The Menlo Park (Perkasie, PA) Toboggan
(AKA The Wonderful Mountain Shute)
Recreated by PDougherty999 (PDougherty999@VP-Webdesigns.com)
(Description taken from a plaque by the display model of the coaster at the Perkasie, PA Historical Carousel Building.)
In 1892, Samuel R. Kramer, Grier Schectz and Isaac Groff organized the Menlo Park Association. The association purchased 5 acres of land at Fifth and Park Avenue and leased water rights on the stream from Perkasie to the Sellersville dam.
In August of 1893, the line for the Wonderful Mountain Shute as it was called was surveyed. It was opened for riders on Memorial Day in 1894. It contained 12,000 bolts and used 50,000 feet of lumber. It was built entirely on land and was over one-half mile in length. It required a 25 horse power engine and a 47 horse power steam boiler to lift the cars to the starting point.
The cars were made of wood and steel and weighed 800 pounds each and carried six passengers.
The first day the toboggan ran, one car with 4 people stayed in their car until they had gone around the track for 40 rides.
On the first Saturday in August 1894, the toboggan ran for ten hours. Every 20 seconds a car would leave the starting shed for the two minute ride, and many people were still waiting for a ride when the toboggan closed for the day. More than 6,000 tickets were sold that day.
Creator's Notes:
FIRST and FOREMOST!!! This is my very first coaster, which is why I chose this project as it seemed easy enough at the time. Boy was I wrong!!! There is very little information on this coaster that I could find. Besides the 3 or 4 fuzzy pictures on the internet, and the photos I took from my visit to Perkasie, there is very little data I could find on what the majority of this coaster's track looked like. I even spoke to several members of the Perkasie historical society and they kept referring me to their wooden model which in my opinion was very little help due to it's lack of scale. So, since I had already invested so much time into research, and it still would make a good first project, I have decided to give you this model for your riding pleasure. I have recreated the areas that I have pictures of and filled in the rest with mere speculation. This coaster can be best described as a scenic out and back. The only power it had was the lift hill, everything else was gravity driven. As for all the break segments I used, it was the only way I could get the software to allow me to run 6 cars at one time. The only thing I regret not being able to provide for this model is a 3D of the powerhouse (located at the top of the lift hill) and a peculiar pointed structure (also at the top of the lift hill). My 3D modeling skills are non-existent and I've already invested enough time learning how to use the NoLimits software. As a bonus, you can check out the pictures I have by DLing this file: http://thepit.vp-webdesigns.com/glc/Men ... ugherty999).zip .
Creator's Personal Notes Used During Creation:
-6 Cars
-Each had two rows of 3 people.
-Car would seat 6 people.
**Went with the currently chosen car because it looked more like the wood model
-Was 1/2 mile in length.
-1,320 feet on each downward leg. (put block segment or break every 330 feet)
-Lift hill = 80 feet long and 80 feet high (give or take 10 feet). (Was determined by a third party using AutoCAD). For my model, I bumped it up to 90 & 90.
OOOPS. Forgot to mention that this was done in v1.6 with the Improved Friction turned on. Without it, the two very important break segments don't function, thus messing up the timing of the other cars.
Nice job on the recreation, but not a nice choice for one.
T: Was extremely good, but, there was hardly anything to write on. The ride is just way way too repetitive. Next time, if you are a recreation (which I suggest you do not), please choose one that has more feel to it.
Ad: Again, this ride has hardly anything to it. Just build a ride that is bigger and a better layout.
Or: no originality, because it is a recreation. Average of T and Ad.
OOOPS. Forgot to mention that this was done in v1.6 with the Improved Friction turned on. Without it, the two very important break segments don't function, thus messing up the timing of the other cars.
I just thought I'd point out it crashed after my ride. FANTASTIC job if this is your first ride though, I ran it through the editor and it was nearly flawless pumps wise.
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