You are much younger than me, I am 56…but…you are not imagining the train at M&F in downtown Portland…It was such a magical place back then…It was on the ceiling and it was big and went around the 3 ed floor where Santa was. And remember the Cinnamon Bear!!! About 5 years ago (before Macy’s took over) we went to M&F downtown. I was sneaking all around the upstairs offices because I wanted to find that place… I walked down some back stairs and opened a door…And there it was…It took my breathe away!!! The room was in disarray but the train was there on the ceiling… I seriously teared up… We lived in Gladstone, a small town next to Oregon City. It was the highlight of 'Christmas to go to Portland, to Meier & Frank…to see the windows…and then…sigh…Go ride the train and see Santa… Thanks for reminding me!!
And they had the “real” Santa
These miniature monorails are not unique. A google search turns up dozens, and there’s a whole website devoted to them.
Midtown had been a ghost town for about a decade after all of the anchor stores departed. It closed in the summer of 2008, and they started demolition earlier this year. The clock has been moved to the airport, and the monorail went to a local non-profit.
Were zombies allowed to ride them?
It’s funny that when I read the OP, I had no idea what he was talking about. When I saw the pictures, I had a “I remember something like that!” moment. Indeed, it was at Midtown Plaza. And the clock! Oh, what memories.
I’m starting to wonder if my brother’s kids rode on that thing.
Anyone remember a Christmas Wizard at the Plaza?
Yes, but they had to pay.
Were? No. Are they allowed to ride them now? Hell, yeah!
For these many years, I too thought I was imagining this memory! When I was a little boy, my mother used to take us to Wanamaker’s in Brooklyn, NY, where we would board a train that would travel in a circle suspended on tracks attached to the ceiling! The ride would last about three minutes maybe. It’s always been one of my favorite childhood memories. It’s wonderful to know, after all these years of “remembering”, that I didn’t just dream this up!
Maybe yes, maybe no. Some shopping plazas around Christmas would set up special trains and other elaborate Christmas decorations. I remember back in the late 60s Midtown Plaza had a Christmas monorail [seen in the back of the picture behind Santa on his throne.] Other venues had trains set up on the floor.
So, it all depends on if Wanamaker’s did the whole futuristic thing and have a monorail they decorated up for Christmas or not. They did in their Philadephia store.
For all you former Rochesterians: Midtown Plaza is a rising zombie! (And that site is about equivalent to watching a grave for activity. If there’s a way to thread the individual images together I can’t find it.)
The big plans from 2008 were wrecked in the economic crash, but a couple of buildings are populated on the block. Midtown will supposedly contain a floor or two of stores just like the old days, but won’t be a mall with department store anchors. At the current rate, I wouldn’t bother to visit before 2018.
Christmastime downtown at the Portland Meier & Frank-those are wonderful memories. Gorgeous window displays, the entire store dressed to the nines for the holidays, hot chocolate for the kids and hot coffee for the adults, Santa’s lap to sit on, and of course the Santaland Monorail.
The Wiki link was absoutely fascinating, especially to someone who grew up in Philly when Wanamakers was the place you went to for quality. Oddly enough I was unaware of the suspended monorail nor the one at Lit Bros.
AFAIK, the only suspended monorail used in public transportation is in Wuppertal, Germany.