From mamros@athena.mit.edu Tue May 20 00:02:24 1997
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster
Subject: TR: Conneaut Lake Park (Blue Streak Bash) (5/17-5/18)
From: mamros@athena.mit.edu (Shawn Mamros)
Date: 20 May 1997 04:02:24 GMT

This was a night to remember, in more ways than one.  To think that two
years ago, this coaster and this park were all but given up for dead...
(*shudder*)  Fortunately, that's all in the past, and the mighty Blue Streak
(1937 Ed Vettel wooden out-n-back) lives once again!

But first, I'll start with some things I noticed in the rest of the park:
Couldn't help but notice a circular "Old Indiana Fun Park" that was
sitting on the ground in back of one of the buildings, alongside the
road leading back to the parking field nearest the Hotel Conneaut.  Not
sure why they chose to bring that memento back from that park's auction,
but it was a sobering sight...  Not far away from that sat the blue-and-
yellow gondola from a Huss Ranger (presumably the one purchased from said
auction).  Within the park itself, there is now a set of Flying Scooters
installed that weren't there last year, sitting next to the Tumble Bug
and across the midway from the Blue Streak station.  (I thought somebody
had said that OIFP's Scooters had gone elsewhere, but perhaps these were
purchased from elsewhere - they were painted red with numbers on the sails,
if that helps...)

After a delicious banquet, the four-hundred-or-so enthusiasts made their
way over to the Blue Streak, where the restored NAD Century Flyer was
revealed.  Oh my stars - this train is GORGEOUS!  This was the first
time I've ever seen a Century Flyer first-hand with all of the trim
intact and polished, and it is a sight to behold.  As if that weren't
enough, the headlights were turned on early on, and so was the "Mars
light" in the middle of the sunburst front grill.  (For those that have
never seen one of these in action, it's a white light with a parabolic
reflector mounted behind it at a shallow angle that rotates slowly,
casting its light forward rather than to the side as the old-fashioned
"bubble lights" on emergency vehicles do.)  The lights were off later on;
I was under the impression they were turned off so that we could enjoy
the charms of the tunnel to the lift in complete darkness.

After one trainload of dignitaries and a second trainload for the press,
Leslie Ashfield and Jeff Graham took the front seat and exchanged wedding
vows as the train was parked in the station.  (First time I've ever
witnessed a coaster wedding...)  Congratulations, and may you have many
many happy years together...  My very first ride ever on the Blue Streak
was in the back seat; we had white balloons for the wedding, which we
released at the top of the lift hill...

...and then I grabbed the lapbar in sheer terror as the train shot out
from underneath me on an incredibly steep first drop!  Slight jog left,
then an equally steep rise up to the stars, followed by two more full-sized,
mighty airtime-filled drops.  Back car riders find their thighs up against
the bar on every one of these drops!  A relatively flat, long right hand
turnaround follows, but it ends with a quick swoop-down-right-then-rise-
left combo, providing the ride's lateral high point (which can be enjoyed
in full - NO SEAT DIVIDERS!).  Sparks literally flew from the train coming
around this bend!  The remaining hills back to the station incorporate
one of Ed Vettel's favorite coaster illusions: the later drops actually
drop down deeper than the first ones, providing a wonderful surprise for
first-time riders.

Admittedly, the Blue Streak was somewhat pokey at the hill crests early
on, but picked up MUCH speed as the night wore on, in spite of the chill.
(If my sister hadn't loaned me a hat and some gloves, I don't think I
would've lasted very long in the cold!)

Operationally, the Blue Streak is run under full manual control, complete
with Big Ol' Brake Levers.  The only electrical assistance is provided
by a painted map of the coaster which sits above the station exit/tunnel
entrance; the map has colored light bulbs located at certain points in
the circuit which light as the train passes the matching point on the
ride itself.  A warning bell sounds as the train reaches the last such
point closest to the station.  (Matching colored light bulbs are located
nearby and above the brake levers.)

Don Schanz and his construction/maintenance crew deserve a BIG round of
applause for all their hard work rebuilding this great coaster!  This is
one ride which should provide plenty of coaster enjoyment for years to
come, just as it has for most of the past 60 years.

Of course, any coaster, however great, is only part of the coaster event
experience; meeting and catching up with friends is a very important part
of it as well!  Glad to see that so many of you could make it to Conneaut.
(I'm afraid of leaving somebody out, so I won't list names, though I *do*
have to mention that I do wish we could've gotten together enough hardy
souls to give a "performance" to Dana Schwartz's "Conneaut!" - then again,
you wouldn't *really* want to hear me try to sing... ;-)

One sad note to relate, however, for those who weren't there: sometime
during this past week, one of the workers on the Blue Streak was seriously
injured in an accident while working on the coaster.  As of Saturday
evening, he was still in the hospital...  Those of us who were there
were able to sign a card for him (sadly, I can't recall his name at present).
I hope I speak for us all in wishing him a full and speedy recovery.
Too often, we don't think about how much work it takes to keep these
machines that we enjoy (and often take FAR too much for granted) in
operating order (let alone a major restoration project like this one), and
it's a shame that it sometimes takes an unfortunate incident like this
for many of us to appreciate that fact.

And I can't help but chime in on one more point: in any coaster event
riding session, there are no "winners", "losers" or "cheaters"; those
who managed to last from "dusk till dawn" have absolutely zero, repeat,
ZERO right to consider themselves superior to anyone else who was there
(or to anyone else in the public at large, for that matter).  'Nuf said...

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros@mit.edu