Old Things at Disney California Adventure

Old Things at Disney California Adventure

I love history. I love seeing how people lived years ago. Throughout both of the parks of the Disneyland Resort there are wonderful examples of how people lived 100-150 years ago.

Around the Grizzly River Run are two wonderful examples of what I’m talking about.

There is a wonderful old Steam Donkey Engine. This was a small steam engine used to provide power to logging camps. This would help drag wood.

This is what the sign next the Steam Donkey says

The Steam Donkey

How the Dolbeer Donkey steam engine got its name is one of the real mysteries of the West. Some folks say it was called a “donkey” because loggers thought it was too puny to merit a horsepower rating. Invented by John Dolbeer, this portable steam engine first appeared in the redwoods near Eureka, California in 1881.

The tiny, but mighty machine could be hauled to remote mountaintops and equaled the power of many horses, mules and oxen to reel in huge logs. A few steam donkeys still stand in north coast towns as a tribute to the ingenuity of California’s early inventors.

Just down the trail is a Pelton Wheel. This is a great water wheel from the old West mining towns.

Here is what the sign for the Pelton Wheel says.

The Pelton Wheel

According to legend, Lester Pelton got his idea for a more powerful waterwheel from seeing a cow stick its nose into a stream of water. Patented in 1878, the divided metal cups of Pelton’s wheel worked much the same way as the cleft between the cow’s nostrils, enabling water to flow out of the sides, instead of bouncing straight back out of the cups.

The water-powered wheel sent compressed air through pipes to drive pumps, drills, triphammers, and hoists in the mines. This simple concept proved so effective in turning the wheel faster and more efficiently that it is still used today in modern turbines around the world.