OLD RED RIDES AGAIN!

"I'm overwhelmed with joy," said Victor Koman, an Orange County resident and lifelong Disneyland devotee. "When I found out that the old Mark III Monorails were slated to be replaced by the sleek new Mark Vs, I wanted to be sure that this bit of transportation history survived. And it has — gloriously!"

Koman mounted a one-man publicity effort, complete with press releases, progress reports, and mass-mailed appeals for help generated on his home computer. He soon discovered that he was not alone.

"Hundreds of people from around the country called and wrote to express their affection for the grand old-style Monorail. Several transportation museums expressed interest in preserving Old Red. And — most important — scores of Disney Company employees and executives felt the same way."

The effort paid off grandly. The original decision to send the Monorail train to the crusher was rescinded, and on April 18, 1988, the Monorail System crew gently removed the front section of the Mark III — with its bright red color, stainless steel trim, and unique bubble top — and stored it in the Monorail roundhouse at Disneyland.

There it sat for nearly a year, safe yet hidden. Then, in association with Ultra Limousine of Brea, California, the Disney Company converted the bullet-shaped Monorail train into the ultimate road machine. (see sidebar for specs). The Disney Imagineers breathed new life into the classic vehicle that carried a hundred million visitors millions of miles around the 35-year-old Southern California tourist attraction.

"The Mark III Monorail," Koman notes with enthusiastic nostalgia, "represents the way we saw the future from back in 1959. The future looks different now, but fans of the old vision of technology are overjoyed that Disney has gone to such lengths to preserve the Mark III."

The reborn monorail, now dubbed the "Mouseorail," will tour the country to give young and old alike a chance to see the way the future was. Some will see it for the first time, others will have one more chance to see and touch a sturdy old childhood friend.

Koman feels that the Monorail is more than an amusement park attraction. "It was the first operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere. It was the first monorail in the United States to cross a public thoroughfare. It has carried young and old, rich and poor, dreamers and doers, presidents and kings. As the last surviving Monorail from that era, the Mark III is no longer just an obsolete amusement park ride — it is history itself." Koman smiles. "Walt Disney loved trains. I'm sure he's pleased to know that his beloved Old Red is out there, once more bringing smiles to our faces."

Old Red took its last trip around Disneyland on April 12th, 1988. The Mouseorail begins its nationwide run New Year's Day at the 1990 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena.

Victor Koman plans to be there to see the wish he wished come true.

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