Gallop to Nowhere - 1955

Today I'm posting an article from a 1955 issue of Kaiser Aluminum's magazine Aluminations on the refurbishment of the King Arthur Carousel at Disneyland.

Roller Coasters! video on Arrow Dynamics

This is a terrific 1990 documentary about Arrow Dynamics with some excellent POV video and the best footage I've seen on the Pipeline. 18:46 of enjoyment!

More Car Body Styles

I've already blogged about the similarity between the Kaiser Darin and Midget Autopia, but haven't spent much time on all the styles of cars which Arrow did, so here is an Arrow Car Spotter's Guide;

Maybe you can help identify which parks these were operating at. I'll be adding some others later, for comparison.

Arrow Rio Grande Era Brochure

I recently met another Arrow employee who very kindly shared a brochure from the Rio Grande years which contains many wonderful photographs of Arrow rides.

Particularly interesting are the ones of the Rub-A-Dub ride, as it is clearly related to the patent which Ed Morgan received in November of 1973 (USD229,354). The boats are seen on page 4 of the brochure. There is also a carousel with a Griffin styled seat which I had not seen before.

I'll be posting more images over the next couple of weeks.

A Subsidiary of Rio Grande Industries

Rio Grande Era Carousel?

Ed Morgan 1973 Boat Patent

Rub-A-Dub Boats 

Any guesses where this may be?

And some new coaster images:

And on a further note; the legend of Arrow's Intellectual Property continues;
In November 2012, Sansei Yusoki Co., Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, acquired 77.3% of S&S...

Updated Update! Honest Abe Finds a New New Home

Back in 2014 we posted about the discovery of a long lost Arrow locomotive called Honest Abe.
That story continues as Abe will now be starting a new life running around Daniels Wood Land in Paso Robles, CA.

They report that they've broken ground on a 35,000 square foot, purpose built factory situated on 4 acres which will include an out door themed display and event area, fully themed offices and showroom, and Abe who they bought to take people on proper tours around the property!

We wish the best of luck to the wild and crazy guys as they chase their themed dreams.
You can also visit their web site.

Here is the part of the previous story about Abe's awakening;

36" ga. Arrow Development Train

Made by the Arrow Development company this "Steam Outline" train is powered by a 190 HP 4 cyl. propane engine (not running).  

The train includes 4 Passenger coaches each holding 18 passengers.  Also included are approximately 6,800' of 16 pound rail, 5 barrels of rail spikes and rail joiners and 1 rail spacing gauge.  Built in the early 60s, there where 14 of these trains made. 

Located between Seattle and Portland, OR.

The owner, Ron Brett, writes:

"I was told by the person I bought it from that it originally ran around a shopping center in Seattle WA. Both were removed to make room for the worlds fair in 1962. The person who purchased it then had his own carnival and would set it up at different fairs in the northwest. Eventually he sold the train to someone in Eatonville WA. who couldn’t pay, so it was repossessed and sat neglected for many years.

When I retired I bought 26 acres just south of Toledo Washington, where my wife and I started a farm and pumpkin patch called Story Book Farm.  I thought that a train would be a good addition and I had heard about this train sitting in the bushes around Marysville WA.  Eventually I located it and the owner. It took a year to convince him to sell. He moved the train to my property outside Toledo 3 yrs. ago."

Preserving the stuff of History

Hanging on the wall in the front hall of a modest house in Southern California is half of a carousel horse, with a long flowing mane and a short cropped tail.  Poised mid-leap, head erect, prancing towards the front door. For many years it hung on the office wall of one of Arrow's directors.

Before the pony was brought down from the attic, the wall was occupied by a large collage of photographs documenting the entire history of Arrow Development, which were donated to someone out of state.

During a conversation with the horse's loving owners, the contents of two large filing cabinets were mentioned. A detailed record of nearly every financial transaction the family had over the course of their employment at Arrow, which were spring-cleaned away years ago.

We stand on the brink of a great divide. As digital media becomes more and more prevalent, the collected knowledge and wisdom of previous generations is being left behind - or discarded - thru simple, honest, acts of oversight.

Unlike the Great Library of Alexandria, these records aren't held in a grand and wonderful edifice. These records are in closets and attics, boxes and bookshelves all around the country.  Slides, movies, postcards, letters and magazines, many of which have never been published, even though they technically fell into the public domain years ago.

Help transcribe the stories and keep the legends alive. Convert the acts of victory, sacrifice and struggle into a form that future generations will have easy access to. Honor and preserve their wisdom. It might help someone else avoid a mistake, do something amazing, or even change the world.

Midget Autopia Inspiration?

This undated article entitled M.V. PLANT KEEPS KIDS HAPPY features a photograph of Arrow employees John Jackson, Dick Ellsworth and Karl Bacon assembling what looks like Midget Autopia cars, until you read the caption, which states that Arrow has built 56 of them for Kaiser-Darren Jr. midget cars of Oakland, some of which had already been shipped to Hawaii.

The Kaiser-Darren 161 was a limited production sports car, built in 1954 by Kaiser Motors to compete with European sports cars like the Triumph TR-2 being introduced to the US after World War II. Designed by Howard "Dutch" Darrin, a revamp of Kaiser's Henry J compact, the Kaiser-Darrin was noted for being the first American car with a fiberglass body and doors on tracks which slid into the front fender wells. Only six prototypes and 435 production cars were ever built.

A brief trip to the web (Flickr) turned up this photo of a Kaiser-Darrin kiddie car at a Southern California auto show. 

Now, compare all three photos; the Midget Autopia car at the Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, MO, the kiddie Kaiser-Darren and and a restored Kaiser-Darrin in Arizona.

Midget Autopia Car at Disney Hometown Museum

1954 Kaiser-Darrin

Perhaps we now we know the inspiration for the body style of the Midget Autopia cars.

I recently came across Wade Sampson's interview where Bob Gurr commented on Arrow Development and the Midget Autopia Attraction.

WS: Marceline is in the process of rebuilding the Midget Autopia.

BG: I had nothing to do with that attraction when it was at Disneyland. It was a stock Arrow Development ride.

WS: Ed Morgan and Karl Bacon of Arrow don’t always get credit for their contributions to Disneyland.

BG: Ed and Karl were guys I really liked to work with. They were so practical and willing to tackle anything for Walt. Joe Fowler was the main liaison between Disney and Arrow. Roger Broggie, Fowler, Ed and Karl all operated as a single force, always productive and never any ego getting in the way. I learned a whole bunch of simplified ways to do production drawing from them that I used for decades afterward.