Discover the various ways visitors could travel about the fairgrounds.




At the center of the fairgrounds, dominated by the futuristic Trylon and Perisphere, the Theme Center is where many people began their adventure in the World of Tomorrow.




Powered by dozens of gears and electrical relays, Elektro the Westinghouse Moto-Man fascinated thousands of fair-goers with his witty remarks and state of the art antics.




The central feature of the General Motors Highways and Horizons pavilion, Futurama provided a glimpse of what a modern city might look like in 1960.




Many Americans were introduced to the idea of television at the fair. One feature was a closed circuit studio where visitors could be televised and friends and family could view their performance on a receiver in an adjacent room.




The Transportation Zone included exhibits related to the automotive industry, railroads, marine travel and much more. The most popular attraction was the lavish Railroads on Parade pageant.




Literature, historical documents, consumer goods and scientific information was among the many items crammed into the torpedo shaped Westinghouse Time Capsule. The Capsule was buried fifty feet below the Westinghouse exhibit, to remain undisturbed for five thousand years.




TRANSPORTATION AT THE FAIR

Once inside the gate, there were a number of ways to get around the grounds and see the exhibits and attractions. Of course, you could walk, but even the strongest fairgoer might find the distances from one end to the other a bit daunting, since the fair covered two square miles of land. For motorized transport, Greyhound offered a variety of vehicles for both general transit and sightseeing. If you preferred a more person touch, American Express would provide a guide to push you around the fair in a wheeled chair. I bet those people felt like royalty.

One of the larger Greyhound sightseeing buses used at the fair.

THE ROYAL TREATMENT

American Express Travel Services offered an usual service that I haven't seen duplicated elsewhere. Fair visitors could hire a knowledgeable guide to push them around the fairgrounds while explaining the various exhibits and attractions. The base rate, one hour in a single chair, cost $1.25, although if you had a shorter term need, you could hire a chair for up to 15 minutes and pay only fifty cents. They also offered double chairs ($2.25 for the first hour) so that visitors could take the tour with a friend or family member. For those who really had the money to splurge, motorized guide chairs could be hired for $3.25 for the first hour and could include up to three people. I bet the guides loved to get that gig. It would certainly be easier on the muscles. Click here to see the brochure.

GO GREYHOUND

When most people think of Greyhound, they are reminded of long distance trips punctuated by boring layovers in crowded and rarely clean inner city terminals. However, Greyhound showed another side at the fair. Visitors could chose sightseeing tours by standard bus, open trams called "lounge cars" or boats operating on Fountain Lake in the Entertainment Zone.

The tram tours, "designed to bring you very close to interesting exhibits seen only at some distance from the larger Sightseeing Coaches", cost just twenty five cents for a half hour excursion. For fifty cents, you could spend an hour experiencing "all the wondrous diversity of this thrilling spectacle". Guides were available to point out the sights and answer questions. The Blue Water Boat Tours, priced at thirty five cents, offered "an incomparable vantage point for viewing the Fair's spectacular fireworks displays. And if those choices weren't enough, one dollar would buy a combination ticket so that you could experience all three. In addition, Greyhound offered rapid transit to the focal points of the fair for ten cents a ride.


These open trams were used for sightseeing tours.