QUEST OF THE
LOST COASTER
I have a few to share with you, and maybe you can supply some that you would like more information about their whereabouts. If you have any information on these, it would GREATLY be appreciated. Besides information I am also looking for photos and stories dealing w/ lost coasters. Hopefully this page will turn into a true memorial of the lost loved ones. Thank you.
I have been involved with riding rollercoasters for over ten years, but I have been fascinated by them years before when I was a young child who could not ride that coaster for not being tall enough.
Growing up in the Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania, there were serveral parks a person could travel to for a day of fun and entertainment. However those parks are now long gone, but they have left an impression that will last at least the rest of my life if not many others.
Harvey's Lake in PA held their own family-owned park, Hanson's Park, which was open until the early to mid-1980s. From the street one can see the park's coaster and as a little kid you are marveled by its size. From what I remember of it, it was a white-painted wooden out and back coaster. It was in need of maintenance which the park could not provide and much of the time I was there the coaster did not run.
The coaster passed through the kiddie area of the park and even dipped low near one of the kiddie train tracks. I was once told that the intent of the design was to see as much of the park as possible from the ride. I do remember once the coaster ran however, and I'm assuming I must have been very young because in the final year or so of the park it did not run.
According to the rec.roller-coaster FAQ, the name of the coaster was entitled "Coaster" which of course, I tried to confirm without much success, but those I have talked to do not even recall a name.
Sadly, the coaster was destroyed in the early 1990s to make way for the concert area which is still there today. I'm looking for any information on this coaster, including photos and a blue print.
One word to note. My friend would always tell me that they oiled the track. The procedure was for a person to lean out the front of the first car and pour oil on the tracks. He did see this, even though I'm surprised they even did this procedure.
Besides Hanson's large coaster, the kiddie section of the park had their own little rollercoaster that ran till the very end. I have been trying to confirm the rumor that Knoeble's Grove bought the small coaster. I have seen this one for myself, and it is the exact design of the small one at Hanson's but not too sure if it is the exact same one. I assumed it was dismantled or destroyed.
Now a state park, the Rocky Glen area of Wilkes Barre was once a well-known amusement park. It took on many names in its existance: Rocky Glen, Rickets Glen, and even Ghost Town in the Glen. The last I know, the park lasted till the mid-1980s. I believe the one coaster was a steel construction coaster that was a bright blue color with red track. I can not remember much of this coaster. I am assuming that the coaster in the rec.roller-coaster FAQ listed for Rocky Glen, The Mighty Lightin', is this coaster.
I remember a wooden rollercoaster at Rocky Glen but I cannot for the life of me prove it. If I am remembering right, there was a small picnic pavillion almost or maybe underneath part of its construction. Also I'm assuming it was an out and back, with a turn-around section able to be viewed from the small kid's in-the-water boat ride.
I have a haunting memory of this coaster. I think it was running at the time, but I remember that view because a storm was approaching, and the coaster looked lonely and still in the growing dark sky.
If you have any information, pictures, blueprints, etc of these coasters, or if you would like for me to add one, please email me. Thank you.
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