Helicopters Flying From Disneyland

OCThen reader Marc offers up memories of watching Los Angeles Airways fly their helicopters to and from Disneyland...

Okay, here's an obscure one for ya:

I moved to Anaheim in 1967. We lived off of Wilhelmina, near Sycamore and East Street. On weekends we would go to the Disneyland Hotel and watch helicopters taking off from a large, paved heliport across from the Hotel. Does anybody remember this?

The helicopters were from Los Angeles Airways and they were silver. They were Sikorsky S-61 models I believe. They used to provide service from/to Disneyland Hotel from the Los Angeles area.

There were two or three serious crashes in the late 60's and they went out of business and bulldozed the heliport. It became parking for Disneyland hotel and today is under the outdoor parking net to the gargantuan new parking structures that serve Disneyland. Great memories watching those helicopters come and go. It seemed so exotic to us kids then.

Photo courtesy of AirlineSafety.com

Another OCThen reader, CoxPilot, offers up a memory of his own...

I took one of the L.A. Airways flights from Disneyland to L.A.X. in 1960. In those days the helo took off from the Disneyland parkinglot, just next to the employees entrance. They used the old piston driven Sikorsky H-34 machines then. I think they upgraded the following year when they moved the landing pad over to the hotel.

Another reader, George Anstadt recalls the same...

I remember there use to be a helicopter shuttle from Disney Hotel to LAX. It was a big chopper that held about 30 people. That was a fun ride before the big plane ride which as a kid made the event more special.
George Anstadt

Finally, Buck Kharma weighs in...

Who remembers the horrific helecopter crash in the Downey area? The helicopter left Disneyland and went down killing all on board. My aunt worked at Wonder Bowl in Downey, and the crash site was near there, as I walked over and surveyed the wreckage. The crash was in LA County, but departed from Orange County, 1968 or 1969, I still have the news story, somewhere.

You can read more about Los Angeles Airways and the crash of Flight 417 here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Airways_Flight_417

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The Trains in Downtown Orange

Anonymous reflects about the trains that ran near the Orange Circle, and says that there used to be a train car that when around the Circle...

I remember as a child growing up in orange. My aunt lived on cypress st where the original cypress barrio was. Anyhow i recall the old freight train parking lot that was behind the "Omega" burger joint which is still there. I recall watching the night man with his lantern guiding the train back so to leave the cars in the lot. there were about six different sets of tracks. all used to park train cars. i also remember that one set of tracks continued toward the circle all the way up to and a little past plaza muffler. My mother told me that there use to be a train car that went around the circle and on to santa ana. i can not find any pics of what i remember as a child but i have my memories.

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The Pink Bus of Beach Blvd

Anonymous writes about the "Pink Bus" that run up and down Beach Blvd...

I grew up in LaHabra and was a little surfer, we used to take the Pink Bus that ran up and down beach blvd for 50 cents every chance we could.

I never lived around Beach Blvd, and never knew about the Pink Bus.

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Riding the Rails on a 1946 Dodge

An anonymous person submits the following story of riding the railroad tracks on a 1946 Dodge through Orange and Tustin, then having the engine go out, and hearing a train coming down the tracks...

Once again! I find myself strolling through the pages of OCthen, what a really neat site! This came to mind and thought you would get a chuckle out of it, I do not advise anyone to try this adventure as it is dangerous and could cause some serious problems!

Anyway, lets look back to a late summer evening, warm air, clear sky and a six pack of guys cruising around in this old forty six Dodge four door sedan. Time frame, 1961!

We had made a left turn onto Esplenade Ave and were heading to Dodge Ave. When we got to Dodge we made a right turn and proceeded over the railroad tracks. The driver stopped and asked, "whats the chance of us riding the rails this evening?" As I recall there wasn't a moments notice and the car was backed onto the railroad heading towards Tustin which was about six miles away! A small amount of air was dumped from the front tires to insure the front wheels would stay on the rails. We all piled back in and we started for Tustin!

As we approached 17th street the driver laid on the horn, cross traffic was very light that time of night, however we could see the really surprised look on those drivers faces as we went across their path! Needless to say, the laughter was just too much, the radio was turned up and we were "rail fans"! The track ran pretty much next to Newport Avenue and we were cruising about twenty to twenty five MPH.

The orange packing house was right in Tustin so when we were almost into the switching we stopped and backed off onto a surfaced loading area, turned the car around and headed back! What fun! This should have been enough but "NOT"! As we proceeded into the night heading to the city of Orange we were in the middle of some lemon groves and it was very dark to say the least! As luck would have it, the motor quit!

So, here we are in the middle of some huge lemon grove, on the railroad in a beat up old Dodge car, basicly, stuck! "What, me worry? The hood was up or to the side and we were teaming up on the most basic of machines, trying to find out what the problem could be. It was late, perhaps even closer to early morning, maybe 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. Finally the problem is resolved, a small wire going to the coil is found to be broken.

One Zippo lighter running short on fuel is providing the light, another set of hands is franticly trying to twist the broken wire into service, "did you hear that"? "Hear what"? "listen" I didnt hear anything to speak of, yet the banter kept on, finally the repair is made and the engine is tried. "Gads, the battery is just about dead"! Again, "listen you guys"! Yep! sure enough, some where up ahead, a clanging sound, a bell sound! "Oh no, just great, its gotta be a train"! "Its coming this way for sure"!

So! we begain pushing the Dodge backwards, the driver yells he is going to pop the clutch. First try doesnt get er done! We push some more, finally the engine roars to life! We are exhausted to say the least! Doors are slammed shut and we are in reverse heading back the way we came! After so many miles in reverse we came to a crossing of sorts and went to work trying to get the car off of the tracks. Anyhow, I got dropped off at my house shortly thereafter, it was about 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning. My folks were still asleep, I clammered into my bed, another adventure for sure!

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Light Rail in Orange County

I just found an article published in the Los Angeles Times regarding a new light rail project planned in Irvine.

This particular project involves a short rail of only 5 1/2 miles...

The proposal, which won an initial endorsement from the Irvine City Council last week, would use millions in state money that the city had earmarked for CenterLine to instead help connect the future Orange County Great Park with Irvine's Metrolink station and the Spectrum shopping center.

This reminds me of another project called "Irvine PeopleMover" interestingly enough, that had also been proposed back in 1998, which was published right here on the old OCThen website.

I remember back in the 1980's the City of Santa Ana was mulling over a light rail project called CenterLine that would connect people from John Wayne Airport, to South Coast Plaza, to Santa Ana Civic Center, to Main Place Mall, and to Disneyland. I used to work at the Santa Ana City Library in downtown, and saw the plans. Apparently, this project is still in the works.

Of course, light rail is nothing new to Orange County. The Pacific Electric Red Cars ran from Orange County to Los Angeles County from 1904 to 1950. My mother-in-law took the red car from Santa Ana to high school in Long Beach at St. Anthony's, the only Catholic High School in the area at the time before Mater Dei opened.

You can visit some Red Car history at the Spaghetti Station restaurant in Fullerton, where they have plenty of stuff on exhibit.

In Santa Ana, there is a stretch of Red Car track still in place crossing Fairmont street, running adjacent to Spurgeon Intermediate School, and crossing over the Santa Ana River in the form of an old railroad bridge.

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Relieving Congestion on Orange County Freeways

Steve Vallely wrote a letter to the editor of the Orange County Register, arguing that building more freeways is not the answer to relieving congestion on the freeways. He wants to know why light rail and monorails would not work:

I know the light-rail project has recently been scrapped, and I can see why. Still, it seems to me the $600 million would go a long way toward building a system of quietly running, elevated, Disneyland-type monorails throughout Orange County, alongside, or in the middle of, the freeways, with elevated stations and parking areas every so often.

I am not the first person to think about this way to "fix gridlock." I would like someone at OCTA to explain why it would not work.

If people ride the freeway in a motor vehicle, why wouldn't they ride it in a monorail? I would, if given the opportunity.

First, mass transit doesn't offer convenience. The train doesn't stop at your house; you have to drive your car to the depot. If you're driving your car to the depot, you may as well drive the rest of the way.

Second, cars offers personalization. You can't smoke on a bus. You can't play your radio loud on a train. If you're riding the train, you can't make a quick stop at Home Depot to pick something up.

Third, mass transit is more expensive than driving a car. Assuming you're driving an average sized automobile, you'll spend less money on fuel than if taking a train. This is mainly because when driving a car, you'll take the quickest route.

The only way you can get the average commuter to take a train, is if the train stops at their block, and drops them off a block from their work, and if the train can be summoned immediately after pressing a button.

Otherwise, you can't change peoples' habits. It's like that old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." Just because you build a commuter train, doesn't mean people will ride it.

My solution is to build more freeways, and build them wider. Go ahead and build more toll roads.

Another thing I'd like to see are fewer laws on motorcycles. For example, I'd like to see the State eliminate registration fees for motorcycles, as an incentive for buying motorcycles. Motorcycles are highly fuel efficient, getting 40-60 MPG, and take up less room on freeways. I'd like to see the State eliminate the "Class M" licensing for motorcycles with 650cc engines or smaller, as a way to encourage people to drive them.

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