Designer Times
Page 2 of 2
Ward had this hot ragtime band, The
Firehouse Five Plus Two, and drove to some of their gigs with the fire
engine. Dan assured Ward that I was certainly qualified to drive this big
antique rig. As Dan sent me over to Ward's, he said Ward would show me how to
drive it, but told Ward I already knew all about driving a 1916 American La
France. When I got to Ward's, I learned too late that I was to be a victim of
the joke.
Now this fire engine is pretty big and heavy, with a right hand
drive and a "crash box" transmission. This deal was a big brass lever
hanging out the right side of the driver's seat. You swung it fore and aft
as well as slide in and out to change gears while using a big old
grabby clutch. Ward stepped up on the running board and told me to start it
up and take him down to the corner gas station to fill up the
leaky radiator...NO INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN!
Somehow I instantaneously
figured out which is what and where first gear is located. I fired her up,
and away we went. At the gas station, Ward hooked up his horse drawn fire
engine to the back of American La France for me to tow it in the parade. He
then took off in the Maxwell with me following. We had to go down some hills.
With only two-wheel mechanical brakes, the pedal force to stop was more than
I weighed! I had to yank up on the steering wheel to get enough pedal
force.
After getting down to the parade area, Ward loaded about twenty
kids on the fire engine. Now I really had extra pedal push to do. (The
next couple of days I was in utter agony with muscle pain). I did find
the fire engine to be a blast to drive. I could shift smoothly without
the clutch by feeling the gear teeth vibrations up thru the big shift
lever. I think this experience led me to talk Walt into adding a Main
Street Fire Engine to Disneyland in 1958. Ward helped me with the "styling"
and even donated a hand cranked siren to put on it.
I never has to
guts to fess up to Ward that I did not know how to drive his fire engine, and
that Dan Post had tricked us both. But at a gathering at WDI during the mid
1990s, I just had to confess. Ward got quite a chuckle out of the situation.
But I got the impression that, without experience, he would never have let me
drive his baby loaded with all those kids in a public parade. And maybe I
would have never picked up a bit of "Ward Disease" and insisted that Walt
make one for me to drive years later on Main Street at
Disneyland.
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-- Bob Gurr
Bob Gurr began working with Disney in 1954. He retired in 1981 but occassionally consults for the Company. Since Disney he's worked on the sinking ship at Las Vegas' Treasure Island, Universal Studios' King Kong, Godzilla for the film by the same name and much more. Among his proudest accomplishments he lists "making Walt tickled pink that some of the things he wanted to build actually worked. You could tell how proud he was when he would show off things to his friends and the press. Lincoln and the Monorail were two big ones for him."
Designer Times is normally posted the second Wednesday of each month.
The opinions expressed by Bob Gurr, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted January 10, 2005
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