Abandoned Amusment Park Railroads..

[edblysard]

Al,

Yes, it still runs.

Kids still have a blast on it, at least they did last summer.

 

The SP steam engine Herman park had on static display was cosmetically restored, and moved to Minute Maid Park, which is located downtown where Union Station was...in fact, the old station is part of the baseball field now.

 

But the trains at AstroWorld is gone, as is AstroWorld itself.

The park couldn't take the refugees living in the Astrodome burglarizing the parking lot, park patrons stayed away in droves, and AstroWorld lost 25% of its gate that summer...25% loss is fatal.

They demolished the park in under a month...the land is being developed as a HUD housing project.

 

I have no clue if the trains there was saved, sold or scrapped.

Does anyone know if the amusement-park-sized Santa Fe train still runs thru Hermann Park in Houston?  - a. s.

 

[ArtOfRuin]

While it's not abandoned, Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH (which itself is a former trolley company-owned amusement park) has a pretty cool boneyard with old amusement park rides. It's mostly roller coaster cars, bumper cars, etc., but there's also the remants of the oil-fired(?) narrow-gauge steam locos and open passenger cars that run around the park. It's supposed to be off-limits to the general public but the park employees don't seem to mind the occasional visitor(s) as long as you're over 15 and don't touch anything or venture too far into the area. I haven't seen it in four years, but the last time I saw Canobie's boneyard, they ran it somewhat like a railroad deadline- they struck out unit numbers on numbered rides and cannibalized parts.

I think one or two other amusement parks further north in NH's White Mountains region have closed. They both had amusement park-sized trains. I wonder what happened to them. Lotsa tourist railroads in the White Mountains...

[BaltACD]

...The famous Idlewild Park near Ligonier, Pa. had a park railroad for years....I seem to remember it {the RR}, is not operational anymore...{Anyone know for sure}...? The park is over a 100 years old and at one time had a real railroad...{Ligonier Valley RR}, running right through the center of the park. Some coal trains and a daily doodlebug passed through. LVRR was abandoned in 1952. At one time special passenger trains came to Idlewild from Pittsburgh. There were sidings for these trains to be placed. The park actually had a {very small}, RR "depot" inside it.

Kennywood Park in W.Miffilin is being sold by the family owned company, which also owns Idlewild Park.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22204266/

[grampaw pettibone]

Along about 1970 or so, I was doing a construction job in a state park somewhere north or northwest of Greenville SC. We found the SWAMP RABBIT RAILROAD. I was more into guns and wimmins back then, so I didn't know much about trains, but I remember it had an old steamer, lettered Bethlehem Steel Company, three gondolas converted to carry passengers and an old dilapidated wooden caboose. The whole consist had been shoved off onto a short spur and abandoned. Several miles further along, we found the Swamp Rabbit Amusement Park, also abandoned. Several weeks later, we passed it again and the loco was gone. I have since learned that the Carolina, Knoxville and Western originally worked that area, and was known as the Swamp Rabbit. The ride was so rough that leaving a bowl of cream on the floor would give a bowl of butter on arrival.

[al-in-chgo]

Does anyone know if the amusement-park-sized Santa Fe train still runs thru Hermann Park in Houston?  - a. s.

 

[Modelcar]

....How about the railroad that was in Opryland Park, Nashville, Tn....I believe it was steam powerd too.  Don't remember the gauge.  Also, not sure if the one at Idlewild Park, Ligonier, Pa. is still running.  It is many decades since I rode on that.....it was about a one foot gauge but powered by gasoline engined "diesels".  Possibly by steam before my time.  The Park is well over a hundred years old. One of the oldest in the country.  {Check it on the internet}.

And years and years ago....{abandoned in 1952}, the Ligonier Valley RR passed right along side of it at one location as it passed right thru the middle of the Park. 

[vlmuke]

Hesston steam museam is very nice place to visit they have all kinds of steam powered stuff in addition to trains I just wouldn't wear anything real nice as our clothes were full of soot by the end of the day also about 45 minute away is a small RR in Wakarusa IN its not steam but it is diesel powered they used to have rides on the weekends and seasonal  ones don't know if it still around or not I see the track is still there though

Anyone know if Kings Island near Cincinnati OH still has theirs it seemed pretty extensive back in the seventies

Also what ever happened to the Freedom Train back in 76

[Anonymous]

When my parents were having their dream home built in Hanover Park

we used to go to the railroad loop outside of Elgin you mentioned. It

was called thr hoot toot and whistle railroad and was steam operated

as I recall. The property has been an RV lot for quite a while and the

original station is well cared for by the dealer. road the train circa 1961

[Poppa_Zit]

Story about the guy who recently saved the Vilas Zoo train in Madison, Wisconsin:

Zoo train saved

[jchnhtfd]

Lake Compounce, on the Bristol - Southington town line in Connecticut, still has the 'Lake Train'.  This one is, as I recall, gasoline powered -- or certainly was at one time.  It has an interesting history, having once been owned by the actor Will Gillette and was in operation at his 'Castle' on the Connecticut River for many many years.  After he died, Lake Compounce (which was started as a classic end-of-the-line trolley amusement park about a century ago and has operated ever since!) bought it -- this must have been just about World War II -- and has operated it ever since.

[Murphy Siding]

When I was a youngster, there was an amusement park in my hometown of Sioux Falls, and it was known as "Joyland". It had a small train that ran on a loop of track through a tunnel that was made of concrete blocks, painted green. The train was pulled by a steam locomotive, and the wheel arrangement I think, was a 2-6-2. This amusement park was dismantled in the early to mid 1960's to make room for something else. And while I don't remember the exact location of this amusement park, I think it was in the general vacinity of 33rd Street and Minnesota Ave. Murphy Siding might know a little more about it, and I might ask him.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

     Long before my time.  I moved to SF in 1984.  I do remember the train cars that were used as motel rooms at the Tower Motel, accross I29 on west 12th.  Sad to say, I never stopped to check them out before they were gone.

 

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

When I was a youngster, there was an amusement park in my hometown of Sioux Falls, and it was known as "Joyland". It had a small train that ran on a loop of track through a tunnel that was made of concrete blocks, painted green. The train was pulled by a steam locomotive, and the wheel arrangement I think, was a 2-6-2. This amusement park was dismantled in the early to mid 1960's to make room for something else. And while I don't remember the exact location of this amusement park, I think it was in the general vacinity of 33rd Street and Minnesota Ave. Murphy Siding might know a little more about it, and I might ask him.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

[Anonymous]

  There was also one about 20 miles north of Kalamazoo, Michigan.  At the rural "Plank Road Farm amusement park.  It was about a mile long loop thru the woods.  Drove that thing for a summer.  Now I get to play with the real ones!!

[Doublestack]

Bay Beach amusement park here is Green Bay has a nice "layout".   The trains (3 F-Units) are painted in a scheme that honors the Soo Line / WC passenger units from the 50's.   Road #'s represent actual units from that roster (#2500, #500 and #715 (WC GP-30 preserved at the Natl RR Museum in Green Bay.)  (I got to help with the repainting project about 10 yrs ago).  WC donated the paint (pre-CN abomination).   The locomotives were built by a company in Renselaer, IN.  Propane Powered.    Scroll down to a photo (not the greatest) about 1/2 way down the page.  http://www.ci.green-bay.wi.us/geninfo/baybeach_web/baybeach_rides.html

 The Milwaukee Zoo has a very nice small scale train w/ steam and diesel power as well.   Its rather large compared to most amusement park trains I've seen.  The steamer (live steam) is remarkably well done.  Its a Pacific if I recall correctly.   Here's a photo.   http://www.milwaukeezoo.org/map_train_station.html

Here's an interesting link to videos filmed on Park Trains

http://trains.uoregon.edu/drupal/parktrainvideos.html#milwaukee 

 

 

[ChuckCobleigh]

Two others that are still going in California. 

Of course, the first one I forgot is right outside our World Famous San Diego Zoo and is actually now owned by the Zoo Society.  I probably haven't ridden it for fifty years or so (it's been there almost sixty years) but it is still a popular ride for kiddies, I think. Basically, it looks like a Santa Fe streamliner in maybe a little smaller than 1/5 scale, goes through a little tunnel.  Costs $1.75 for the three-minute ride.

The second one is just south of Sonoma on CA 12, at Train Town, where two 15" gauge steamers pull passengers around an interesting route.  This one I rode thirty years ago and haven't gotten north of SF since, but I expect that it is still an interesting ride.  (And after chugging around, you can visit a few of the wineries in the area and take the tours.  Lot's of fun, or even go over to Napa and take the wine train.)

 

 

 

 

[samfp1943]

Some years back, There was a pretty extensive train ride around the Knoxville, Tennessee Zoo. It was visible from I-40's lanes.

     I never rode it, but I wonder if anyone has any details on this Zoo Attraction? Any details would be appreciated. Thanks. 

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Hillcrest Park in Lemont, IL.  Recently closed...  They had a great train loop that was fun to ride.  Here is a link:

 

http://capital2.capital.edu/admin-staff/dalthoff/adventures/tr2003/ushc01.html 

[espeefoamer]

In the late50s/early 60s,there was a small amusement park in Pico Rivera Ca.about 15 mi.east of L.A. near my home.They had a 18 in.gauge railroad with a live steam 2-6-2.On Saturdays I could hear the whistle.In the mid 70s this engine ran at Legg Lake in Whittier,CA. I got to know the crew and got to run the engine a couple of times. The engine was built  in 1901 for the Venice Miniature Railway,in that CA.city.

[Poppa_Zit]

Riverview closed in 1967.  My family went there a couple of times in its last years, and those trains were "diesel" powered by that time.

Not an amusement park, but Brookfield Zoo had a miniature railroad that operated roughly around its perimeter until about 1980 or so.

Carl, et al interested:

The Brookfield Zoo (aka Chicago Zoological Park) in suburban Chicago had two 20-ton working steam engines.

First, there was an earlier train from 1962-1968, but amusement-park scale, where the engineer sat on top of the tender. Then the two real narrow-gauge, coal-fired locomotives arrived, the first in 1968. New, heavier trackwork (23.62 inch or 60mm gauge) was installed and roadbed upgraded as the engines weighed about 20 tons each. Two long trestles were built on the west end of the park (each about 125 feet long).

The engines, cars and infrastructure was graciously donated to the county-owned zoo by railfan and live-steamer Elliott Donnelly, of Bell telephone-book printing fame and fortune.

Locomotive No. 1 was an 0-8-0 built in 1918 and used in industry in Germany's Black Forest; for the zoo it was converted by Sandley Light Railway Equipment Works (Wisconsin) to a 2-8-0 Consolidation and repainted as a Milwaukee Road Hiawatha.

No. 242 (a 2-4-2) was built new in 1972 by Sandley, and was painted in C&O colors. They pulled passenger coaches around the perimeter of the huge, 220-acre park, about a 1.5-mile run. The Zoo also had a replica diesel-style switcher running off a Jeep engine, dressed as CB&Q 999. 

After many years of use, the Zoo RR shut down in 1985.

It was a crime how those two workhorses were stored after being decommissioned -- Cook County's stupid lazy patronage workers put them away in an unheated barn without even emptying the fireboxes or cleaning out the ash pans. They literally rotted away in storage until they finally were rescued around 2002 -- by the same Donnelly family -- and sent to the Hesston Steam Museum in LaPorte, Indiana. After several years of restoration, I believe they're running again.

 

I know about these beauties because my high school was located right behind the zoo (ah, coal smoke mixed with ripe animal smells on hot summer days!). During class it was very hard to concentrate while listening to those whistles tooting merrily. Took me right out of the schoolroom and into my dream summer job -- workin' on the zoo railroad. Of course, even though I applied every year, and through college, alas -- I never was chosen and ended up working on the docks at a steel company. Which paid more, and got me conditioned to play football in the fall, but was nowhere near as much fun. 

Hesston Steam Museum

[tree68]

Not an amusement park, but Brookfield Zoo had a miniature railroad that operated roughly around its perimeter until about 1980 or so.

St. Louis Zoo had a little train running around the grounds, at least in the early eighties.  Can't tell from Google Earth now, for sure, but then again, it's been 23 years since we were there.

St.Louis zoo train still  going round and round.

I'm pretty sure the one at the Detroit Zoo is, as well.

[spokyone]

Not an amusement park, but Brookfield Zoo had a miniature railroad that operated roughly around its perimeter until about 1980 or so.

St. Louis Zoo had a little train running around the grounds, at least in the early eighties.  Can't tell from Google Earth now, for sure, but then again, it's been 23 years since we were there.

St.Louis zoo train still  going round and round.

[Bob-Fryml]

Lions Park, Cheyenne, Wyo. had an oval piece of track set at about 12"-gauge which supported a miniature train operation.  It was part of a small amusement park operation.  The train was abandoned sometime in the early-to-mid 1980s.

South of Elgin, Illinois along the north or east side of U.S. Hwy. 20 (Lake St.) some old boy had a nice piece of land and a 12-to-15 inch gauge railroad spiked down on it.  I remember riding it once during the 1960s, but I don't recall if it was steam or gasoline powered.

Sometime between 2000 and 2002 I rode the St. Louis Zoo railroad.  It was operating quite nicely then and I suspect it's still going today.

For many years Mr. Ed Gerlitz operated a narrow gauge railroad (2-ft. gauge?) at Heritage Square in Golden, Colo.  The majority, if not all of the locomotives, were steam powered with many having been built in Germany and/or Austria.  There was quite a bit of track too.  Anyway, Mr. Gerlitz retired and quit running trains.  I don't remember if he sold the fixed plant and equipment, but I've heard that maybe someone else is operating the railway.  Not sure.

Does anyone know the fate of the Centerville & Southwestern miniature railway that operated in southern New Jersey?  The railway is profiled in the first book I ever bought with my own money, "Little Railways of the World" by Frederick Shaw. 

[zgardner18]

This really isn't an amusement park but close enough:

I guess this little lot belonged to a gentleman that passed away a couple of years ago.  supposely he would give rides on his train here but would also load up a trailer and take it to the mall.   I was very interesteted in purchasing his equiptment but couldn't ever get ahold of his family.  I would have love to have kept his tradition going.  Bytheway, this is the town of Bozeman, Montana.

[Poppa_Zit]

One of the longest and best in the Chicago area was the train ride at Kiddie Land in Maywood, IL. According to a fairly recent PBS show on local amusement parks, they've restored one of the steam locos and operate it on special occasions.

They restored the boiler and moving parts on the 1950 steam engine a year or so ago and put it back in service. But for some reason they didn't rebuild the firebox, which soon became a problem. So now I heard that's what they're doing over the winter.

It's pretty awesome as far as these trains go. The streamlined boiler reminds me of my
Mom's old early 1950s art-deco ElectroLux canister vacuum cleaner.

[Poppa_Zit]

South of town.  At the southeast corner of Hill Rd and US12/IL31.

You can see the loop through the sheds on Google Maps. HERE.

Isn't it behind the building with the Lionel Trains sign out front?

He's still running. I recently bought a DVD of amusement park trains and his got significant play on it. He has either an F or E diesel unit and passenger cars painted in SP Daylight colors, plus other rolling stock. It's right near where the old CNW line to Lake Geneva crossed under the Milwaukee Road.

[ChuckCobleigh]

Not an amusement park, but Brookfield Zoo had a miniature railroad that operated roughly around its perimeter until about 1980 or so.

St. Louis Zoo had a little train running around the grounds, at least in the early eighties.  Can't tell from Google Earth now, for sure, but then again, it's been 23 years since we were there.

[CShaveRR]

Riverview closed in 1967.  My family went there a couple of times in its last years, and those trains were "diesel" powered by that time.

Not an amusement park, but Brookfield Zoo had a miniature railroad that operated roughly around its perimeter until about 1980 or so.

[senshi]

Someone in Richmond, IL. had a loop of track around his yard, but I don't know if it's still there.  

I live about 10 miles from Richmond.  Where in Richmond is this?

South of town.  At the southeast corner of Hill Rd and US12/IL31.

You can see the loop through the sheds on Google Maps. HERE.

[greyhounds]

Someone in Richmond, IL. had a loop of track around his yard, but I don't know if it's still there.  

I live about 10 miles from Richmond.  Where in Richmond is this?

[trainfan1221]

Welcome to Northern New Jersey..home of all that is abandoned!  Aside from many rail lines we have our share of once famous theme parks that are now only a memory.  (Can you say Palisades Amusement Park?)  And several others which closed when giving way to larger amusement parks not in this area.  However most of these places are pretty well obliterated with nothing left to see, train related or otherwise.  We do have a miniature train ride at a local park centering around a zoo, and it is operated as though it is a county railroad.  Ride it often enough and you can probably collect some good rail mileage--after all lets remember that things like roller coasters and the like count towards that.