Greetings Disney buddies, attached is this months "Disney" submission (text and photo) to the Garden Railway newsletter. Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and no smoking please! Bill
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WALT’S TRAINS
Musings of a Disney Railroad Fan
SKYWAY RIDE
"For a smoother ride and an unobstructed view of DISNEYLAND, the
spectacular Skyway Ride will transport you between FANTASYLAND
and TOMORROWLAND. You’ll board these sky-carts from a sky-
station in TOMORROWLAND or from a Swiss chalet in
FANTASYLAND for a one-way or round-trips between the lands."
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One of Walt Disney’s “missions” for Tomorrow was to have it serve as a demonstration ground for practical forms of transportation. In late 1955, after the opening of the park, Walt learned of a “Skyway System” that was undergoing final testing by the Von Roll Iron Works in Bern, Switzerland. Walt purchased a Von Roll Type 101 Aerial Ropeway even before he knew where it would go. Designer John Hench was assigned to work with Von Roll’s ride engineers to finalize the attraction. The Skyway Ride was installed in Disneyland stretching from the powered drive station in Tomorrowland, climbing 60 ft. to a tower on top of a big pile of accumulated construction dirt known as “Holiday Hill”, and then down to the Fantasyland Station where 35,000 lbs. of ballast kept the cable system tight. The popular Skyway Ride opened in June of 1956 with 42 metal gondolas holding two passengers seated in fiberglass patio chairs that were bolted to the floor. Thousands of park visitors enjoyed the views from the Skyway Ride until it was closed temporarily in 1957 for the construction of Matterhorn Bobsleds to be put in it’s place. The upgraded Skyway Ride reopened in 1959 as part of the expanded Tomorrowland Complex with redesigned fiberglass gondolas passing directly through Matterhorn Mountain!
The Skyway ride was closed permanently in 1994 due to “metal fatigue” and the increased difficulty of servicing the Skyway and making repairs inside the Matterhorn. The holes in the Matterhorn were partially filled in and the cables and supports were dismantled, however the Fantasyland Swiss Chalet Station survived hidden in the brush and trees near the Casey Jr. attraction for nearly 60 years and was removed in 2016 making way for construction on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Disneyland was the first of over 100 type 101 Sky Rides installed by Von Roll in amusement parks and tourist destinations throughout the world, several of which are still in operation. Google: Von Roll Model Ropeways for information on modeling the Disneyland Sky Ride.
From the postcard collection of Bill Ralph
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