| Station Story
(continued)
By 1953, with Disneyland plans were well under way, construction costs had
tripled since Walt had given the "So Dear" set pieces to Ward Kimball. But Walt
knew exactly where to find the perfect--and inexpensive--depot for Frontierland!
He asked Roger Broggie, head of the studio machine shop, to approach Ward to see
if Kimball would assent to returning his Grizzly Flats depot back for use at
Disneyland.
"Hell no! That's Indian giving," Ward told Broggie. Broggie understood well
Kimball's railroad collecting enthusiasm, and went back to Walt empty handed.
The rebuff did not stop Walt, however. He had his designers utilize the same
plans as the Grizzly Flats depot, with some modifications to allow use at the
Park. For example, the front door was widened into a double-door, and doors were
placed at each end, replacing windows that had been on the earlier incarnations
of the station, to allow guests access to the station's platforms.
This is Frontierland Station in July 1955. Notice that the platform
roofs have not
been added yet, and that the elevation is only 139 feet. The "cowpokes"
lend a nice authentic flavor. Photo courtesy Matterhorn1959.
Passengers approaching the station would purchase their tickets from the
"Station Agent" in the bay window. They would cross the threshold, and wander
around the station. Then they would exit at either of the station's two end
doors toward the platforms. When the Park opened, only the C.K. Holliday
and its attendant freight train stopped at Frontierland Station, and guests had
to have a special ticket--showing the Holliday and its train, and which
was good for "Freight or Cattle Passage"--before boarding.
Freight and cattle. The train didn't carry "passengers," and interestingly,
the method of boarding the cattle cars, which made up the larger portion of the
freight train when getting on a Frontierland Station, were boarded by walking up
cattle ramps into the waiting cars!
The "Frontierland Freight" ticket, made--as were all the park's early
tickets--by Globe Ticket Company. Author's collection.
Very little information has surfaced over the years about the interior of the
station in the early years, and no photos have yet come to light. We can make
some assumptions, however, based on our understanding of Walt Disney and his
attention to detail. Certainly there was a Station Agent, who wore a uniform
topped by a hat with a badge that indicated as much. Tickets would be purchased
for the train at the station. There was probably a centrally located pot-bellied
stove, with a pipe running to the smokestack on the roof, and no doubt several
benches strewn here and there. As with Main Street Station, there may have been
Santa Fe advertising posters hung on the walls, or signs detailing the Santa
Fe's history. Hopefully, we may one day be able to accurately describe the
station's interior, but until then, we are left with nothing but educated
guesses.
This view of Frontierland Station shows the structure with covers
over the platform,
in a rarely-seen view as it existed on the Park side of the
tracks. The station had
been moved from its original location, and you can see
the landscaping differences
between this photo and the previous one. The signs
advertise the "Fast Freight.
It's so inviting. Don't you just want to walk in?
Photo courtesy Matterhorn1959.
The first change to the to the station came in March, 1956, when the main
line was repositioned westward by about 20 feet. This required moving the
station structure itself westward as well. In the process, two covered shelters
were added to each end of the station, providing much-needed shade for the
waiting cattle, er, guests.
This shot from the 1990s focuses in on one of the two shelters
that once shielded guests from the elements.
This wouldn't be the last time the station was moved. Frontierland Station is
the "most traveled" station on the Disneyland line! A mere six years after the
first move, the station needed to be moved again--this time in anticipation of
the largest expansion Frontierland would yet see: The construction of an
entirely new "land," New Orleans Square.
Interestingly, the original location of the station had been very near where
the entrance to the Blue Bayou stands today, giving us some indication about
just how far the Park has expanded over the years. With the coming of New
Orleans Square, Frontierland Station would not only move west again, it would
move north as well. And to add insult to injury, the station structure itself
would be moved to that great slur of American civic culture: "The Other Side of
the Tracks."
Indeed, the station structure was relegated to being nothing more than
"background," and would cease being used as the actual Santa Fe & Disneyland
station. It was placed across the tracks, facing guests. A deciduous forest was
planted behind it, giving the station the appearance that it fronted a great
frontier forest. The "footprint" of the building was too large for the space,
and so a simple covered platform was built in its place where passengers could
await the arrival of their train. This is the structure in use to this day.
To add aural interest, a looped tape was produced bearing the recording of an
old telegraph sounder tapping out a message on an endless-loop tape player. The
story goes that the Imagineers originally recorded a somewhat risque message as
a joke, but quickly changed the tape when Walt mentioned that Lillian Disney had
trained as a telegraph operator.
The tapping heard is often mistakenly said to be "land-line" telegraphy,
which is said to be a precursor to Morse code. This is yet another Disneyland
myth that refuses to die. In fact the station taps out true Morse Code--named for
its inventor, Samuel Morse. "Land-line" simply refers to the medium the code was
designed to traverse--land-line wires, just as today we speak of land-line phones
as those wired into our walls.
When Morse code started being transmitted by
radio waves, some of the characters of Morse code needed to be modified, giving
us the code that is used by amateur radio operators today, termed "Continental
Code" or "International Code." When you hear the tapping of the sounder at Frontierland, you are, in fact, hearing genuine Morse code.
The endless-loop tape player that was used at Frontierland
Station
for decades, tapping out a repeating telegraph message.
But what is the message today? George Eldridge, an amateur radio operator, had
heard the code, and noticed its differences from the Continental Code he was
used to. He brought a tape recorder one day, and recorded the message, so he
could decipher it at home. When he did so, he discovered that the message had
been clipped off, either at the beginning or the end--or both. A call to
Disneyland elicited a copy of the original tape, which he deciphered for Disney.
Eventually, a digital player replaced the endless-loop machine, and the
re-created message was recorded on it. Contrary to popular myth, the message you
hear is NOT "Walt Disney's opening day speech," but is in fact only the first
two lines of that speech--and even then, it is an incomplete version, missing the
"Disneyland is your land" phrase.
So, the sounds you hear tapped out while waiting for the train to arrive at
Frontierland Station decode as follows:
TO ALL WHO COME TO DISNEYLAND, WELCOME. HERE AGE RELIVES FOND MEMORIES OF
THE PAST, AND HERE YOUTH MAY SAVOR THE CHALLENGE AND PROMISE OF THE FUTURE.
There's more to this story - the next part is at
this link. |
