Clementon Park

Rob,
Somewhere I have pics of Jack Rabbit in it's SBNO state. Not to sure which is sadder...seeing it sitting there begging for riders....or seeing it gone. I for one think that actually opens up a rather nice sized area for the park to add future ride(s). I can be optimistic.

How true. Last time I was at the park it was sad to see the thing just sitting there.

A very sad day in coaster history
The 2nd oldest coaster in the world is no gone
1919 to 2007 RIP a few pics from a few hours ago

http://tinyurl.com/38729o

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- *** Edited 12/4/2007 5:34:12 AM UTC by PcMan***

And that fact is going to be lost on many people. This wasn't the Pavilion Hurricane or even the Texas Cyclone- this coaster was once one of the oldest amusement structures in the world. Not only that, it was one of a handful of John Miller coasters- and there aren't too many of them around, and even few still in operation.

We saw it coming but it's still very, very bad news.

Since I came into this hobby, four Millers seem to have been effectively lost. Screechin Eagle, Zippin Pippin (hoping to get a video up real soon), GL's Big Dipper, and JackRabbit. Saw four, rode three. If only I had known about Clementon sooner... :(

On a more positive note, I've been very fortunate to ride as many of the master's creations as I have. Still need Seabreeze and Blackpool (before Amanda knocks down BPPB's Dipper).

*** Edited 12/4/2007 4:23:13 PM UTC by rollergator***

Hey at least we've still got J2, and to think, 88 years from now, it will be just as much of a classic piece of history to the amuement industry as the Jack Rabbit was.

YEAH RIGHT! 88 years from now J2 won't be remembered peroid. At the moment the only classic it is, is a classic POS.

^^ I'm thinking an emergency BPB trip is on order since that park is endangered... at least from the traditional perspective.

From that video, it looked like a charming ride. Wish I'd been able to get out to Jersey to ride it in the past. Now it's one more ghost that will only live on in memories and youtube. :(

The Jack Rabbit last operated before I started realizing things disappear rather quickly. Despite living two hours from the park, I didn't visit until 2001 or 2002, and that was only because it was on the way to Philly (where I was going to see a Metallica concert). The coaster was closed by then and never reopened so I never got a chance to ride it.

I kick myself in exactly the same manner for missing out on Screechin' Eagle.

I had the pleasant experience of riding Jack Rabbit in '92. I wouldn't trade that memory for anything! I was in hopes that they would spend the time to refurb this coaster as it would make one heck of a "tweener". Even though this wasn't the most thrilling coaster by 1992 standards (certainly not today), those last bunny hops were quite fun. Looking forward to seeing this park grow!

The JR was one of the most historic coasters out there- with its loss we now only have 3 pre-1920 coasters left worldwide, LTD, the Luna Park Scenic in Australia (1912) and the Tivoli scenic
(1915). It was significant in another aspect as well- the track system was a transitional one which bridged the gap between the side-friction coasters earlier and the underwheel coasters after 1919. There were very few coasters ever built with particular type of track- another example was the Buckroe Beach Dips which closed after the 1985 season. Trains from the Dips ran on the JR for a few years after Buckroe closed.
Speaking of the trains, does anyone know what will happen to the JR trains? One of the Dips trains which ended up at Clemonton was an NAD. These rolling stock would be a good addition to the ACE Museum.

A very sad develpment, but not unexpected.

Anyone care to give RCDB more pics for the archive? I would but I don't have any of this park.

^ OMG! That is a great post (about transition to upstop system)! Care to share that with RCDB's Duane Marden? *** Edited 12/5/2007 6:36:17 PM UTC by jshorerzd***

For some reason photos of that coaster are a little hard to come by. Not sure why that is.

^^^ If you're referring to the trains it was last running, they used them for Tsunami/J2.

I don't think that's the case. The Jack Rabbit ran three-benchers while Tsunami runs two-benchers. The original plan was to reuse the (then) relatively-new JR train but I think it was sold back to PTC in a deal for new trains.

Sorry Rob, you're right. That's what I was going for. I knew that they got the Tsunami trains for a discount, and that's because they traded PTC the JR trains.

I'm not sure if there's any truth to the story but I heard that Denise Dinn had originally told the Clementon people that the Jack Rabbit's train could be used on Tsunami before realizing it was actually comprised of three-bench cars... something that added to the cost of the ride and didn't make the Clementon people all that happy. I'm wondering if that's why Tsunami has such short trains?

The other S&S coaster Avalanche has the shorter trains also ?

Going by the crowds that Timber Falls seems to attract, three cars are all that's needed on that ride. A longer train would have been a waste of money. I don't think it's an S&S wood coaster thing because Falken and Timberhawk run trains of normal length.