a cost of $805. The entire removal cost $3,181.

Aside from the occasional railroad spike, there are few extant remnants from this once popular (but short-lived) Disneyland attraction. This particular signal lamp was used near one of the Viewliner stations. There were also smaller ‘running lights’ utilized near the Viewliner junction points. The Viewliner’s railroad block signal system kept guests and engineers safe for the duration of their journey.

Sadly, no remnants from either train are known to exist. However, this 16.5” x 61” drawing was created after the Viewliner was closed, but it gives us an idea of the proportions of various parts of the engine and cars in relation to each other (at least from a profile). It was believed (by the previous owner), that these drawings were created for the removal of the attraction from the Park.