TeacherKim... I am old but I will never forget my first ride on the Eagle- I was lucky enough to ride actual Train # 2 with people on it. Mostly construction workers. It was the most unbelievable ride on the Eagle ever. I also got the see the look on Mr. Allen and Mr. Cobb's face when the first train came back in the trims and ready block.... some things you never forget. Also, it was not a warm day so... They had "very" light grease in the bearings because of the cold- it really flew around the track. On the original back "dog leg" you felt like the Train was going to fly off the track. The paint on Eagle has held up- but needs a new coat. The original pieces were "dipped" in a paint trough and allowed to dry before being assembled. I believe that it has lasted longer than most and kept the wood in good shape. The summer of the build was awesome. We got to see it being assembled. It was bigger than anyone had ever seen in 1975. The first 5 or 10 bents for the drop went up first. Walking up the hill toward the mine train from the USA section you are right in line with those bents. People would stand there for 30 minutes looking at that with mouth agape. Some would ask what it was and the word around the park from employees would be "it's the braces for the world's largest drive-in movie". That was an awesome summer to work in the Park. BTW, Steve Reed - the guy that is refurbing the Horses on the Carousel- started 2 years after I did. I was so surprised to learn that he is still there. The winter we painted the Horses- my winter work was sanding the Horses to get ready to receive paint. Sanding the flowers and intricate work on those Horses was very hard work. You really developed an appreciation for how detailed those pieces of art really are....I also sanded trash cans to be repainted before Park open in April- a different time to be sure.