Friday morning I got up somewhat early, partly because I remembered what a nightmare traffic had been Thursday afternoon, and partly because my body was still operating on Eastern Daylight Time. From my even-numbered motel in Arlington Heights it was a quick and mostly painless trip down IR-290 to the interchange with IR-55, which happens to be where Hillcrest Park is located. Sort of. It's actually just a quick jaunt down Joliet Rd. and completely hidden from the road by dense tree cover. Except for a sign...a large wooden sign that looks a lot like the signs they put out in front of condominium developments in the early 1970's which is incompletely hidden by a camper dealership. When a suitable break in traffic appeared, I made the left-hand turn into the break in the trees. Just off the road I was greeted with another sign offering me a warm welcome to Hillcrest Park:
HILLCREST PARK"This must be the place," I thought as I turned right, figuring the NAPHA event flyer constitutes an "invitation". I turned right and slowly drove down a winding asphalt path (to call it a "road" would be a bit of an overstatement) which seemed only slightly wider than my vehicle [Footnote 1]. It's a long and winding road that leads to a gravel parking lot past a lake and an elaborate railroad trestle.
Across the road and railroad track from the parking area is the most minimalist park entrance I think I have ever seen, no more than a table set up in an open pavilion. I checked in, then proceeded to check out the park. To the left was a large white house, apparently a residence. To the right, a spacious, tree-shaded picnic grove. Ahead and to the left was a small cookhouse and a large building containing a cookhouse, a cafeteria-style serving line, a small taproom, and restrooms. On down the hill, there are a couple of picnic shelters (including one specifically outfitted for bingo games) and a volleyball court and a small stage in a field. Adjacent to this is a large swimming pool. At the bottom of the hill and to the far right of the picnic grove is the entrance to the midway. This includes a Mangels Roto-Whip kiddie ride, an Arrow Development merry-go-round [Footnote 2], an Allan Herschell Helicopter ride, a building housing a set of SDC floor-pick-up bumper cars, and two closed-up buildings which we were later told housed Skee-Ball and a Bonanza shooting gallery. The merry-go-round is set up in a large steel-framed canvas dome similar to the ones that used to be used for Cinema 180 theaters. When I first saw the merry-go-round I thought I was looking at a Herschell, but then I noticed that except for the floorboards, the entire ride is metal, including the upper sweeps and rounding boards. It's also a four-row machine, which is unusual for a small carousel.
In the corner of the midway, diagonally opposite the merry-go-round, is a smallish wood coaster which was not quite as I expected. I climbed aboard the PTC junior train, pushed forward then pulled back on the electric lap bar, and a moment later the operator pulled the brake lever and the train started up the lift.
I had expected that the Little Dipper would be similar to the Wyandot Lake Sea Dragon, which is only 8' taller. It isn't, though, as it has a somewhat more truncated layout. At the top of the lift there is a small dip and a turnaround, then the double-dip is on the first major drop. The front turnaround, then, is built directly over the semicircular station, and the oval portion of the layout completes around the back side. So it's kind of like the Sea Dragon, only smaller and without the first drop. It actually has more in common with the Stricker's Grove Teddy Bear, although it is taller than the Teddy Bear. Little Dipper "hammers" a little bit at the bottoms of the drops, but apart from that runs very nicely.
Next I had to ride the train. Hillcrest owns a Crown steam engine, presumably similar to the one at Hersheypark, but only uses it on special occasions because it is expensive to operate, largely because of the need for a suitably skilled and licensed engineer. So whenever they run only one train, they use a Chance CP Huntington diesel set. Which is fine, if a bit underpowered [Footnote 3]. The train struggles up the hill toward the parking lot, descends into the woods behind the house and pool, circles the lake, then returns on the trestle alongside the entrance road, circling behind the engine shop and miniscule boneyard before returning to the station. The lake is pretty much useless as picnic-park lakes go. It's a swampy pond with steep, overgrown shores, largely overgrown with whatever crud grows in standing water. Scenic, to be sure, but apart from that holding no recreational value, and serving as an excellent breeding ground for whatever those pests were that were eating me alive during the park owner's presentation.
According to our schedule, lunch was continuous. So, having some time to kill before the presentation, I took a few more rides on the coaster, and then got myself some lunch...a hot dog with trimmings, beans, potato salad, Coke product, ice cream bar, and later I found the bratwurst and hamburgers in the other cookhouse. Looking around the facility it was clear that Hillcrest really is ill-equipped to handle an outing the size of our group (about 150 people). Clearly the place is optimized for about ten times the crowd.
We nicely filled the bingo pavilion, though, and the park owner came out to tell us about the place. He explained how the Chicago area has traditionally been a good market for company picnics, and that his Dad got started in the business by organizing picnic outings, and ultimately had to develop his own facility...in fact, developed several picnic facilities, ultimately operating Hillcrest and another smaller facility. The owner hadn't planned to take over the business, but as so often happens in the amusement industry, he became the General Manager at Hillcrest out of necessity and decided to stay.
As I suspected, the park is really equipped to handle picnics of up to a few thousand people, and has done so for many years. The coaster originally stood at Kiddytown in Chicago before it was moved to Hillcrest. Without getting into any detail, he indicated that Kiddytown had purchased the ride in 1952 but didn't put it up until 1956 (the same year John Allen built his first three coasters). Since it was clearly a mature junior coaster design (the one at Kiddieland supposedly dates to 1940) I wonder if this indicates that PTC sold these coasters in "kit form", perhaps as a set of construction prints and a collection of mechanical components (train, lift drive)...just add lumber and labor.
We also learned about the impending death of Hillcrest Park. At the end of the year, Hillcrest will close and a developer will transform the heavily-wooded park into something commercial, probably an industrial park just like the ones surrounding the park, and the park's owner will retire from the business. Hillcrest will disappear, its modest collection of rides scattered across the country. The good thing is that it's ending in an organized fashion...this isn't a surprise, and it appears that the equipment will be individually sold off to other parks, not simply auctioned at the end of the season. It's not as dramatic an end, but it's somehow more dignified for the park to go out in a series of handshakes rather than under Norton's gavel. Apparently there is interest in everything but the bumper cars (which are nothing special) and the Helicopter (which is one of the most common kiddie rides on the planet). The real shame is that no matter where it goes, the train won't be quite the same, and worst of all, the dense tree cover will be lost. The newspaper article posted in the park indicates that the developer intends to "replace" the trees he tears down. But it will never be the same.
I guess that's what they call "progress."
Next: Kiddieland
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Footnote 1: 1994 Ford Crown Victoria. Overall width 6'8". [Return to text]
Footnote 2: Yes, THAT Arrow. [Return to text]
Footnote 3: As I recall from Hersheypark, the Crown locomotives are a little underpowered, too! [Return to text]
--DCAjr
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