Disneyland Jumbo Card J-3: Matterhorn, Monorail and Autopia

Last week I was poking around on eBay and discovered a seller who was getting rid of some pretty decent older cards (the seller was actually the daughter of Roger Le Roque...of "The Nickel Tour").  There were a number of jumbo cards being auctioned off, and some other interesting paper items.  I ended up bidding on this J-3 card from the late 1950's.  It features an early view of the Matterhorn, the Alweg monorail, and Autopia.  If you look very carefully, you can see that the Autopia cars are one of the early versions (I think these are Mark II's...but not sure) that ran with bumpers all around the car in an open lane.  Other early cards show this more clearly.

I have read that the Matterhorn (which was built in 1959) is actually the first roller coaster to employ continuos tubular steel track.  Walt was after a very smooth ride...and he got it!  It's remarkable to think that these days almost every roller coaster uses tubular steel track to transport the car and riders.

For a look at a bunch of vintage shots of the Matterhorn and other Disneyland rides, check out DavelandWeb.  You can even order high resolution images to hang on your wall!

Until next time...