Disneyland Mark I static display
In conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Disneyland in
2005, the Disney direct
online store offered a splendidly-detailed static display
model of Disneyland's first monorail, the Mark I. The die-cast,
O-scale model is 22" long and comes with a black, three pylon
and track stand. Each model comes also with a cloisonne pin.
The model was designed by Will Babington and Rich Allsmiller,
based on Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr's famous1959 design. The models
were produced by Master Replicas, Inc. and made in China. This
image shows some of the detail, including the interior's seats
as well as rivets on the exterior. Two button-cell batteries power
two headlights, one beacon behind the driver's bubble, and two
red tail lights. The three-car train features a slight flaw, in
that it has a bit of an "arched back" and is not perfectly
straight. The nose and tail car are angled up slightly, probably
only noticeable to the discerning collector.
To the right you can see the blue cross logo that is similar to
the original Sante Fe logo that adorned the original Mark I. The
name of the train has been modified to not include the words "Disneyland-Alweg
Monorail System," which appeared on Mark Is and Mark IIs.
While the current Disney Company might have been concerned with
copyright issues, the Alweg Company has not existed since the
1960s and that shouldn't have been a factor. It's a shame that
the amazing straddle-beam monorail technology that Alweg developed
is not given the credit deserved on this fine model, not even
in the Certificate of Authenticity that comes with it.
Under the train are representations of the Alweg-design wheel/bogie
configuration. Headlights are on and visible here on the right.
The rear car features the 1959 Cadillac fin tail lights, which
were removed from original trains shortly after their introduction
in 1959. The red train Mark I is a limited edition, with only
1959 of them manufactured and sold. Even more exclusive is the
blue Mark I scale model, representative of the second train to
operate in Disneyland. The blue Mark I scale model was limited
to only 200 copies. All 200 sold out almost immediately after
introduction in May of 2005, and started to show up on Ebay for
hundreds more than the original online price of $299.00.
/ back to Collectible Corner main page