The Pink Pig (installed in 1956, and known originally as The Snowball Express) was a child-scaled monorail which was suspended from the ceiling of a portion of the Plaza level of the Store for Homes. Riders had a bird's-eye view of the toy department below. In 1965, it was moved to the roof of the store where a second monorail was added and the duo became known as the Pink Pig Flyers (receiving the names of Priscilla and Percival in the 1970s). The front car of the trains had pig faces and the last cars had curly tails. For many years after the closure of the downtown store, the Pink Pigs were set up at the Festival of Trees at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Here is the article
I can only barely remember it because I was a little kid at the time (looking at the history of it, it was probably the very last year before it shut down, or close to it). What I do know is that the suspended monorail at the Rich's downtown was way better than the imitation BS they have at the Macy's at Lenox these days.
The Wuppertal train is legitimate public transit (as legitimate as a gadgetbahn can get, anyway). These department store trains we're discussing were gimmicky rides for children. I could be wrong, but I don't think adults even fit in them.
Yes, they're both suspended from overhead tracks, but that's about the only similarity.
Nah, the one in OP's picture is almost certainly a different one. There's no reason Atlanta's Pink Pig would've ever had "John H-[scribble] Rocket Express" written on the side of it.
Also, it seems unlikely that a department store would install something completely unique (especially one in some random second-tier city like Philly or Atlanta), so surely more than one of these things existed at some point.
@grue Sorry, I got confused by the top comment talking about the Pink Pig.
You're correct, this seems to be a photo of the John Wanamaker monorail in Philly.
"Wanamaker’s maintained a large Toy Department at the south end of the Eighth floor. It included a real monorail for kids that made a circuit around the department from 1946 to 1984, and a sprawling electric-train layout. The rocket monorail cars have been moved to the Please Touch Museum."
12 Comments
NaibofTabr@infosec.pub · 27 pts · 322d
Ride the monorail, they said. It'll be fun, they said.
Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 322d
The Pink Pig (installed in 1956, and known originally as The Snowball Express) was a child-scaled monorail which was suspended from the ceiling of a portion of the Plaza level of the Store for Homes. Riders had a bird's-eye view of the toy department below. In 1965, it was moved to the roof of the store where a second monorail was added and the duo became known as the Pink Pig Flyers (receiving the names of Priscilla and Percival in the 1970s). The front car of the trains had pig faces and the last cars had curly tails. For many years after the closure of the downtown store, the Pink Pigs were set up at the Festival of Trees at the Georgia World Congress Center. Here is the article
grue@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 322d
I've ridden the Pink Pig!
I can only barely remember it because I was a little kid at the time (looking at the history of it, it was probably the very last year before it shut down, or close to it). What I do know is that the suspended monorail at the Rich's downtown was way better than the imitation BS they have at the Macy's at Lenox these days.
stoy@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 322d
Peter Dibble has a good video on these:
https://youtu.be/-uW-AeI4q6Q
Excellent channel to watch
Zukial@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 322d
Something similar is still in use as an everyday public transport in the german city Wuppertal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn
There is even video footage from 1902. https://youtu.be/rXiwn7v0UlA
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 322d
yeah but not inside a store :D
grue@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 321d
The Wuppertal train is legitimate public transit (as legitimate as a gadgetbahn can get, anyway). These department store trains we're discussing were gimmicky rides for children. I could be wrong, but I don't think adults even fit in them.
Yes, they're both suspended from overhead tracks, but that's about the only similarity.
Ephera@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 322d
The kids yearn for the mines...
Stamau123@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 321d
And they say we can't build rail nowadays, lookit this!
skyfaller@jawns.club · 1 pts · 322d
@PugJesus This appears to be in Atlanta, GA, not Philadelphia? https://www.npr.org/2008/12/24/98524579/atlantas-pink-pig-brightens-spirits-55-years-on
grue@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 321d
Nah, the one in OP's picture is almost certainly a different one. There's no reason Atlanta's Pink Pig would've ever had "John H-[scribble] Rocket Express" written on the side of it.
Also, it seems unlikely that a department store would install something completely unique (especially one in some random second-tier city like Philly or Atlanta), so surely more than one of these things existed at some point.
skyfaller@jawns.club · 1 pts · 321d
@grue Sorry, I got confused by the top comment talking about the Pink Pig.
You're correct, this seems to be a photo of the John Wanamaker monorail in Philly.
"Wanamaker’s maintained a large Toy Department at the south end of the Eighth floor. It included a real monorail for kids that made a circuit around the department from 1946 to 1984, and a sprawling electric-train layout. The rocket monorail cars have been moved to the Please Touch Museum."
https://wanamakerorgan.com/2019/08/wanamakers-toy-department/
https://www.vintag.es/2020/03/department-store-monorail.html