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odnamraortsac
09-07-2004, 04:55 PM
This past Sunday one of the trains on the Disneyland Railroad was pulling passenger cars with all the guest seats facing the engine rather than the interior of the park. I've been an Annual Passholder for the past two and one-half years and I've never seen this set of passenger cars. I recall in the early days of the Disneyland Railroad most of the seating was set-up in this fashion. But I thought that since the 70's all of the seating was oriented towards the park so that everyone had a good view. Has this set of passenger cars been running on the tracks and I've just missed seeing them?

SallySkellington
09-07-2004, 05:04 PM
I don't like the idea of that. You'd have to crane your neck to watch the Primeval World and all that stuff.

Sheila
09-07-2004, 05:05 PM
No, one of the trains does indeed have forward-facing seating. But by gum, darn if I can remember which one. Maybe the Fred Gurley? I dunno.

I know there's a few DLR train enthusiasts who could answer which one it is in their sleep!

Sheila

rakkwhite
09-07-2004, 05:26 PM
I see this forward seated train every blue moon at Disneyland. They almost always have the park view seated train though.

Mark Goldhaber
09-07-2004, 05:50 PM
No, one of the trains does indeed have forward-facing seating. But by gum, darn if I can remember which one. Maybe the Fred Gurley? I dunno.

I know there's a few DLR train enthusiasts who could answer which one it is in their sleep!

Sheila
:Paging smd4 and Laffite:

sleepyjeff
09-07-2004, 06:59 PM
No, one of the trains does indeed have forward-facing seating. But by gum, darn if I can remember which one. Maybe the Fred Gurley? I dunno.


Sheila

The trains and the engines are interchangeable ...ie. they can pull different cars(and sometimes do). The Excursion Train(forward facing seats) generally is pulled by the Ernest S Marsh , but not always. I do not know if that is the one pulling this train right now.

I prefer the Excursion Train with the forward facing seats as they can carry dozens of more passengers(which equals shorter lines thru out the day). Also, the Excursion Train when being pulled by the Marsh is, IMHO, the most impressive Disneyland RR Train :)

see this old thread for more info......http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=20047&highlight=ernest+marsh+excursion+train

TikiGeek
09-07-2004, 07:12 PM
I too love the forward facing trains!!! It makes getting on and off much easier. There used to be more of these and it seems that over the past 2 years they have converted or used more of the "side facing" cars.

Mark Goldhaber
09-07-2004, 07:40 PM
All of the trains at WDW have forward-facing passenger cars, btw.

sleepyjeff
09-07-2004, 09:11 PM
This is my Favorite Train :)

http://lostworld.pair.com/disneyland/mainstreet/mainstreet_images/approaching-train.jpg

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
09-07-2004, 09:53 PM
I prefer the forward facing train, much easier to get on and off with kids and a stroller!

Laffite
09-07-2004, 10:58 PM
Whoa now! The Excursions are back?!?!?!??

SoCalDude
09-07-2004, 11:06 PM
Maybe they do not want you to look at all the closed stuff in the park right now....

just a thought :geek:

smd4
09-08-2004, 07:38 AM
Sleepyjeff is right on. The Excursion train has come back from yet another lengthy rehab. It was the third train to join the line, in 1958. Back then, the train was often pulled by the Fred Gurley, which may be where some of the naming confusion comes in.

Historical tidbit: Retlaw conductors used to call the Excursion train "The Sponge," because it seemed like you could always pack more people into it!

smd4
09-08-2004, 08:18 AM
There used to be more of these and it seems that over the past 2 years they have converted or used more of the "side facing" cars.Actually, the Disneyland Railroad has been running the same train sets since 1974, when Retlaw 1 was pulled off the line--and before then, Retlaw 1 ran hardly at all. No cars have been "converted," and no trains sets have been added to, or subtracted from. The fact that the Excursion was out for so long may have led you to believe there were only side-facing seats (sometimes called "river" seating; presumably because you faced the ROA).

TikiGeek
09-08-2004, 08:32 AM
Steve,

Thank you for the clarification. I'm looking forward to reading your book.

adriennek
09-08-2004, 09:52 AM
I like the Excursion cars better, too. Same basic reason: it seems they can hold many more people. But beyond that, we can take up a whole row to ourselves and it's easier to make sure the my kids aren't bumping into other people. Also, we don't have to all get up to make room for people getting off at different stops, etc. Our trip is less "disrupted" and so are the trips of the other guests on our train.

Adrienne

spectromen
09-08-2004, 11:25 AM
Does anybody know if the Excursion has wheelchair seating on it like the others do?

lisap
09-08-2004, 01:23 PM
Not super on topic, but we fell in love with the beautiful passenger cars on the Disneyland Paris RR. They're U shaped facing outwards, so everyone has a good view, and no one has to walk in front of anyone else to be seated. Way cool. :) I don't know if they have different types of cars like we do at DL--those were the only ones we saw.

odnamraortsac
09-08-2004, 03:08 PM
Does anybody know if the Excursion has wheelchair seating on it like the others do?
None of the Excursion passenger cars I saw on Sunday had facilities for wheelchairs.

efoxx
09-08-2004, 07:45 PM
Not super on topic, but we fell in love with the beautiful passenger cars on the Disneyland Paris RR. They're U shaped facing outwards, so everyone has a good view, and no one has to walk in front of anyone else to be seated. Way cool. :) I don't know if they have different types of cars like we do at DL--those were the only ones we saw.
that's because of the distinctive european influence on the construction of the trains. very similar to old english rail road cars. If I recall, and I could be wrong I've only been conned into once, the fake steam trains at AK in WDW are also built like that.

smd4
09-09-2004, 08:17 AM
The Euro Disney train cars, when viewed from outside the park, present a fully-enclosed coach appearance.

Tinker Bell
09-09-2004, 02:48 PM
Does anybody know if the Excursion has wheelchair seating on it like the others do?


When I went on today it seemed like they had something in the very back of the train for wheelchair. But don't take my word for it. I did not see it being used. Not sure if they even do.Hope this helps alittle.

Micki0624
09-11-2004, 08:59 AM
I was also taken aback when I saw the forward facing trains. At WDW they are all like this because there is nothing to see (grand canyon, primeval world). When we got on the train I was saying to myself I don't want to ride the forward facing train.

cstephens
09-11-2004, 02:11 PM
I don't like the forward facing train. I've been known to skip it and wait for the next train.

odnamraortsac
09-18-2004, 04:17 PM
One final word from me about the Excusion Passenger Cars. I believe they have the best sounding speaker system of all the cars on the Disneyland Railroad. You can actually hear all of the narration unlike some of the other passenger cars that have speakers that sound like a 1950's transistor radio on a bad day.