Attraction Serengeti Express

[Bill]

Link to wiki page will go here...

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Description below is a work in progress.

The train ride opened to guests in May [2] or June of 1971. [1] It was first known as the Trans Veldt Railway. [2]

A website with more details and pictures: http://amusementpics.com/TPTBGT.html

 

[Mushroom]

Hey Bill, do you know which train at BGT is the one that used to operate at Kings Dominion? I just remembered that one of KD's trains operates here, and curiosity has the best of me.

 

[wombat96]

Corncob Junction was the Transylvania express for tampa. Could somebody explain this to me because wiki does nothing. Did they use the train or was it just a Scarezone?

 

[Bill]

Joe - I'll see if I can't get an answer to that.

Connor - Do you know what year, or have any other details?

 

[wombat96]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl-O-Scream_(Busch_Gardens_Tampa_Bay)
2001:Inferno Express:Based on an evil train yard
2002: Agony Express:This train yard presented guests with two choices: to board the train and get killed by the passengers on it or to not board the train and get killed by the freaks at the train station.
2003:Agony Express:This train yard presented guests with two choices: to board the train and get killed by the passengers on it or to not board the train and get killed by the freaks at the train station.
2004:Agony Express:This train yard presented guests with two choices: to board the train and get killed by the passengers on it or to not board the train and get killed by the freaks at the train station.
Sorry I have no clue where I got Corncob Junction from. Though did they do the same thing as BGW or was it just a scare zone? All of these take place at the Nairobi Station.

 

[Bill]

Based on all of that information, I'm pretty confident it only used the area in and around the train station, and not the train itself as a ride.

 

[wombat96]

I just noticed every single halloween themed to trains had the word express in it. Really interesting.

 

[MAZ]

This is Quoted from an internet article-----#552 a 4-4-0 (narrow gage 36”) originally named Stonewall Jackson and had orange on the boiler jacket. The engine was fired by propane. The tender had a compartment that carried batteries that ran the speaker system for the cars. These batteries were charged each night in the train shop. The train line, at Kings Dominion, was called The Old Dominion Line, and had a hick theme. Originally, there was a shotgun wedding that was preformed when the train was stopped in the woods, this was a live production done by park actors. In addition to the shotgun wedding there were about four other scenes that were mechanically operated (air operated figures and actions). These were triggered by a magnetic (that activated a magnetic switch that was trackside) that was located on the front bottom of the tender. Other than color the engine looks like it did when it ran at Kings Dominion Park in Doswell Virginia. Some upgrades that were installed during this time - the copper piping from the injectors to the boiler were fitted, the air compressor was refitted with Teflon rings on the air side, sand dome blowers were reworked, boiler was acid cleaned (around 1979), engine was completely disassembled and all drive boxes were checked and machined as needed (valve timing was adjusted at this time as well), Teflon wear plates were added to the tender trucks, the inside of the water tank was sanded and painted with rust resistant coating, the throttle handle was sanded and polished (originally only the handle was polished). All of this work was preformed at the KD train shop, which had a lift installed for lifting the engines. I was involved in the work listed above and fired and ran this engine, as well as the other engine, #601, Patrick Henry, now at Bush Gardens, Tampa, FL.-----End Quote.

#552, Stonewall Jackson, is at Dry Gulch USA, Adair, OK.

I'm 97% sure that the coach cars on the Alpen Express at BGW are from KD's #552.

 

[Nicole]

Wow. A lot of stereotypes on that train ride!

 

[Eric]

I rode this railway for the first time today, the train rides pretty nice, lots of animals and such, one downside though is that its a 40 minute train ride, which wouldn't usually be an issue but they were only running one train, and the operations for it were painfully slow too.