Dark Ride Project Diary Part two…
Update
April 6, 2005
It’s been quite some time
since our last update – so where have we been? Is the project scrapped? Heck
no! Please remember that most amusement parks spend millions of dollars and
have a hundred people working on ride projects. We are working with volunteers
and spare change… so our project will take a little longer to get the same
results.
As we previously reported
- we have to use the original 12lb railroad track for the ride. If we didn’t,
then the ride would no longer be “grand fathered” as a 1955 ride and would have
to meet all 2005 ride standards – a difficult thing to do, so we elected to
stick with the original track. The big problem there is 1) The original track
is only made in Japan and shipped over here once a year (Very costly!) and 2)
All the track is straight… and we have to have it bent into 3 a three foot
radius for the turns.
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Words can’t begin to describe how happy I am to report that as I am
writing this update – we are now capable of bending the 3000 pounds of track
we purchased. This was completely due to the efforts and intelligence of Mark
Koppenhaver. (See Picture) Since railroad tools are
not almost non-existent, Mark had to design and construct this entire device
from scratch. Anyone that knows
engineering will be impressed to know that this can bend a piece of railroad
track into a TWO FOOT radius WITHOUT twisting the track. Yes, it still sits
flat on the floor when you are done! This month, we will get
all the track bent and start working on the hot-rail. When we are done, we
hope to have the track bent in such a way as we can move the ride easily and
lay the track in thousands of different ways without ever having to bend
another piece again. Should any of you
reading this have an old Pretzel ride that you need more track for, drop us a
line and we would be glad to tell you how to make it! (And if you would like
to rent our bending tool, we can work something out there too! |
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On a related note: During our pervious update, we mentioned
that we had visited William’s Grove Amusement Park since they have a Pretzel
ride (Called Dante’s Inferno). We were hoping to see how they have their ride
set up. We were not surprised to see that the ride had seen better days. In
these parks – with the limited staff they have, it is VERY difficult just to
keep the rides running. We wrote a letter to the owner, and volunteered to help
restore their ride to its previous (or better!) condition.
Last week our offer was accepted. With the help of my family and friends – and guidance from DAFE and Laff-In-The-Dark, we hope to have the ride totally remodeled by opening day in May! We will post more pictures and info here as it becomes available. Stay tuned till then…
Update July 17th 2005
It’s officially one year since we became owners of a Pretzel
Ride, and what better way to celebrate than our first official test of one of
the cars. Over the past year, we came up with a few modifications to make the cars
a little more reliable and easier to set up. A lot of our ideas came from the
time we spent at William’s Grove Amusement Park rebuilding their dark-ride. (For more on this project,
CLICK HERE.)
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With the help of my (very brave) Son, we finally got to see
one of the cars move under their own power. (Click on the
picture to the LEFT to see the video.) After a year of
set backs and challenges, it was a real motivator to take a ride (even a
short one) in one of the cars. We were surprised just how “forgiving” the
track was, considering the driveway we were testing on was anything but flat. As work continues
on the 1000 feet of new track, we are also restoring an additional 400 feet
of old track we acquired in an Ebay auction. We also have managed to come up
with enough spare parts to make a few more useable cars. |
The current plan is to get the ride transport system finished
by October of this year, so that we can spend next year getting the props and
cosmetic parts fixed up. The goal is to make the ride able to be installed in
less than a day’s time. This will enable us to save a lot on rent cost when the
ride is not generating income. This should also make the ride more appealing to
more potential landlords as we can be out just as quickly as we set up - without
any residual damages or modifications to the property. We will test this ability by setting up
the entire ride, running it for eight hours and then taking it down the next
day at a local business that has offered to let us use some space for a
weekend. We will let you know how that works at a later time.
For now, It’s time for us to go celebrate our project’s
one-year anniversary! Thanks for all the support and help from all of our fans
out there… Without all the volunteer help, this project would not be as far as
it is.
Update July 25h 2005
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Since we’ve been working on this project for a year – we
thought it would be nice to show all of you just how far the project has
come. To the right, you
can see what the ride cars looked like when we took possession of them. The
picture to the far right shows the very same car frame after being restored.
Remember, we did more than just paint these things. They were one big solid
piece of rust. Each part had to be carefully and painstakingly removed and
repaired. Note the repairs
done to the bumpers… we did that by hand! Can you spot the
other big difference? |
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If you are still looking at the picture, the difference
between the two is the addition of a transformer to the frame of the vehicle.
Other Pretzel car rides put the transformer under the seat. The problem with
putting them under the seat is that due to the wiring, the cars couldn’t spin.
With our new design – these cars will once again “unlock” at a certain part of
the ride and give the riders an experience unlike any ride on the market today.
Update September 13, 2005
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Time for a little update and
some shameless bragging... This is a picture of our completed ride control and dispatch
station. I am especially proud of this because it was made completely from
stock bar and sheet metal. The switches were obviously purchased from a
supplier – but other than that, this was entirely hand made. The control panel
is made to be portable, and can quickly be connected and disconnected from
the ride. It is watertight and weather proof. It also has it’s own build-in
transformer so that the only voltage outside of the enclosure is the 24v the
ride runs on. Since the internal transformer makes this panel weigh over 100
pounds – it also has a build in dolly system so that it can be easily rolled
around. One final note:
On the side is the official Pa Amusement Ride Registration Plate, which makes
this the first and only class 2 ride in PA that was built by an individual
instead of a commercial company. As we have said
before, the goal is to have our entire track finished by October 31st
of this year – a date that is quickly approaching. We’re running into other
issues we never thought about as well – like where can you store a ride
that was built to fill the majority of a 10,000 square foot building? This
issue is one that will need to be addressed before the township I live in
comes up with an ordinance to address the issue for me! On a final note:
The Halloween season this year carries mixed emotions for me. I am sorry and
sad to say that this is the first year we will not be having a home display
for the enjoyment of the neighborhood and to support a charity. This project
demands our complete and total attention. However, I will say that next year
– our display will be introducing the new props that will be used in the
actual ride. We are all looking forward to ending the engineering part of
this project – and starting with the creative part. … “ Now that that’s
done – all that’s left to do is everything!” |
Final Update for 2005! December 17th
2005
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It’s always the little things: The wait is over!
We finally performed a full-scale test of the ride system on December 17th.
Now that we’re done with 1244 feet of track, 10 transformers, 12 cars & 1
control panel – what better way to test the system than to install it
somewhere? Luck for us we work at a car dealership with a huge shop. Because
we were open for actual business that day – we were not able to install the
entire ride, but enough to perform a realistic install to see how things
would go. Only one problem
came up. It turns out that most black rubber has a component in it that
conducts electricity… not a lot, but enough to cause a problem when you have
a lot of amps pushing through it. So, we have a few (800+) pieces of
insulation to replace before the ride is used… but that’s why we perform test
like this – right?!? They Spin! They Spin! We also can
report that we tested one of the cars that were designed to spin – but had
all the spinning parts removed. We were able to restore four of them thanks
to the cars that originally were in a fire and not used for 15(?) years.
Since they were un-useable, they had the original parts still on them. With a
little effort we were able to make the cars spin again. Now our ride will
have re-play value so riders can experience two very different rides – one
dark ride and a dark thrill ride. As far as we know
– we have the only Pretzel Ride left in the WORLD where the cars can
spin. (Click on
the picture to the right to see what it looks like.) Yes, they
turn a bit slow… but remember, there are still rub-bars that we haven’t
installed that spin the cars and when you are in the dark, the motion feel
more disorienting. Onward: The plans for
2006 will be to finally get to work on the props, stunts and cosmetic parts
of the ride. These items will be used in our annual home-haunt to test their
durability. Please come back and check on us from time to time… and please
feel free to send us any suggestion you have about what YOU would like to see
in a Haunted House Ride! Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year, Beth and Chris
Giffen |
CLICK
on the picture to see a
Spinning Pretzel Car in
action!
(Click here
for a low bandwidth version) |
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