Park News
parkworld-online.com
ParkHoppin’ with Paul Ruben
Parks and a-track-tions
The Great Escape in Queensbury, New York, is home to a rollercoaster of my youth, the Comet. It first opened in 1948 at Crystal Beach on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie outside Buffalo, New York. It remained until the park closed in 1989, then reopened five years later at The Great Escape. This will be its 60th year of operation, and I have ridden it every year it has operated, not that I'm compulsive.
When I talk to people who have ridden the Comet or seek out and enjoy riding other coasters, I find that most also enjoyed playing with toy trains as a child. I know I did. Many who ride coasters also share this fascination with “trackage.” We like to watch the train manoeuvre along the twists and turns of the layout, whether it be a toy train or a coaster train. Travelling across the nation and around the world for Park World, I also seek out model train exhibits to satisfy my fascination with trackage. While visiting The Great Escape I learned that just a few miles away, in scenic Pottersville, New York, there was a model train venue, Railroads on Parade. Right there in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains. I couldn’t resist. This amazing 5,000 sq ft (465 sq m) railroad is housed in a reproduction of an art deco train station. It features more than 50 electronically controlled trains
operating on five separate layouts. There are 16ft-high (5m) cloud- filled backdrops, dozens of animations and automations, 2,500ft of track, hundreds of vehicles, large and small bridges, and thousands of trees. You can explore the Station Exhibit seen for over 20 years in New
York City, and marvel at the 100ft-long Hell Gate Bridge Exhibit including a 16ft-long model of that bridge. There's the 1939 World’s Fair Exhibit, a NYC subway, a Prince Edward Island Exhibit, a Manhattan skyline of the 1940s, a drive-in theatre showing a real movie, a travelling carnival and many, many, many tiny people. The creators of Railroads on Parade are Broadway set designer Clarke Dunham and his artist/writer wife, Barbara, who along with their band of artists, craftspeople, modellers, painters, carpenter and electricians, made this a reality. As a set designer, Dunham knows how to use forced perspective. He employs three different gauges of model trains, large ones in the foreground, smallest ones in the back, to give added depth to the exhibits. Prepare to be amazed; I was. I was further amazed when Barbara offered me a chance to inspect the layout from beneath and inside. I scrambled onto a dolly like those used to work underneath automobiles, and scooted beneath the track and wires. Then I popped up in the middle of the layout, as you see here. I felt like Gulliver in Lilliput. Everything was so neat and tidy, and the detail was unmatched by any other train exhibit I’d ever seen. There were even tiny lobsters on the dock in the Prince Edward Islands. Lights dimmed at night and neon signs appeared. There were even ice skating dogs. This was the best train exhibit ever! [Try visiting Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg – Ed] Best of all, I discovered that Elvis Presley was fond of toy trains. That’s why he sang “Love Me Tender.”
8
New era in
New Jersey Casino Pier gets another roll of the dice
Casino Pier, the oceanfront New Jersey amusement park whose boardwalk and pier was famously dismantled by Hurricane Sandy last October – remember those striking photos of a rollercoaster stranded at sea? – has hired JRA (Jack Rouse Associates) to provide masterplanning and associated services for a two- phase rebuilding effort. Originally opened in 1960, Casino Pier housed 38 rides in addition to a rooftop miniature golf course, concessions stands and boardwalk games. JRA has worked closely with the Casino Pier owners on the proposed masterplan, which calls for the boardwalk and pier to retain those attractions that were salvaged after the hurricane, including a Disk ‘O’ ride, Skyscraper ride, Pirates Hideaway coaster, chair lift and several treasured kiddie rides. Casino Pier is also using this opportunity to update its ride mix with new family attractions and to refresh its food, beverage and retail offer. The first phase, comprising the boardwalk and pier’s lower deck, is scheduled to open on 24 May in time for the Memorial Day weekend, with the phase II upper deck due for completion a year later.
That infamous rollercoaster at sea
JRA enjoys a long relationship with the various New Jersey amusement facilities, having completed previous projects at Keansburg Amusement Park, Morey’s Piers in Wildwood and Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant. “We’ve always enjoyed working on projects along the Jersey Shore,” says the Cincinnati firm’s senior project designer, Jeff Lichtenberg. “The property owners are passionate people that care a great deal about the entertainment business they have devoted their lives to. Generations have lived, worked in and built these places.” “Casino Pier is excited about working with JRA in the rebuilding of the
pier,” adds owner Vincent Storino. “Eventually Casino Pier is going to be bigger and better! That’s what we do on the Jersey Shore. We fight and we come back.”
casinopierNJ.com
Casino Pier – the clean-up continues APRIL 2013
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