Woodland Park Memories #9

This is my last installment of the Woodland Park saga.  (The crowd goes wild!) . This was an interesting time in my past. Hope you enjoyed sharing my memories of that time.

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The operators of the rides in Woodland Park were informally divided into 3 groups. The newbees, or first year folks, usually delegated to the Kidee rides, where taking tickets and turning a timer were the main duties, the cool guys that ran the skill required rides, usually the high school seniors and above, and then the engineers (Yes, Me!) that could operate all of the rides, plus the train, plus more then a little bit of ride maintenance and other 'straw boss' duties.

A day in the life of the employees started with the crew assembling near the office and workshop that was just inside the driveway at the southeast corner of the Kideeland area. There George, the manager of the attractions, would direct the employees to clock in and start cleaning the area prior to opening the gates to the public for the day. It is amazing how many peanut shells and other litter accumulates during a busy day. It all has to be swept up prior to opening.

The rides that were there during my years were the Roller Coaster, Helicopters, Electric Cars, Ferris Wheel, Caterpillar, Merry-Go Round, Rock O Planes, Boats, Tubs and of course the Train. All attractions were priced at ten cents per ride. One exception was adults riding on the train were charges twenty cents per ride.

Each ride has its own routine for operation.

Newbee Rides (Low Skill Required)

Helicopters:
Tarps covering each helicopter were removed at the start of the day. The customers would enter the area and sit in the copters, two persons per copter. The operator would check the safety belt on each car and start up the ride. The ride had two motors that were started in sequence. The main motor would turn the ride around the central anchor. The second motor created hydraulic pressure that the customers could control by means of a control bar in each copter. Pulling the bar back would cause the copter to rise as it turned around the circle. Younger children were 'helped' by the operators who would run to the copter as it passed and the control bar would be demonstrated to the kids. This means the ride guys would fly into the air outside the kids copter and have a flight around the ride! I imagine that if there were such a thing as safety inspecors in those days, they would have been horrified! A timer on the controls automatically turned off both motors allowing the ride to coast to a stop.

It was a favorite activity to 'help' the little kids. This allowed the operator to while holding onto the car, fly around the ride on the outside going up and down, teaching the kids how the ride worked.

Caterpillar:
Not too much challenge here. This was a small child ride that simply went in a circle and went up and down a bit due to an off center main wheel under the ride.

Boats:
Another small child ride, although an occasional parent would sometimes ride along. One of the boats had a small motor and propeller that would turn the rest of the boats in a circle.

Tubs:
The tubs were a set of small cars that turned like a merry-go-round. Each car had a wheel that the riders could use to turn the car in circles as it traveled around the larger circle. The operator here kept an eye on the smaller kids so that they did not get the cars spinning too fast. The operator would help spin the cars for the older kids (girls) by giving the car a good pull as it passed by, Older kids could really get those things going and it was a challenge not to break your arm stopping the spinning when the ride was over.

Experienced Operator Rides (Skill Required)

Roller Coaster:
The Roller Coaster needed to have the car tarps removed and a dry run around the track to make sure all was ready. The coaster ran pretty slow on cool days until the track grease warmed up from a few runs. Normally one person operated the ride. The customers were let onto the platform and were seated in one of the three cars. Each car had a front and back seat. Safety bars were lowered onto the laps of the customers. An electric motor drove a chain that pulled the coaster up the lift hill where the coaster then went around the track by gravity. The ride included three trips around.

For the first trip, the operator released the brake and gently pulled the cars down a short hill prior to the lift hill. A hook under the first car would engage the lift chain and pull the ride up the hill. When the ride returned to the loading area, the operator used a handle linked to a brake that pressed wooden beams against the cars as they passed the loading platform. This allowed the cars to be slowed after each circle so that the cars would intercept the chain at just the proper speed. The trick is to have the coaster start to slow just at the moment that the hook will engage the chain. If the train goes past the platform too fast, it will go too far up the lift hill and start to fall back before the hook engages with a hard jolt. Likewise, too slow, and the chain will jerk the coaster (and the customers) too hard. The clunk if the cars met the chain wrong could be heard quite a bit away and would cause George to look up. This was always to be avoided.

After the third trip up the lift hill the chain was turned off, the exit chain (different ramps for Exit than entrance) was opened, and the coaster was stopped at the platform. Again, some skill was required to stop the cars without a lot of whiplash and to have the cars all within the platform area so the people could get off and the new group on. The operator then released the safety bars, by kneeling on a release control on the middle of the side of each of the three cars, and lifting the bars at the same time, allowing the customers to exit.

Electric Cars:
The cars were kept overnight in the ‘tunnel’ of the track. The operators would open the doors to the storage area and the power to the track would be turned on. Between the exit area, and the loading area, the electric track power is normally off. The operator at the entrance area of the ride, had three switches to briefly turn the power on in the track segments between the exit and loading area. This allowed him to move the cars to clear the exit area and position the first car for loading. Once loaded he would activate that segment of track until the car entered the main ride area where the power is normally onall of the time. The cars followed a guide rail that also supplied the power to the cars.  The cars had one speed only. Two children could ride in each car. A second operator usually worked at the exit end to catch the cars at the end of the ride, unfasten the safety belt and assist the kids out of the car.

The electric pickup device on the cars required a fair amount of maintenance. The device had spring loaded shoes that picked up the current. Copper strips then carried the power to two pickup plates under each car. Maintaining these pickups was my main non-train duty. I'd rebuilt the pick up gadgets seemingly all of the time, fashioning and bending just right the copper extensions, pick up shoes etc. The strips would arc from the current and corrode the copper pretty quickly.

Ferris Wheel:
The ‘Wheel’ was one of the more challenging rides to operate (Heck, it was by far the MOST difficult). At the start of the day, the operator and a helper would replace the three cars that are removed every night. Removing the three cars and turning the wheel so that the empty slots were at the top would prevent any uninvited guests from manually moving the wheel during the night. The electric controls for the wheel and all of the other rides were in a closed circuit box and padlocked every evening to prevent unauthorized operation.

The wheel would be kept turning even if no riders were present. This highly visible ride would quietly announce to visitors to the park that the area was open for business. The motor for the wheel would be powered on for the whole day. Control of the wheel was through a single lever combined clutch and brake. Pulling the lever back would put pressure on the clutch shoes against the always spinning power drum. This in turn would pull a cable around a pully and than went around the entire ferris wheel. Pressing forward on the control lever would disengage the power clutch and put pressure or a set of brake shoes an another drum and thereby brake the whole ferris wheel.

The wheel was a challenge to run, as the motor was relatively low powered. If for example a group of heavier then normal guests (diplomatically speaking) were seated in adjacent cars, and then small children were seated opposite them, the wheel would be out of balance. There is a lot of leverage when weight is half way around the wheel. As the relative weight of the existing passengers, and their position needed to be kept in mind as new riders were loaded, sort of a circular mental chess board. Often the operator would have to ‘jump’ riders forward in the line if he needed to balance prior customers who were throwing the wheel off balance. A level of diplomacy was required, as it wouldn't do to announce "Fat People Forward Please", or "Skinny People Only Now" even if that was what needed to be done.

Not a lot of maintenance required, but once in a while I got to monkey climb up the masts, to grease gun the zirk fittings at the top for the wheel axle. That was in the days before any safety equipment or anything wimpy like that. Nice view from up there.

Merry-Go-Round:
The Merry-Go Round at Woodland Park was a real hidden, under appreciated, treasure of Seattle. This antique attraction was the largest wooden center pole Merry-Go-Round west of Chicago. The entire ride is suspended from the center pole with no contact between the ground and the rotating platform. Half of the hand painted horses would go up and down as the ride went around. The other half of the horses were stationary. Parents or grandparents also used two decorated benches with very small children. The horses were 4 wide on the platform. Truly a magnificent machine.

I remember one off season, where George kept some of us on during the winter to do painting and other maintanence work. That year we painted all of the (big) wooden beams of the ride a bright yellow. No latex paint for us, it was the real oil based paint that was pretty tough to get off skin and impossible to get off of any clothing that escaped the protection of our coveralls. That same period, we replaced all of the chrome rod covers that were on the outside of the steel vertical rods that held the floor platform up from the overhead beams. It was my job to shimmy under (!) the platform on my back (in an ocean of Peanut shells) to loosen the rod bolts one at a time, so that the up man above in the overhead beams, could pull up a rod far enough to be able to slide the newly chromed cover up the length of the rod and dropping the end back down through the floor where I replaced the bolt. (Repeat, Repeat, Repeat)

The ride, being an antique, had a motor connected to a huge leather belt, wound around enormous smooth steel wheels coupled to a drive rod that connected to a large ring gear at the top of the ride. Power for the lights was fed via large cables connected to collars of metal on the center pole and metal strips that would rub against those collars of metal allowing the power to transfer to the moving part of the 'round. I again was tasked to climb up that center pole (the electric cables were scary, even when off) to carry a container of oil to pour into a reservoir at the top of the center pole to lube that critical area.  

A timer and a 5 position motor control that allowed the ride to start gradually and then pick up speed in steps controlled the operation of the ride. At top speed, the ride was moving at a good clip. Part of the operators responsibility was to take tickets after starting the ride, and making sure any parents standing beside a horse holding their child were on the inside of a horse, away from the edge of the ride. If the operator moved the control up the 5 speeds too fast, that leather belt would squeal loudly, causing George to open the back door of his ticket booth and glare or worse towards the operator. A single, quick initial squeal when starting was normal.

All of the operators worked really hard to look cool getting on and off the moving ride. In the inside stepping on or off was no big deal due to the slower speed in the inside circle of the platform. But on the outside, where the circumference was much larger, the speed was also much greater. The newbees thought that running and jumping on and grabbing a rod was the way. They were the ones who jumped off and didn't kill their speed would have to run wildly for a bit to get back into control. But the cool folks, (yeah, that included me) could stand facing opposite to the direction of travel, take a large stride with one foot, up on the platform transfer your weight to that foot just as it came down, and as your leg came to your position, your were on board. Nothing to it! Yep, we looked cool!

When the timer ran out, the operator would return the motor control to slow and lean against a brake (Not to hard, too fast, or a squeal would occur and that ticket booth was nearby) that would slow the ride down. This ride was also the source of the music that played loudly ALL DAY LONG through speakers that could be heard over the entire area. It's a safe bet that all of the ride operators can still hear every note and pause of the 45-minute continuous tapes.

Rock O Planes:
The Rock O Plane was the main teenager attraction. It is basically a smaller Ferris wheel with enclosed cars that can rotate. The riders have a brake handle that if skillfully used, can get the cars spinning. Another favorite trick was for the riders to make the car stop and be upside down. It was a sure way to make your date scream with fear/delight. The wheel itself turned much faster then the regular Ferris wheel. The ride operator had a 25 position motor control that allowed the control of the ride without the need to balance the rider weights to the degree needed by the big Ferris wheel.

The main hazard of the ride was watching for customers that were having trouble with the motion and were becoming ill. Sometimes the operator noticed a bit too late and a couple buckets of water were needed to rinse out the car after an 'incident'. Such an event was not common, but did happen from time to time.  The favorite activity for the operators here was to flirt with girls.

Train.
Well, we've discussed the train quite a bit.

I liked to tinker, explore and see what I could do with the train. We rarely operated past dusk, but one evening, we was busy later then normal, so we ran the train later then usual. I had the opportunity to do something I'd never done before and that was to operate the train with the head lights on. Hey, that was FUN! There were two lights, as I recall, one was a fixed headlight that shone down the tracks, similar to a cars High Beam light. The other light though, was a rotating 'Mars' light that swung around, creating a moving cone of light from the close ground, around the arc up in the air, down the other side of the arc, and around again. Wow, that was a very cool effect, especially on the trees and other bushes, and structures close to the train.

The horn for the train was an electric (6 volt) automotive spiral horn. It sounded, well like a Chevy or run of the mill Ford. I was always bugging the boss to find a replacement horn that sounded more like a TRAIN horn for goodness sakes. Never did replace it though (sigh).

The A unit also had an automatic bell. The electric solenoid was supposed to clang the bell, fall back and repeat. What really happened, was an obnoxious buzz. I tried to wiggle the thing loose so it would work right, but never did succeed.

Dad