Walt Disney decided to add a more modern train to the park in 1957. What was modern then though hardly looks modern now and so the inelegant Viewliner is usually remembered as the one of oddest contraptions to ever run on Disneyland tracks. The new Bob Gurr designed train had lots of similarity to other vehicles the not quite figure 8 track for instance was only 30 inches wide the same as Casey's and the Mine Train tracks the Viewliner's sponsor was Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad as it was for Disneyland's mine train and Disneyland Railroad
The cab on the front car was a cut down version of a 54 Oldsmobile 88 which meant a height of under 6 feet two swinging car doors a windshield like a car and a semblance of a cars blunt nose and headlight assembly. Inside the Viewliners cab the engineer shifted gears with an automobile clutch and drove with a steering wheel the strong gas powered V8 engine from a Chevy Corvette could accelerate the train to about 30 miles per hour and pull 5 cars behind the locomotive. When the Viewliner debut as a "B" ticket attraction in Disneyland's third summer it had two complete trains one blue and one red running on the same track there were stations in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland with each train operating from just one. Gurr was still putting out fires (literally) the morning of the Viewliner premiere.The two locomotives weighed 5,000-pounds each.
Specs Capacity 1950 per hour -- Capacity per train 64 -- Cycle Time 4:00 -- Load Time 1:00 -- Unload Time 1:00 Trip Time 3:00 -- Trips per hour 30 -- Distance Traveled 2900 feet -- Sppeed 10.9 MPH
