Palm Springs Aerial Tram ride and history

[Music] funny thing how you can live an estate your entire life and learn things about it that you never knew well until your 60s or older in February Sarah and I traveled to Palm Springs and that's when I learned about the Palm Springs aerial Tramway it's not a new feature in fact I was 2 years old when it was completed in 1963 but it was new to me I estimated 20 million folks have taken a ride on it in its lifetime unfortunately for us our visit to Palm Springs took place on President's weekend so the crowds were thicker than normal it took us at least an hour in the queue to get into the parking lot then we had to wait in a linky line to reserve tickets since the online system wouldn't allow us to book tickets that way in case you're wondering tickets are $30.95 cents per person it was another hour and a half wait just to get on the Gondola the that gave us ample time to check out the plaque which detailed how the project was dedicated in 1963 with then California governor Edmund G Pat [Music] Brown on display in front of the valley station is an original cabin that was in use from 1963 to 2000 it's probably the same one written by then Governor Ronald Reagan and his predecessor Pat Brown the Valley Station looks just as it did when it was completed in 1963 and still straddles a creek running off the mountain we also checked out the little Museum which included newspaper articles explaining about the amazing engineering feet visitors can also touch the shav which carry the tram I also got a feel for the movements of the deflection sheave bearing after all I wanted some assurances we'd be safe on this journey the sample of cable showed just how strong it is to be able to carry the weight of passengers the tram itself and water since the only way to get water to the top is by the tram the crazy idea to build an aerial tram began in the brain of electrical engineer Francis Crocker on his 1935 visit to Banning California it was hot that day but there was snow at top mount sentto which Rises to 10,834 Ft Crocker thought how cool it would be to go up there but there was no no easy way he came up with a grand idea of a tram which was declared Ridiculous by one newspaper woman who declared it Crocker's Folly Building the tram however would require permission by state lawmakers the state legislature passed two bills that would have done just that but Democrat Governor Colbert olssen vetoed both Along Came World War II which temporarily interrupted plans while America focused on winning wars on two fronts in 1945 a new tra bill was passed and this time signed by Governor Earl Warren a republican to create the Mount San Cento Winter Park Authority building the five towers and stations at both ends would be a Monumental task with designs taking shape of the 1950s no taxpayer funds were used for either the construction or operation of the Tramway construction costs were covered by the sale of $8.5 million in private revenue bonds the project face delays during the Korean War but the ambitious project began to take form in July 1961 construction of the Tramway was an engineering challenge and was soon labeled the eighth wonder of the world helicopters were used to place four of the five supporting Towers the Choppers flew some 23,000 missions during the 26 months of construction hauling men and materials necessary to wreck the towers and the 3500 ft Mountain station on one occas a helicopter crashed but no one was killed Francis Crocker's dream was completed in 1963 with the inaugural ride occurring on September 12th with Governor Pat Brown and first lady Bernice Brown on hand Crocker rode the traway numerous times and fellow passengers would often receive a narration from him as they rode up to where it was nice and cool Francis Crocker died in 1992 in 1998 the Tramway embarked on an ambitious modernization program program that would see the construction and installation of new cars and an update of its facilities beginning in the year 2000 passengers first rode the world's largest rotating tram cars there have been a number of celebrities who have ridden the Tramway that have included Grace Kelly and Prince rer of Monaco and their children ban Crosby Jean Audrey Red Skelton Jim Morrison and the doors and Carol Channing have been to the top as well a number of TV shows were shot using the Tramway the first was in 1967 with the very first episode of the TV show [Music] manic there was an episode of mission a possible that was filmed here at the Tramway in 1971 with actor Victor French who would later appear in the Little House on the Prairie series two episodes of I spy were filmed in Palm Springs one of which included footage of the Tramway and the other included a brief discussion of the tram W there was also an episode of Columbo filmed on one of the tram cars featuring Peter Faulk Rody McDow and William wendam like those reports of Mr Quincy's you could have Forge those on his typ R and the photograph between Miss bishop and your uncle any good photographer could trick that up you know you just do some double Printing and replace one figure with somebody else's and even Mr Quincy's new bank account that could have been open by anybody filming of the movie The Wrecking Crew brought Dean Martin Nancy Quan and Sharon Tate to the tram station so how long do we have to wait way too long 3 hours for us from the time we tried to get in yeah just in the parking not alone yeah to the time that we had to sit and wait about 3 hours to board 11 [Music] 12 filled up T quarters for 10 minutes come on in go all fit that you have to make it work I know it's tight for 10 minutes close the doors the rotating floor was a bit problematic for us because the selfie snapping woman standing next to Sarah kept grabbing out to the sides and was sweeping into Sarah until we told her to let go that the floor was moving how is it pushing the end the next person the Flor is moving no the people are moving in too like we were this close a second ago we just left the Val station Elation 2643 and in some 11 minutes we step out into a completely different environment the High Country s centr State Park in Wilderness the 2.5 mile ride takes 10 minutes and Rises nearly 4,000 ft up and 1,000 of rock that indicates where Rock the new cabins are the first in the Western Hemisphere to rotate 360° lar World we're now High over Chino Canyon what's the summer home theou India a 16t yellow helicopter platform used during construction and now used during the tram's maintenance period additional platforms will be seen on the remaining Towers further along our journey motion car transitions from wait for the reaction of the Riders as the car lifts up to pass over the tower Wheels the original was designed and built by the I certainly enjoy the sensation of swooping close to the rocky Cliffs and wondered if this is what the Eagles might experience [Music] [Music] [Applause] n [Music] the view at the top was amazing and gave us an airlighter view of Palm Springs below us now compare the development here of the Palm Springs Valley area to this 1960s photo of the same [Music] Valley there can be a 40° temperature difference between the two [Music] stations [Music] what this is what you see at the [Music] top also at the top families were scrambling to play in the snow with plastic sleds the mountain station was renovated in early 2023 at a cost of $13 million switch again as we were waiting for the ride back down the hill I was fascinated to watch the 61 ton counterweight doing its magic to keep tension on the hall rope you have to respect the science that went into this Grand system now and in case you're wondering yes some folks have been stranded on the Gondola during the inaugural year of 1963 one car became stuck for 13 and 1/2 hours because of an electrical problem in the control room only one death has occurred as a result of riding on the tram it happened in June 1984 when a car headed down the mountain was punctured through the top of the plexiglass window by a 30b piece of metal that struck passenger elain SEO of Ontario California and she later died in 1985 a flash blood buried Vehicles parked in the valley station's parking lot in mud and tore up about 3/4 of a mile of Tramway Road stranded passengers had to be airlifted from the area thank you for joining us on this episode of History Hunters on the way out tell us if you've ridden on the tram and what you thought about your experience if you could also give us a thumbs up and subscribe to this channel we would certainly appreciate it thank you so much go [Music] d

Channel: History Hunters

Views: 43,529

Keywords: History Hunters, Palm Springs attractions, Palm Springs Aerial Tram, Southern California, TV shows shot in Palm Springs, jbenziggy

Id: Y-K7iM4njnE

Length: 14min 16sec (856 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 17 2024