First I want to tell what inspired this project! On May 23rd, 2015 Carowinds Amusement Park on the NC/SC state line made an announcement that shook Carowinds Enthusiasts to the core. After 39 seasons the park would be closing the historic Thunder Road wooden roller coaster, my favorite wooden roller coaster and third favorite roller coaster in park(1st favorite until 2011). Carowinds opened in 1973 but sagging attendance caused the developer to declare bankurpty and the park came under new owner in 1975. New for the 1976 season was Thunder Road, a racing wooden coaster themed to the 1958 movie of the same name; Thunder Road was the first attraction added to the struggling amusement park that resulted in an increase in attendance. Many Carowinds fans would argued that Thunder Road saved Carowinds from closing forever. I took my first ride on Thunder Road in 1992 at the age of four(I was born September 1987), and was instantly one of if not Thunder Road's biggest fans. I remember days when I was older that the ride operators got tired of seeing me because I would ride up to a dozen times per visit before moving on the next ride. I worked as a ride operator at Carowinds during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, on my days off I would stop by Thunder Road and ride. Between 1995 and 2007 Thunder Road operated one track forward, the other backwards; I always thought the backwards sign was iconic to life(Not being able to see where you are going, but knowing where you have been.) The announcement of Thunder Road's closure hit me hard, so hard that every chance I got I drove to Carowinds, and on several trips rode nothing but Thunder Road. I normally go to the park 5 times a year, but I made it to 11 this year before my favorite wooden coaster closed forever. I have only been once(grand total of twelve this season) since Thunder Road, and I waited until Carowinds removed all of the ride's structure. I don't believe I would have been able to see Thunder Road in process of demolition; seeing the empty site where my favorite wooden coaster was left me glazing with a broken heart for minutes. All that is left is four pieces of wood that decorated the bottom of a signpost and memorial signs that Carowinds put up to calm irate fans and visitors. Now one of the ways I have chosen to honor Thunder Road is my HO scale model amusement park, which of course has a model wooden coaster that I have dubbed "Thunder Road". I created a website to document the park's construction, and to provide other modelers with hopefully useful information to them. http://www.carowindszone.net/csamusement I named the park to match my garden railroad and N scale railroad, Calm Springs. Oh and here is a link to a few photos I took since 2004 of Thunder Road: http://www.carowindszone.net/photos/thumbnails.php?album=13
The furthest I ever got was just a ticket booth kit that is sitting in my to do boxes. Not sure what todo with it now that I scratched that idea off my list, Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
The coaster had it's moments but it wasn't too hard. Hardest part is the horizontal bracing on the inside of the coaster, the ribbon kept wanting to twist.
Time to build him a train layout of his own. I built one for my son when he was 5. His own loop with Thomas. Now he's 15 and helping me build my empire. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
My wife does most of the paint and decal work for me and sometimes she finds a kit that she wants to assemble. When I was adding the frame for the background I had move the frame for the baseboard in and out of the house, my 7 year old daughter was the only one home at the time so she helped me carry the baseboard frame out of the house, clamp the background, and carry the whole thing back in the house. Over the years I found that model railroading is perfect for getting the whole family involved.
I had an idea once for an amusement park. Using an HOn30 minitrains passenger set one could add a train to all the other rides. Maybe one day when I can expand further into the house Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
Since my train ride isn't the focus of the park, I used n scale track and n scale trains. The train is Athearn 2-8-0 and old time passenger cars. The tunnel is designed to fit n scale portals and the bridge abutment is n scale. It will have the bridge connecting the maingate to the park. I haven't decided if I am going to use an n scale train depot or just have a ho scale platform. Picture: http://www.carowindszone.net/csamusement/photos/park/park6.JPG
Yes, that would be great except for one thing... He doesn't like trains... real or model. Sucks! Right? But, I am a big fan of Legos also, so, we can always "play" with those! JMS
In Utah there is a Lego club that shows up at the local train shows. All their Lego kits being shown off and Lego trains running around. Poplar with all the kids. http://www.utahlug.org Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
http://carowindszone.net/csamusement/photos/park/72217-2.JPG A recent photo of my now larger amusement park, I moved it to a larger space. This photo shows all of my completed rides except the Faller Crazy Clown, which was completed soon after the photo was taken. Only the Musik Express and wooden coaster are in their permament spots, since taking this photo I started work on the waiting line for the Musik Express and scenery for "Hot Dog Man". The Musik Express is motorized and has working lights. I have video of several of my rides on YouTube.
