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"Geeks welcome here?"
It was Sunday morning, and I wanted to go somewhere different. Camden Park seemed like a good choice. I hopped in the car and took the long drive South. There is no quick way to get there from here. US-23 is the best way to get there from Columbus, but the way is slow. US-23 actually goes to Portsmouth, and Huntington is off to the East. The drive along the Ohio River, I'm afraid, is far from scenic. It's a little nicer than the section along OH-7 from Wheeling to Steubenville, but not by much. It's railroads, heavy industry, and the most depressed part of the State of Ohio.
Camden Park is on US-60 right outside the Huntington flood wall. When I arrived, an attendant was collecting a $3 parking fee. The parking fee didn't annoy me nearly as much as the need to park 'way out in the far end of the parking lot not because there weren't any spaces closer to the gate, but rather because the marked spaces are so doggone narrow that my full-size Canadian car simply wouldn't fit!
Camden Park has switched over to a strict POP plan, where about $20 gets you all the rides, all day long. The days are kind of short, but that isn't a major problem because the park is small. As I entered the park, I noticed a sign indicating that the park would enforce proper dress, including "buttoned shirts." I was a little concerned because my Hersheypark T-shirt doesn't have any buttons, but nobody hassled me about it. I proceeded immediately to the Big Dipper.
The Big Dipper is a medium size wood coaster, dating back about 40 years. The park has been slowly rehabilitating the ride. First, they rebuilt the front turnaround over the station and did a beautiful job with it. Later, they rebuilt the short first drop near the back of the ride. That was not so nicely done; for some time the ride would shift about 3' to the right when the train went through. The paint is still peeling, but the ride is running better than it has in years. The back seat has been returned to the train, and most of the vandalism on the train is gone. The operator indicated that the park switched to their second train, which had been in storage, and scrapped the old train. This is a NAD Century Flyer with allegedly working headlights (no mars light, though) and all the grillework on the sides. As usual, the thick seat cushions make up for a lot of bouncy track, and the ride does exhibit the classic "NAD bounce." The trim brake is gone from the first drop, but there is still a trim on the ride just ahead of the front turnaround. Most of the ride is up in the air, so it isn't a real fast ride, and the profile is on the mild side, but it's a respectable ride anyway.
The Big Dipper could still use some work, but it seems to be in reasonable shape. It's ugly with the peeling paint, and I wonder if the park has considered leaving repaired sections unpainted, as Geauga Lake did when they rebuilt their Big Dipper a couple of decades ago.
Down the midway from the Big Dipper are an unremarkable carousel, a Paratrooper, a Super Round-Up, and a 16-seat Eli Ferris wheel. These rides are across from the long side of the Big Dipper, meaning that almost the entire perimeter of the Big Dipper is easily accessible. Back by the turnaround is the Hot Cat (Herschell Caterpillar), which is not in operating condition with its electrical system largely torn apart. It was really the first opportunity I have had to see what those big 'trolley handle' controls look like inside: the handle rotates a long shaft on which are mounted a series of contact plates to switch various circuits in and out, positioned around the perimeter of the switch cage.
Beyond the Caterpillar is a dinosaur-themed gift shop, and a new-looking metal building which allegedly contains an upcharge attraction that has something to do with dinosaurs. I skipped it, and from the look of things, so did everybody else in the park. I walked around the back side of the Big Dipper, and through the picnic pavilion. Across from the pavilion is a small restaurant, the old cafeteria, now with a sign over the entrance identifying it as the "West Virginia Grill." I was somewhat more concerned with the side door, which was secured with a chain and padlock. That in itself didn't concern me, it's just that the sign over the inside of that door says, "EXIT".
I planned to report this disturbing issue to the park office, but got sidetracked on my way there. But that put me right behind the Pronto-Pups stand, so I walked down the kiddie ride midway behind the food stands and the Haunted House. On the end and surrounding the kiddie rides is a set of hand-cars. One of them had apparently stalled, as the operator was pushing two of them around the track with a long pole. Next up was the Allan Herschell boat ride, which got my attention because there is something unusual about it. The ride has six boats on it, and all of the boats are propelled by a screw on the back of one of the boats driven by an electric motor inside where the back seat would otherwise be. It got my attention because the boats are numbered 0-5, with the motor located in Boat #0. Perhaps there is a techno-geek on the maintenance staff?
Past the boat ride is a tracked car ride that runs beneath the Haunted House emergency exit. Hmmm...I don't think I got a photo of that door, but it's quite a step from the door down to the ground. Hopefully if someone has to use that door there will be a kiddie car there to step on. Anyway, that's right across from the Sky Fighter, and the previously mentioned unremarkable carousel. I took another ride on the Big Dipper, then crossed the midway for a trip on the Haunted House.
I still claim that the Haunted House is Not a Coaster. It is, however, gravity powered, and it begins with a chain lift and a coaster-like drop. Mechanically, I think it is nearly identical to the one at Conneaut Lake. The other thing it has in common with the Conneaut ride is that it has had an extensive makeover inside, with a large number of new or refurbished stunts installed. It's a lot of light-up/pop-out kinds of sudden-scare stunts, as the cars go too fast to do much else. But the makeover is pretty impressive.
Down the other side of the midway are some larger buildings housing the 8-car Whip and the Dodgem cars. Well, they're Barbieri cars, not Dodgem cars, and the old cars weren't Dodgem cars either, having come from Lusse. But that's a technicality. The bumper cars are actually pretty good. The Whip is an 8-car Mangels Whip that runs quite fast. Apparently the same geek who numbered the cars on the kiddie boat ride worked on this ride as well, as there is a Car #0. Oddly enough, though, there is also a Car #9, which is unexpected for an 8-car Whip.
I rode the NAD train around the back of the park. The locomotive and tender still lean precariously to one side. And I still want a couple of the castings that they made the seats with to build a bench out of...they look like standard bench castings, except that they say, "NATIONAL AMUSEMENT DEVICE DAYTON OHIO" on them instead of the usual casting company logo. There is more to see from the train ride now that the ampitheater is long gone. You can see the swan boats on the lake, you can watch the log flume (the tall grasses [Footnote 1] that used to all but obscure the flume from view have all been cut back), and you can watch the new Kite Flyer ride. Oh, and as you return to the station you can count the support poles that have been chopped out of the Thunderbolt Express. More about that in a few moments.
The Kite Flyer is the new ride that Camden Park added for the 2003 season, in celebration of their 100th year of operation. I think the Kite Flyer is a pretty good ride, but I think I prefer Darton's Cliff Hanger. The Kite Flyer looks a lot better, though. Camden Park has two round pads back in the railroad infield, and they mounted the Kite Flyer on one of them. The other looks like it would be a good spot for their next round ride addition. Right now, the Kite Flyer is in a kind of an out-of-the-way location past the log flume and the swan boats, although that didn't stop people from finding it.
The Lil' Dipper sits up next to the log flume, and gives a pretty dramatic demonstration of how not to trailer a coaster train. That said, the steel structure and wood track looks pretty flimsy, but gives a decent ride from a rare NAD kiddie ride. This one uses beautiful single-bench stainless-steel clad cars with more legroom than anybody would ever need. Oddly enough, the fin brake calipers on this ride are operated with compressed air, while the ones on the Big Dipper use hand levers. The Lil' Dipper actually shares an air compressor with the flume ride.
As I came up the hill and across the railroad track, I climbed aboard the Sky Ride, which is one of those scenic trips to nowhere. In this case, it's squeezed in between the parking lot and the Thunderbolt Express, the relocated Screamin' Demon, the first Arrow shuttle loop. Perhaps the best description for Thunderbolt Express is, "Forgotten, but unfortunately not gone." The railings have been scavenged from both of the station platforms, the train is nowhere to be seen, and several of the vertical support columns are missing. Just past the loop, a couple of trees are overgrowing the structure, and the track and structure are slowly rusting apart. It's a sad sight, and it is the one real eyesore that the park hasn't yet been able to address. Right now, the ride is too far gone to fix, and too expensive to take down...and it requires almost no space, so tearing it down wouldn't gain the park anything except the loss of a big, rusting heap of scrap metal.
On a brighter note, I finished up my visit to Camden Park by riding the Scrambler, which is dramatically improved since my last visit (perhaps it has new top bearings this year?) and the Spider, which remains one of the best-running Spiders I've ever ridden, and a trip on the Big Dipper. It's these classic rides that Camden Park is all about. The park knows what it is, and it does a good job of being Huntington's traditional amusement park. It's quite obviously still struggling a little, but it is even more obvious that the park is in much better condition than it was in just a few years ago. They look to be having a decent 101st season, and I wish them success for the next century.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Footnote 1: i.e. "weeds". [Return to text]
--DCAjr
Next: Paramount's Kings Island
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