Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad

Name: Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad

Opened in: 1972

Length of Track: 5,585 feet

Constructed in: 1970-1971

Track Gauge: 36” with 60# rails

Fuel: propane

Average Speed: Between 6 and 7 mph.

Maximum Speed: 60 miles per hour

Engine: 4-4-0 American,

Boiler: 400 gallon capacity, 150-180# operating pressure.  They use about 150 gallons of water per hour.

Number of Engines & Coaches: 2 engines, each with six coaches

Length of train with six coaches:  282’-2”

Length of Engine & Tender: 43’-2” feet       Cost of 1 Engine and Tender: $72,500

Weight of Engine & Tender: 22 tons dry, 25 tons in working order

Height of Engine: 13’-0”

Water Tank Capacity: 1200 gallons

Length of 1 Coach: 37 feet                    Cost of 1 Coach: $13,500

Total Cost for 2 Engines and 12 Coaches: $307,000

Weight of 1 Coach: 8 tons                      Capacity per Coach: 80 people

Hourly Capacity: 2,300 people per hour

Ride Time: 5 minutes

Manufactured by: Crown Metal Products of Wyano, Pa.

Location: Rivertown and Boomerang Bay

Ridership: 56,925,328 riders since 1972, 2^nd most in park history.  Its record year was 1973 when 2,378,749 rides were given. (Numbers through the 2019 season).

Miscellaneous: KI`s engines are the #12 originally called “Tecumseh” and the #19 originally called “Simon Kenton.” The green #19 arrived in the fall of 1971, and was the last Crown engine delivered before Crown founder Ken Williams died.  The PKI station originally had a sign that read “K. S. Williams, Stationmaster.”  The blue #12 arrived in the spring.  In 2002, Kings Island renamed the trains in honor of the first engineers who operated them.  The blue #12 was renamed the “Kenny Van Meter” and the green #19 is now known as the “Lew Brown.”  Every other winter PKI completely tears apart one of the engines and rebuilds them, so each engine is rebuilt every four years.  The track was modified when Water Works was built to accommodate the Water Works Station.  Additionally, the ride originally had animated figures through an old west town and past Fort Washington.  The engines have six, 100-gallon propane tanks on board.  Originally these lasted about six hours, but modifications allow the ride to run all day without refueling and there will still be some propane left over.  In 1984, it cost about $174 a day (ten hours) in propane to run the trains.  That is about $.29 a minute!  The Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad is the highest capacity ride in the park.

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