Train Driver

A have to make a couple of assumptions: 1. I don't run out of money. 2. I don't run out of trains before I run out of money. These trains are kinda rare, and expensive. Assuming that 1 and 2 don't happen, my plan is to modify them so that they look as much like the original trains as possible. That means a couple of major changes need to be made: 1. These trains have 7 cars - the KI monorail had 9, so I'll have to buy enough trains to make that modification (there were 6 trains running in 84 - The seventh had been in a fire and wasn't running that year - but if I want to be as accurate as possible, I have to duplicate that also(!) I know my wife is reading this and is having a cow right now. 2. The bellows betwen the cars need to be modified, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do that yet... 3. The cabs also need to be reshaped. 4. The trains need to be painted the putty color 5. The all-too-important air conditioners have to be fabricated and placed on each car. I will also have to modify the track so that it looks somewhat like the track from that era - probably with paint - that will probably be a last modification - if at all. The train sets are over $100.00 apiece. So you do the math! Right now, I'm going to concentrate on the preserve - and buy the trains over time... Thanks for all your help!

The crew got the train up and running for its first test!!! Runs like a charm! Thanks for you help! It was the HTML piece that I was missing.

Alright - I need some more help. I have some video here, but Image shack isn't being cooprative. What's the best way to imbed video? thanks, Train Driver

They are not making any more of those monorails, so please don't buy them all up (unles you want to make a donation to the Habitat

Here is a preliminary - though not completely accurate - layout of the Wild Animal Habitat based on my memory of over 20 years ago as a train driver. If anyone from back in those days remembers something different or has more specific information, it would be helpful. This, along with the artwork shared by topgun, should be enough to make a better sign on the construction site.

Theres a Logo I put together if you want to use it. :) It's looking good so far. I LOVE IT!! - Thanks!!!

Thanks for your question! The track out of the box is just long enough to make an oval - that's why I bought more. I'm going to need to buy much more though. I'm trying to recreate a 100 acre preserve! I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money though until I knew how well this train runs. Truth be told, this is going to be a long-term project - because I'm not made of money, and the goal is to have seven trains running! I'm sure my construction guys will have it up and running tomorrow for it's first test. So be sure to check back! Train Driver

TALKS ARE OVER! The workers are back to work! I'm allowing some of them to nap on the job (so I caved on some issues). Here they were able to get the box open and are working at getting the monorail out of the box: Here's a closeup: I've instructed them to set up a preliminary test run of the monorail. This picture is at the end of the day:

I'd like that very much! Thanks! Train Driver

Thank you - I'd like to do that - What category should I put this thread under? Thanks. Train Driver

Very good. Is this something I can do myself, or do we need a moderator to do it for us? Thanks, Train Driver

What project doesn't have its setbacks? I started having a little trouble with the construction crew. I don't know if you've ever noticed how sometimes there is only one worker actually working at any given time - but I am noticing it about this crew. One of the workers is drinking, one is playing with a pick-axe, and another is lying down on the job! I'm spending big money for this!! We're about to have a little talk! Train Driver

Hi there! I'm back. Well, the construction workers got right at it and put up the "future site of sign..." So it's official - we're putting up a preserve. Currently the surface is 1/4" fiberglass sheeting sitting on three 2x2's on top of a table - I have instructed the workers to create a modular design, just in case this whole setup will need to be moved in the future. Here are the guys getting at it:

OK, First things first. My basement was a mess. I was planning on cleaning it earlier, but work got the better of my time. So late Christmas eve I began working... and working... simply cleaning the basement! The first thing to arrive was te monorail itself: This is the 1988 Von Roll set that was sold in 1988 at the opening of the Sydney Monorail - not quite like the Kings Island version - so some modifications will need to be made. Next we need construction workers - so I hired a few: I'll post more later...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I would like to make an announcement - Since many of you have expressed an interest in having the Wild Animal Habitat come back, and since it is rather unlikely that it will happen in the near future, I have decided to re-create the entire preserve in my basement, based on my memory as a train driver in 1984. If I get really ambitious, I will add the Screamin’ Demon and the Cobra, which were adjacent to the preserve in 84. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves - I'm going to need your help: First thing - Although I'm 41, I'm new at posting. I would like to put up some digital pictures, but I'm not quite sure how to do that. If there is anybody out there that has a few minutes to help me with that, I would be grateful. Also, If there is anyone from that time period that has pictures, I would be very obliged if you would share them with me. I've never built anything this involved before, and the more pictures there are will help me with accuracy. I remember what I saw, but another perspective would help. Lastly, I wasn't sure if I should start this as a new topic or not. I'm not quite sure what category under which to place it - so I'm putting it here for now. I began working on construction early Christmas Day - so I already have pictures. Thank you so much for your help! Train Driver

Hi there. I was a monorail train driver in 1983 - I didn't take any pictures from those days - would you happen to have any -- I suppose I should look throught this topic, but I thought I would just ask. Thanks!

I thought they were having new track manufactured, this random piece was just sitting in the parking lot right next to my parking space. TrainDriver, is this the same kind of track that was at Kings Island if so, could this maybe be a piece of original track from KI? ______________________________________________________ Gordon, I just realized that on page one of this post there is a picture of the kind of track that I remember. I'm going to try to repost it here: Look down in the lower right corner of the photo. Notice that the track is not enclosed but more like I-beam - this is the kind of track that I recall throughout the park. Unfortunately, you can't tell if the train is getting power from the inside or the outside lip of that track. Perhaps when you guys are able to get back there, you could get a closer shot. Buy the way, thanks to everyone for the pictures - if you run into any more, I would love to see them. Keith

You ever been in the Sub Zero Freezer in Food Service Warehouse? Perty Big in there. You could put a couple elephants in there. Well folks! All this talk has got me inspired that for Christmas I decided to by a reasonable facsimile of the monorail. I got it here: http://www.songweetrains.com/Products/monorail.html I must be crazy... wish me luck! Keith

This information is correct. By leaving his jeep without a buddy - besides being a violation of the rules - was a really stupid thing to do. But he would have known that, so it was speculated by the staff that perhaps there was a good reason for him for leaving the jeep. Unfortunately we will never know the exact reason. This whole thing about him getting out to go to the bathroom came from one of the employees as part of the speculation process, and has become urban legend. The fact of the matter is, even if he had to go, he would have known that it would be better for him to go in the jeep than in the preserve. Oh, by the way - there were no rest-rooms on the train, so if you had to go - you were in a lot of pain - and the nearest bathroom was off the platform, across an open area, about 70 yards, and inside a little food cafe`. Part of that cross-training I was talking about included cleanup duty when someone made a mess in one of the cars of the train - usually the mess was vomit, not bathroom accidents. And that's all I have to say about that! Keith

The employee was a ranger, not a train driver, and we heard that story in the early 80's as drivers, so it happened much earlier than the 90's. The rangers drove through the preserve caring for the animals - feeding them and keeping the preserve clean, picking up sick animals and bringing them to the vets, etc. If a train were to shut down on the preserve, it was the ranger's job to secure the area and provide transportation to evacuate the patrons. The drivers and the rangers shared a common shack where we would eat lunch. It was a much different job - much more dangerous than what we did. They were exposed to wild animals all day long, and I heard many stories about the close scrapes that they had. One of the most feared animals was Jr. - the male ostrich. Apparently he was real mean and had the ability to kill you with one kick. I don't think that an accident with an animal would be enough to close down something as large as this preserve. If that were the case, I would think that there would be several large zoos in the US no longer in existence. I'm going to do a little research and see if I can't come up with some information that would answer this question. It might be after Xmass before I have some answers, though.

Thanks for finding that - Now my memory is returning to me - it was 350 SPIECIES of animals. And it's also true that if you were lucky, you could see an animal being born! I remember that the crew would be all excited about it, and it was a feather in your cap if you could come back the train driver who saw the birth. I never got to see a birth, but I see the baby antelope afterwards. Keith

This really is a great question. I'm thinking about hunting down the head director and asking him that question - I have no idea where he is now, though... I remember that in the late 80's hearing on the radio that an animal rights group was protesting WAH over the death of an elephant. Supposedly this group claimed that it actually died of loneliness because it was separated from the other animals(!). I found this very hard to believe; so on that one occasion when I was able to ride it again, I sought him out and asked him about it. He told me that the animal was separated from the others because it was sick. I wouldn't think that would be enough to close it down. I'm guessing that it probably was a financial decision. Keith

I must admit I'm a little confused about a few things. I'm not sure I understand why they would have one piece of transfer rail longer than the others. The track doesn't rotate, does it? None of the actual monorail track in your pictures looks like it came from KI - For one thing, the rail at KI was not a boxed-in enclosure, but was open on the inside, I never checked this out for sure, but I thought the power pickups came down the center, between the two rails, and curved around up inside. This new rail suggests that the power pickups have been moved to the outside. Honestly, they could have been there all along, because there were lips on the outside as well as the inside. I just figured it would be safer having them on the inside. At any rate, on your picture of the random rusted piece, you can see that there is no place to pick up power - so I'm not sure if that's for display only or what? Maybe you could talk to one of the workers when you get a chance, and ask him about that. But none of this rail looks like the KI rail. Oh - one of the things that I forgot to mention about the train was that it did have an "automatic" feature. The train would automatically sense when a train was in front of you, and would begin slowing your train down. It would make slow surging noises and slow you down in pulses, but the closer you got to the train in front of you the more rapid the deceleration. So you couldn't run your train into the train in front of you. This feature became a real problem one day when we had six trains on the tracks, and the one in front broke down. It took 2 hours to back the other 5 trains into the station (which we had never received training to do) and evacuate the patrons. The first train to come in had a problem with overheating motors, so the train would travel 20 feet backwards and shut down. The rest of the trains couldn't back up because the trains ahead of them were backing up and shutting down the trains behind them. It was a real mess! All of this keeps reminding me of other things, which I will write about later. Thanks, Keith

Wow! You REALLY want to test my memory? Ok, there were a "bunch" of animals (I would say upwards of 40 to 50 different varieties – so there were hundreds of animals), and the habitat was divided into 5 or 6 sections - Africa, India, Asia, South America, North America... those are the ones I remember. I think Africa probably had the most variety of animals. They had elephants, giraffes, buffalo, rhinoceros, hippos, East African Crowned Cranes, 3 ostrich - one male, two female, a lion that we rarely saw, a form of antelope called Scimitar-Horned Oryx, as well as the other regular run-of-the-mill antelope, etc. The smallest section was South America, but it contained one of my favorite animals - the Capybara. They are the largest rodents in the world, and they look like giant brown rats - I found a picture of one here: http://www.castlebar.ie/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=919 These little fellows liked to escape from their section into the North American section. In fact, there was a guard post with a gate that a ranger had to open in order for you to move through there. The Capybaras liked to hang out there around the gate, and despite the ranger being there, they frequently escaped. At times the track ran along the ground, and at other times it was over 20 feet high. There was always a danger of hitting animals with the train – and you were no safer in the air (I almost hit a giraffe once at 20 feet), so we tried to be very cautious. Somewhere in between in size were the Asian and North American sections. The Asian section had a tiger that they had to keep fenced off because it would eat the other animals in the preserve. There was a herd of Black Buck - which were small antelope like creatures. None of them were black, except for the dominant alpha male. Once in a while we would see another male compete for the position, and about half way through the summer, the leaders changed positions. The original leader was no longer allowed in the herd, and began to lose his black color, while the new leader rapidly became black. That was very interesting to watch, because it makes you wonder "how do they change color like that?" There was also a Dromedary Camel - these are the two-humped kind. It too was fenced off for some reason. In the North American section you had Bison - which we were told to be very clear about - they are often called "Buffalo," but they are in fact, Bison. There were also White Tailed Deer. So there were a bunch of animals. The preserve itself was serving as a research facility – so it was more than just a living display of animals. Most of the research had to do with preservation. Sorry about that long answer to your first question – ask me what time it is and I’ll tell you how to make a watch! About your other questions – I was told that in the past the line had gotten over three hours long. I don’t think it was ever that long when I was working there, but it did get very long at times. The supervisor had a way of telling when to put another train on based on how long the line was. Fridays and Saturdays were often bad, but Mondays and Wednesdays got pretty busy in the summer as well. Generally, all but a few of the crew were on duty at all times. That was around 10 or 11 of us. Did I mention that we had to clean and do other jobs like that? Humans can be very dirty animals!