disneyland monorail 2020
It's difficult to imagine Disneyland or Walt Disney World without its iconic monorail.
Joshua Sudock/Disneyland Resort
  • “The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky” gives Disney fans a look at the making of the famous Disney Parks’ monorail.
  • It includes the original concept and development art that’s rarely seen or never before published.
  • Concept art, shared with Insider, shows a very different early design for the Disneyland monorail from 1954.
  • The book is available now for $32.99.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A new book, out Tuesday, takes fans behind-the-scenes of Walt Disney’s famed monorail at the Disney parks. 

While it’s easy to conflate the iconic mode of transportation with Disney, “The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky” showcases the history of the monorail all the way back to the early 1800s, long before Walt was enchanted by the futuristic vehicle.

The 208-page book shows the evolution of the monorail since its inception at Disneyland in 1959 complete with concept art and renderings. One of the most exciting pieces of concept art shows off an early design for a different, suspended monorail system that could have appeared in the parks. 

concept art disney monorail
The spread for pages 64 and 65 in the book shows designs for the Disneyland Monorail on the left and concept renderings for Tomorrowland on the right.
Courtesy Disney Editions, from The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky

Here’s a closer look at the 1954 designs by Disney legend Marvin A. Davis, which imagines a monorail that would have sailed through the sky.

concept art monorail
Each car in this design would have held 12 adults and children.
Courtesy Disney Editions, from The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky

Why didn’t we get a suspended monorail at Disneyland? 

The above design was based on the Wuppertal Suspension Railway (also known as the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn), the world’s oldest electric suspension train, that has operated in Germany since 1901. 

wuppertal suspension railway germany 2010
Here's the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn in action.
Werner OTTO/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Though a reliable form of transportation, this ultimately wasn't the route Disney went for his monorail. Part of the reason may be because of a critique from Disney's wife, Lillian. 

According to the book, while riding the Schwebebahn in 1952, the swaying motion of the car in the sky made Lillian queasy, prompting her to ask, "Why can't they run the cars on top of the track?"

The book says that thought stayed in Disney's mind.

The current, sleek look of the monorails reportedly came to Disney during another European trip with his wife in 1958. As they were turning a corner outside of Cologne, Germany, the two came upon the Alweg Monorail in motion and Disney was "spellbound."

Disney tracked down the corporation's administration building and after some conversations decided to model his monorail after theirs. Over the next year, the Disney team worked with Alweg engineers to build the first monorail in Disneyland, called the Mark I. It opened June 14, 1959. 

disneyland alweg monorail system 1962
Here's one of the Disneyland-Alweg monorails in 1962 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Tom Nebbia/Corbis via Getty Images

If the name Alweg looks familiar, for years it was referred to as the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System. The name stayed on the trains until 1976, long after the company was gone.

What's next? The Mark X 

The final page of the Disney Editions' book teases the next generation of monorails to come. A simple poster for Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, mentions a line of "Mark X" monorails to come in 2021.

You can check out the book on Amazon for $32.99. 

Read the original article on Insider