jrkstl

St. Louis City Museum founder Bob Cassilly was found dead this morning. Details R.I.P. Bob. May your legacy live on forever.

I'm not much for doing TRs, but here's a Flickr set from my visit to the City Museum this past Saturday. City Museum Flickr Set I don't post here much, so hopefully this is Kosher... BTW, this was my second visit. LOVED it! Thanks to this most excellent TR, it gave me the inspiration to take my visiting nieces. Needless to say, they LOVED it.

Slight correction, JamesMC - Railblazer did in fact reopen after the tragedy, but it only remained Railblazer for the debut year, which was 1984. On my one visit that year, I rode it several times. Due to the accident, operation was down to a single train, and each standing position saw a lockable waist belt that could only be opened by a special key. There was approximately 10 (no joke) ride ops on the platform, and I saw multiple ops taking notes on a clipboard. Due to the slow loading, and probably due to the unpleasant ride experience, the park made the wise decision to change it back to the Mine Train. The "Big Bad John" side remained in operation through 1987 and was SBNO through the next season. The park placed the one-season-only Condor within a portion of the coaster, and during the season that side saw the drop after the second lift cut off in half. Ride experience on Railblazer? Think of what it would be like to stand in a fiberglass shower stall, and to have someone shake said shower stall back and forth violently, and then try it with a toilet seat over your head. Yeah, not so pleasant.

That's about how I remember it too. My first time there was in the mid 1970's, probably 75-76 and I vividly remember the broken track illusion. I have a warped recollection that there was also a mock-up of a crashed train below, but I can't be too sure of that.

FWIW, the MCB on The Voyage is not used as a trim. Ever. It's only there for emergencies during a three train operation.

Yes, they cycled trains yesterday, and today as well. A friend of mine is there for a few days, and he called me while standing next to it. He claims the trains are very quiet, and from what I could tell over his cell phone, he's right.

I 99% certain that it was Twister at Six Flags Elitch Gardens.