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We tried it Sat night, omg it was incredible. I haven't had chocolate in 2 months cause I found out I have diabetes but this drink I had to cheat, thankfully my husband drank most of it.

It would be wonderful if they could open them, but I think they can only operate with higher temperatures. I would love to see a “lodge” type spring-up building in the woods behind either the Crypt building or behind The Racer with comfortable setting around a Roaring fireplace where guests can enjoy an atmosphere similar to the Reds Grill sing along and watch it snow from the lodge windows. All would be Comfy and cozy having spiked drinks and singing carols.

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 still operating or defunct. This is information I've gathered throughout the years as both a train and an amusement park enthusiast. Once a week, or maybe more times if I'm not busy, I will make post regarding a different amusement park railroad. The information I will provide will be accurate and any inaccurate information will be edited. Most of the pictures I'm about to post are not mine so I will link them the best I can because some links are dead. I invite you all to participate in the discussion and ask me questions! My first entry will be very soon since I'm still putting it all together. But for now, happy railroading!

I'm very tempted to go mid week. Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

Is anyone here planning on going this week? It looks to be a cold one.

That’s interesting! Wendel (Tinker in 2017) stayed with KI for about 5 years before signing with cruise ships, and I think he’s on broadway now. One of the elves (not sure the name since they were different that year - but sang “Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas”) also stayed with KI for several year before working for Universals Studios Florida, and most recently Uni Hollywood.

That's it for sure! I know I loved it but that was a long time ago, I wish I still had our pics from back then to see what was there, etc

I'd like to see both sides of Racer open for WinterFest. I'd also like to see Woodstock Express open. I mean most of Planet Snoopy is already open.

Here are the different versions of the show from all of the other parks this year. It’s fascinating to see the differences between them. Worlds of Fun really changed things up. I have to say, our park definitely has the best version and the strongest cast. Worlds of Fun California’s Great America Carowinds

Take a look at the webcams! It looks so beautiful in the snow!

KI closes platforms with anything additional on the Eiffel Tower. The higher platform is closed during Haunt when they have the eyes up, and they closed the Eiffel Tower two weekends before Haunt ended because they were starting to string up the lights for Winterfest. With that in mind, it's highly unlikely that the Eiffel Tower will be open during Winterfest or late Haunt in the upcoming seasons. Edit: any changes to either Drop or WindSeeker for Winterfest would likely also result in premature closings.

I've been very impressed with Winterfest and look forward to seeing what the park does in the future with the event. All of the food from the cinnamon bread to The Beast Hot Chocolate to the little Christmas tree cookies have been outstanding. I actually preferred KI's cinnamon bread to Dollywood's because I didn't feel it was as greasy. One of the things I have enjoyed about Winterfest is just walking around and taking it all in. As we think about the future of the park, I wonder what impact the success of Winterfest has in taking into account future development. I think they should look into building more winter-proof buildings (another indoor show building and more indoor restaurant seating) which would come in handy during those cooler nights of Haunt as well as during Winterfest. I would also like to see them add more flats that can be used year round. I realize it is probably a stretch at this time but I would be thrilled if they announced that they were putting more flats in for next year. One of the benefits of Winterfest has been the love that Zephyr and Scrambler and Dodgem have gotten from the crowds that they normally wouldn't. Adding more flats would also help better disburse the crowds and wouldn't require a lot of extra workers to run them.

I went again last night and had a fantastic time. Saw Cool Yule Christmas and Holly Jolly Trolley for the first time and enjoyed both. Cool Yule reminds me of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade performances while I really enjoyed the hats worn by the HJT performers, what with their feathers and ribbon-things (as well as the music of course!). Also saw my usual favorites: Tinkers, Jingle Jazz, Drummers and Plight. Edit: Also got in night rides on Mystic, Zephyr, and a close-to-Closing ride on Boo Blasters. Edit2: @Magenta Lizard, I paid attention to the light display by Planet Snoopy; it seems to be syncronized (maybe?) to Basshunter's version of Jingle Bells.

Taken from RC Expedition.

Thanks to @BoddaH1994 for posting both of those videos! I like how our current version of Tinkers is a nice blend of the original (80's/90's) Santa's Toy Factory and the mid 2000's version. Of the two, I liked the early version better, but I still loved singing along with both of them while watching. Can't wait to see Tinkers once again tonight!

Hello, I have a bunch of friends that work on the Serengeti Express at Busch Gardens Tampa. I'm a regular of the park and i'm a big fan of the Crown trains they have. I would like to let you know that they run #5 regularly. Right now all the 3 running engines are equally operated. Last year #5's tender was sent to a welding company in Tampa to be sand blasted for rust removal. Some other work was done on the engine. I wouldn't be surprised if #9's tender is sent for the same treatment in 2018.

Welcome to KIC, retrofan1980 The lead speculation is that a new food facility will be placed. It's also been said there might be an announcement on December 30th. Other theories that have been put forth are for a return of Lex Taxis, a Skywarp or another flat ride. Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

I took my 50th ride on mystic today! why is it so low? Wasn’t a visitor. Employee instead. I’m still happy with getting 50! In other news, the park installed Anti-rollbacks at the top of the brake run for mystic as valley prevention.

Santa's Toy Factory is my favorite show that KI ever did. As much as I love performing at WinterFest, I still wouldn't mind having one night off so I can see how Tinker's lives up to it. I know a few of the performers in that show and they're very talented. But on the other hand, I don't want to end The Plight Before Christmas' streak... as of last night we've completed 64 of our total 92 scheduled shows.

There will be one Dec. 26th - 30th. Santa Snoopy will be taking Santa Claus' place that week. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/play/winterfest/attractions/st-nicks-pics

Ryan, I too was hoping that Tinker`s Toy Factory would be in the KI Theater. But like you said the cast they have in the Festhaus is very good. Especially Poindexter. Strangely, I miss the few songs that the 2005 version had that were not included with this incarnation. Still, it is very cool that this show has been featured in all three versions of Winterfest.

I heard it was sinking

Finally tried The Beast Hot Chocolate and it is the real deal.

I was only with the park in 1972 and 1973, but if you could post pics from the 78 yearbook, they would be interesting to see. I am tentatively going to do a mini-vacation down to Tweetsie to tour their shop later this month. I have been invited to stop in at Doe River to look over #3 and ride the speeder into the gorge.

Great and awesome Post, hope you have some factoids on the John Henry at Lesourdsville Lake, Americana... Great learning, on Kings Dominion.

@kimv1972 That locomotive has been sitting there for years so I'm happy to see it go to a good home. There are at least half a dozen crown locomotives that I would give anything to see operate again

Welcome to KIC, @kimv1972! If you were still working at KI in '78, I have the employee yearbook from that year!

The only two pics I have found have been hard to find: http://www.doerivergorge.com/news.php#april The engine was Crown's third 36" gage built (for Pioneer and Western in Davie, Florida). It ran there less than three years. It went to Carowinds and South of the Border where it was never used. It has spent the last several years on display on the turntable at Huntsville, Alabama's Depot Museum. It had small cylinders and big drivers, so it only had 4000 lbs. tractive effort, but that should be enough for the limited use at Doe River pulling a couple old Six Flags over Georgia wooden coach chassis. By the way, I remember a Dry Gulch engineer years ago telling me that they got the Kings Dominion coaches with 552 and rebuilt them into closed coaches.

Link? I'd love to see that happen and I'd love to be able to go down to Tennessee and see it

By the way, the last Christmas Train at Camp Dry Gulch has run. Willie George Ministries is selling the park. It will be interesting to see where Kings Dominion #552 ends up. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Doe River Gorge Ministries in Tennessee, which owns a couple miles of the old Tweetsie line in the gorge, is restoring a KI / KD sized Crown engine.

Great to see this thread. I was on the KI&MV crew when the park opened in 1972. Lew Brown was a great boss, and there was nothing like getting paid for my hobby.

Wow, great post and very informative. Thanks for taking the time to share this and I look forward to future posts.

Oooooo, next time I go in that area I might try to see if it's visible. I always like doing that kind of stuff when I'm not riding coasters. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

It's right next to Dinosaurs Alive. The arrow on the picture, provided by Google Maps, shows the shed. The red is the train line. As you can see, the trains would approach the shed on the left. The tracks for the coaches curved and didn't have any type of shelter.

Thanks for sharing. Very informative. I look forward to future chapters!

That's actually really depressing... I never knew anything about KDs train before now, especially since it was closed before I was born. By the way, where is the old railroad shed? I never knew it was still there. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Thanks for taking the time to post this. After visiting KD for the first time last year, I am obsessed. The more I learn, the more fascinated I become!

Wow great post! Very informative! Would love to see more photos and looking forward to more posts!

That is a great post! Looking forward to more.

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 park in Virginia. One of the many things Kings Dominion took from her sister park was a small 36" narrow gauge railroad in a section of the park named "Old Virginia", a section that reflected the early years of Virginia; a similar concept to Rivertown at Kings Island. The "Old Dominion Line" featured two authentic steam locomotives built by the Crown Locomotive Works- the Baldwin Locomotive Works of amusement park railroads. The line ventured through the Virginian wilderness past log cabins and animatronics. https://www.facebook.com/KDGoldenYears/ The two locomotives that ran along the short line were the #601 "Patrick Henry" and the #552 "Stonewall Jackson." Like their Kings Island cousin's, both locomotives were modeled after the standard "American" style locomotive bearing the typical 4-4-0 wheel arrangement. When management asked Kings Island engineers for feedback on how to perfect the train ride in Virginia they suggested a more prototypical approach. This meant that the locomotives should have larger smoke stacks, darker colors, and most notably- wooden cabs (as seen in the picture above.) These changes were made to give the locomotives a more "primitive" look as steel wasn't as plentiful in the mid 1800s as it is now. http://parkfans.net/thread-1541.html The “Patrick Henry” was meant to resemble Kings Island's #12 "Tecumseh" locomotive respectively. The locomotive bared a large balloon smoke stack, featured 2 domes, and a gothic style roof, as well as a dark blue color scheme with red decals. The “Patrick Henry” also had a set of blue coaches with brown decals to match the locomotive’s color scheme as well as the look of older passenger coaches from the 1800s. There’s no audio to prove this but I suspect the “Patrick Henry” featured a 6 chime whistle. The locomotive also featured two flags, one was the American flag and the other one was the Virginia Flag. Though meant to resemble Kings Island’s #12, Kings Dominion’s #601 was one of the most cloned Crown models to date. The large balloon stack was seen on multiple crown locomotives throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s giving it a less original look. http://parkfans.net/thread-1541.html The “Stonewell Jackson” was meant to resemble Kings Island's #19 "Simon Kenton" locomotive respectively. The locomotive bared a narrow balloon smoke stack, featured 2 domes, and a curved style roof, as well as an orange-red color scheme with blue decals. The “Stonewall Jackson” also had a set of orange-red coaches with brown decals to match the locomotive’s color scheme as well as the look of older passenger coaches from the 1800s. There’s no audio to prove this but I suspect the “Stonewall Jackson” featured a 6 chime whistle. The locomotive also featured two flags, one was the American flag and the other one was the Confederacy Flag. This locomotive model was my favorite of all the Crown locomotives ever built because of its unique balloon stack design. This is was one of the more original designs ever found on a Crown locomotive. https://www.facebook.com/KDGoldenYears/ The line started in the Old Virginia section of the park, near the end of Candy Apple Grove not too far from the Rebel Yell. The train would run parallel to Rebel Yell until taking a right turn into the Virginian Wilderness. In the woods, like the Miami Valley Railroad, the trains past several log cabins and animatronics. The train would stop at a part of the line and actors would interact with guests on board. The train would then pass the engine house before finally returning to the station. In the later years, some of the scenery changed to accommodate newer attractions. In the early 80s, Grizzly was placed behind the station, similar to Mystic Timbers at Kings Island. The challenge was that the que line crossed the railroad tracks making operations interesting to say in the least. http://parkfans.net/thread-1541.html Towards the late 80s, the popularity of the railroad started to dwindle and some of the theming began to go away. By the 90s, Paramount attempted to revitalize the railroad by adding an action scene on the train but to no avail. Operations were so dismal that the railroad would close early around 6pm because it began to lose the park money. In 1994 Hurler was added and coexisted with the train for about a year. In 1995, it was decided that the line would be demolished and the locomotives and their coaches sold to other amusement parks. The fact that the railroad wasn’t a transport ride was one of the main reasons why it’s popularity decreased. One could make the assumption that Kings Island’s trains would have suffered the same fate if they weren’t used to transport guests to and from the waterpark. #601 currently operates at Busch Gardens Tampa on the Serengeti Express. The locomotive was repainted an off green color with a red cowcatcher and yellow decals. The original wood cab was replaced with a steel cab fitted with exhaust fans. The whistle was mounted on the additional dome and was toned down a couple of chimes, in my opinion to not scare off the animals. The original coaches were painted yellow to match a nearly identical locomotive bought from Six Flags Mid-America, now Six Flags St. Louis. The green coaches the train usually pulls is a part of an older Busch Gardens locomotive #4 that isn’t currently in operation. I was fortunate enough to see this locomotive down in Tampa when I visited Busch Gardens in 2012. Though I prefer its original look, I’m happy that the locomotive has more room to stretch out it’s wheels and isn’t sitting out to rust like a lot of other Crown locomotives. http://parkfans.net/thread-1541.html #552 currently operates at a small religious retreat called Dry Gulch USA in Adair Oklahoma. Like #601, #552 received a cosmetic overhaul with a black boiler, red domes, a red cowcatcher, red wheels, and a black tender. The most notable change however was the wooden cab. While in transport, engine #552 encountered a tree and suffered damage to its cab. The original cab was removed and replaced with a new, darker colored wood cab that can still be seen today. The locomotive operates on select dates and during the parks popular “Christmas Train” event with two other locomotives made by H.K. Porter. It is unknown what happened to the original coaches of the train whether they were sold to another party or are sitting on storage. https://www.facebook.com/KDGoldenYears/ There has been a bit of confusion as to where the locomotives actually ended up first. One rumor states that Dry Gulch bought the two locomotives and sold #601 to Busch Gardens. Another rumor states that Busch Gardens bought the two locomotives and #552 was sold to Dry Gulch. In my opinion, I believe both trains were initially sold to the Busch Gardens chain since Busch Gardens Europe was a short drive from Doswell. At the time, Busch Gardens Africa already had three locomotives but desperately needed a backup. I think #552 was less appealing to the company so it was sold to Dry Gulch. I could be completely wrong but that’s just how I think that went down. http://parkfans.net/thread-1541.html Remnants of the Old Dominion Line can still be seen at Kings Dominion today. The old railroad shed still stands vacant and the old route can still be made out on satellite. I think this ride could have served a greater purpose and could still be standing today if it acted as a transport ride. However, it’s placement in the park limited its potential to be used as a transport ride and was one of the many contributing factors to its dismantle in 1995. Also, the placement of the ride prevented a lot of potential expansion so, while I still wish it were there, I can see why the park made the decision to remove it. I hoped you enjoyed this! Please feel free to share your comments and post any pictures. I have way more pictures if anyone's interested. If you have any questions for me or any suggestions on what park I should do next, please let me know! Edit as of 2020: Cedar Fair aquired #552 to be a backup engine for the World's of Fun Railroad. The engine will be named "Levi"

I'm especially interested when you get around to Dollywood's train.

I am looking forward to your posts! Thanks for your efforts in doing this!