7/20: Untold Story, Pt. I

[Al Lutz]

Earl Vilmer and the Disneyland Railroad... discuss it all here...

DIRECT ARTICLE LINK: Untold Story - MiceAge.com

[evmo]

Great article!

Disneyland would have been impossible without visionaries such as this!

[Aladdin]

Very interesting that Vilmer supervised building a railroad from the persian gulf to the Russian front and one in Venezuela, too! Wonder how much of those remain today. . . .

[Disneyland Limited]

Steve,

Thanks for another great article about the Disneyland Railroad! It seems amazing that Mr. Vilmer didn't get as much attention for the work that he did. While the railroads may not be as flashy or cartoonish as the other rides in the park, I think the fact that they've been running pretty much nonstop since 1955 is a good indication of the experience, skill and quality craftsmanship that Mr. Vilmer brought to the park.

Looking forward to part 2!

DL

[Gudrun]

Thanks for the wonderful article Steve! Paired with a cup of coffee it made for a great morning read.

Looking forward to Part 2!

Also, did anyone else feel sorry that he didn't take his daughter to DL opening day? "But DAAAD it's Disneyland!"

[Dfanucci]

What a fantastic article to read with the morning cup of coffee.

Thanks!

[ttrocc7007]

Hey Steve,
I recently asked about the absence of the handcar at Main Street Station and was told that it needed to be removed in order to stow a bunch of electronics for the current Mickey floral under a box in the former handcar location. Once the floral is restored to its original form (if that ever happens), the handcar which is in pristine shape backstage will be returned.
Just thought you would want to know.
Thanks for another informative article.

[Steve DeGaetano]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Going through Earl's memorabilia, early CM materials, etc. really gave me a different perspective of the way the Park ran originally. It was very much like a family, and the atmosphere seemed WAY more laid back than the corprorate giant makes it seem today. I mean, Wally Boag's official title was "Editor-in-Cheese" of one of the CM magazines!

And the Disney brothers really did appreciate their employees back then. The ten year service award was no small pin; I will have to post a shot of the glass and wood plaque that was given out by Disney.

Earl is definitely one of the most important Imagineers most of us had never heard of, and I'm happy to bring his story to the forefront.

[sediment]

Now, you have to change the title to "The Told Story."

Nice article, too!

[Reagan]

Great story, Steve.

I noticed something interesting in the background of one of the pictures in your article. In the picture where Mr. Vilmer is checking the guage of the railroad tracks, you can see the tower built to hold the camera shooting the time-lapse photos of the park's construction. The movies from these cameras are on one of the Treasures DVDs.

Looking forward to part 2.

-Reagan

[Timekeeper]

This was such lovely article(I never knew Vilmer before, but thanks to you, I now do!) Thank You.


Timekeeper

[Steve DeGaetano]

In the picture where Mr. Vilmer is checking the guage of the railroad tracks, you can see the tower built to hold the camera shooting the time-lapse photos of the park's construction. The movies from these cameras are on one of the Treasures DVDs.

Thanks, Reagan, and good eye. You're exactly right.

[judithvp]

Hi everyone, I'm Earl's daughter and I'd like to thank Steve publicly for doing such a wonderful job of telling my father's story!

While I was searching for someone who would appreciate and preserve my father's memorabilia I found out that there is something called a Disney Legends award and that my father has never been nominated for it. I think he deserves this award and if you do too, you could help by writing Steven Clark at [email protected] and telling him that Earl Vilmer should be commemorated for his significant contribution to Disney history with the award. (There are even more reasons in Part 2.)

Thanks for your nice comments and any help you can give me in getting my "old school" unglamorous father his rightful place in history.

Judith

[DisneyTrains]

Great article Steve! Looking forward to part two!

[Disneyland Limited]

While I was searching for someone who would appreciate and preserve my father's memorabilia I found out that there is something called a Disney Legends award and that my father has never been nominated for it. I think he deserves this award and if you do too, you could help by writing Steven Clark at [email protected] and telling him that Earl Vilmer should be commemorated for his significant contribution to Disney history with the award. (There are even more reasons in Part 2.)

Thank you for that great information, Judith, and I hope many others will join me in writing to Mr. Clark to see that your father gets his name added to the list of Disney Legends and the awards and accolades he so richly deserves.

Along those lines, though, I was wondering who to contact regarding the idea of having one of the Main Street Station windows dedicated to Mr. Vilmer (a la the Sherman Brothers window on the Music Store). If anyone knows who to contact, please let us know so we can get in touch with them, as well.