Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Kings Island Central Community
The Amusement Park Railroad Thread
By SonofBaconator,
April 6, 2017 in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
MillenniumforceMike
Love this topic. Can I reccomend the carowinds railroad for the next chapter?
Last Reply Dec 4
SonofBaconator 94 posts
MillenniumforceMike 56 posts
kimv1972 50 posts
CoastersRZ 14 posts
SonofBaconator
Chapter 1- The Old Dominion Line https://www.facebook.com/KDGoldenYears/ Following the success of Kings Island in near Cincinnati, Taft Broadcasting Company decided to duplicate the par
The Amusement Park Railroad Thread Due to recent members asking me to post vintage pictures of old trains, I decided to create a central thread around amusement park railroads whether they are st
CP&LERR Fan
The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad is a 3ft (914mm) narrow gauge railroad. The 15 minute ride over approximately 1.3 miles of track, encircl
3 hours ago, MillenniumforceMike said:
You got it, boss! I might take me a day or two
Like not the miniature railroad carowinds has got in plant snoopy. They used to have a 3 ft gauge line going around the park.
I found footage of the Old Dominion Line.
I know which one you meant!
IndyGuy4KI
Welcome to KIC @MillenniumforceMike!
On 2/20/2018 at 11:29 AM, MillenniumforceMike said:
I should have it in at the end of the weekend!
Gordon Bombay
Just popping in to say, been lurking over this topic for awhile. Really love the posts and discussion. Thanks for the informative and entertaining read!
I haven't been able to do Carowinds yet because I'm fishing for more info. I'll probably enter it in before the end of the week!
22 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:
Very cool. Looking forward to that and any other entries. Specifically with Kings Dominion, I never knew they removed theirs. Interesting how being a transport to the water park has somewhat kept KI's relevant. Back in the day, there was all this clamoring to revert it back to its own attraction. I believe there was at once a proposal to place Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular throughout the train's course, to be used after the water park closed during daily operation. Instead, the park made that half-hearted mess of burnt out Christmas lights.
1 hour ago, Gordon Bombay said:
I still believe that is was a Paramount decision to get rid of the train. Look at World's of Fun where their train is just an inner loop of the park with only one station. I honestly don't think Paramount wanted to keep the trains unless they served a greater purpose, like a transport ride.
westcoaster
Location: LA$TUCKY
This topic can become a book, even KIs that started ast Coney, the John Henry at Americana/Lesourdsville, Dolly wood to Disney and beyond.
Fun Fact, Kings Island's #12 locomotive had a nearly identical locomotive made in 1972 for Lakeside Amusement Park located in Salem, VA. This locomotive was later bought by Busch Gardens Williamsburg in the 90s and received a huge overhaul to where its not even recognizable to its original design.
https://www.facebook.com/Fireup611/posts/did-you-know-that-611-is-not-the-only-roanoke-area-steam-locomotive-still-in-ope/830368660471477/
beastfan11
Location: Northern KY
Don't want to hijack your thread, but I figured this was the best place to post this:
A pretty cool look at Knott's!
@beastfan11, no I welcome it! Anyone can post on here
I couple of months ago, I asked about the Carowinds railroad. DO you have an update on it?
4 minutes ago, MillenniumforceMike said:
I've been looking for information but I can't really find anything since I've been extremely busy with school and work. I'll get around to it
Chapter 4- Carowinds
There isn't much to be found on Carowinds without some serious digging. Carowinds used to have a railroad that circled the park and featured two operating steam locomotives and one that was never used by the park.
Here are some pictures I found from Carowinds Early Years- a fan site that specializes in old Carowinds history.
http://www.carowindsearlyyears.com/train1.html
#1 was an old prairie engine rebuild by Crown Metal Products. The locomotive is currently owned by a businessman out in California and operated on the Pacific Coast Railroad with an ex Six Flags Astroworld Train and an ex Cedar Point train.
#1 renumbered to #3 at the PAcific Coast Railroad with the original Disneyland passenger cars
#2 was an original Crown locomotive that bares a resemblence to Kings Dominion's old #601. It operated at Carowinds, South of the Border Park, and eventually ended up at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch but was too but to operate continuously on the rails.
#2 at South of the Border SC
#2 renumbered to #1 at the Neverland Ranch
#3 was never operated on the Carowinds railroad and is on display in Huntsville, Alabama.
http://trains.nute.ws/4-4-0/P&W3.htm
Great. Thank you. Now could you maybe do the Busch Gardens Williamsburg railway? I love stories that involve crown loco's.
keep on keeping on awesome
Tr0y
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
A little over a month ago a train at Busch Gardens Williamsburg caught fire, one park employee sustained minor injuries and according to the park the train was not in service when the fire started. The train being #661 Balmoral Castle, is a 3ft narow-gauge Crown with the same, if not similar specifications as Kings Island's Crowns. The Balmoral Castle is 1 of only 3 trains that Crown customized to look like a European locomotive, 2 of which operate in Busch Gardens Williamsburg. More info of the accident in the link below, the pic attached is the Balmoral Castle prior to the accident.
https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/williamsburg/busch-gardens-train-escape-from-pompeii-fires-ruled-accidental-officials-say/1376333600
I'm wondering if they didn't light the fire correctly. Usually to start an oil/ propane burning locomotive you have to start a fire THEN slowly add fuel. Perhaps their was already fuel in the locomotive prior to lighting.
On 9/13/2018 at 1:51 PM, SonofBaconator said:
#1 was an old prairie engine rebuild by Crown Metal Products. The locomotive is currently owned by a businessman out in California and operated on the Pacific Coast Railroad with an ex Six Flags Astroworld Train and an ex Cedar Point train
I flipped quite a few rocks on google and found that the #3 train prior to being rebuilt by Crown was originally a 0-6-2T H.K. Porter named Melodia B., Interesting enough there was another steam locomotive that operated at the same plantation at the time which was a Baldwin 0-4-4RT named Maud L. After both being taken out of service. Maud L. was sold to Cedar Point as one of the first locomotives to operate at Cedar Point. While Melodia B. ended up going through a couple owners prior to being rebuilt as a 2-6-2 Crown, then later to be acquired by Pat Hall, a developer of Carowinds. It's stable mate Maud L. was rebuilt from a 0-4-4RT to a 2-4-4T while at Cedar Point and after 30 years was traded for Disney's 2-4-4 Davenport (rebuilt as a 2-4-0, now known as the G.A. Boeckling.) Maud L. was given a Disney rebuild and is know known as the Ward Kimball operating out of Disneyland. Coincidentally both Ward Kimball (Maud L.) and #3 (Melodia B.) are operating in California and are pulling Disney passenger cars.
https://pcrailroad.wordpress.com/2007/01/20/history-of-no-3/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Point_%26_Lake_Erie_Railroad
CoastersRZ
I absolutely love this thread. I have become quite a bit of a rail fan over the years. I hope to one day get down to Tweetsie.
I cannot wait for future chapters in this!
Any reason as to why No. 3 never ran at Carowinds? Was it just sitting in storage all those years?
13 hours ago, Gordon Bombay said:
Most amusement park railroads that have three or more trains usually only run two. Walt Disney World typically operates 2 locomotives unless its a busy day, the same can be said for Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg. With regards to Carowinds, they most likely didn't have a need to operate a 3rd locomotive but kept it just in case.
I think that it would be really interesting if you covered the Whiskey River Railroad up in Little Amerricka! I love that train and that park, but it rarely gets talked about.
Worlds of Fun's locomotive, #33 Eli has a new paint job paying homage to its original look
http://unwof.blogspot.com/2013/05/9-old-rides-original-rides-from-1973.html
Looks like a well deserved paint job. A lot brighter than the old paint job.
Here is a picture I took of the train at Worlds of Fun when I visited back in 2015.
@CoastersRZ
I wish Kings Island would convert #12 back to its original look. Its current look is somewhat inaccurate and kinda cheesy whereas the old look was classy, more accurate, and unique. It used to bare one of the rarest smokestacks built by Crown.
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