Coaster remnants in/on PKD's Volcano mountain

While standing in line for the front seat on PKD's Volcano: The Blast Coaster, I looked up to the mountain that was once Smurf Mountain (or something like that), and noticed something "trapped" in the mountain- something that looked like the remains of Arrow coaster track!

It was quite easy to see the track spine and about four or five Arrow-style track ties, albeit with the track seemingly having been removed. It looked as though, if the track were to continue, it would travel into the mountain where it appears that a cave/door was covered up years ago.

Am I seeing things, or did another coaster once utilize Volcano's mountain? If so, why was that one piece of track left in the mountain when the rest appears to have been taken out? Does anyone know more about that mysterious-looking rock before it became home to Volcano?

------------------
-Rob

It's either track to the smurf moutain train ride which was a rip off of "it's a small world" from Disney World. Or it could be from the Haunted River boat ride. Now I know there is track still left from the Haunted River on the ground in the water at the base of the Volcano. What I think your talking about though is the simple fact that the track your seeing is just themeing for the ride. To make it like a mine car going into the mountain. Thats what I think it is. Because I don't recall what your talking about being there when it was just the mountain. But my memory could be failing me. Perhaps they took a piece of the track from the old King Cobra and stuck it on the mountain for everybodys viewing pleasure. Anybody know?

While I'm not sure what he's looking at I do know that King Cobra was moved to another park and not broken into pieces with one being placed in the mountain. Most likely if he is seeing coaster like track then he is seeing the lift for the flume which was coaster like.

------------------
JOHN
RCT INSOMNIACS
KIMBERLY LAKE INC.

I wish I had taken a picture, then this would have been so much easier! You can see it directly above your head (in the side of the mountain) if you are waiting for seats near the front of the train.

------------------
-Rob

Smurf Mountain was a special mine train coaster system from Arrow. The ride's station is on the building on the mountain. I went two years ago. Inside that building that looks like a station, I seen some coaster track and what looked like queue gates, or a coaster train.
Ask Blastcoaster from COASTERnet,he would most likely know more.

http://www.rcdb.com/full/paramounts-kings-dominion/volcano-the-blast-boaster6.jpg
------------------
Support the Coaster Preservation Club at www.coasterpreservation.tk
*** This post was edited by ThunderFun 4/20/2003 12:24:11 PM ***
*** This post was edited by ThunderFun 4/20/2003 12:32:13 PM ***

When I went to PKD a couple of years ago I remeber seeing the remains of the station for the ride just before the queue dived down into the mountain and the station for Volcano

------------------
Summer 03-CP, HP, Canobie, SFNE, SFWOA, and SFGAm.

yes, it is there, Queing lines, track, station and all. I'd imagine that it is part of the old Smurf Mt. part of the ride, and this, i'd imagine, was just left as part of the theming

------------------
Yeah, if coasters WEREN'T men we'd have Raging Cow instead!;)

One interesting fact is that the mountain looks completely different from 1994, the earliest pictures I have. I would say they did a major redesign of the entire structure.
------------------
If you have a problem with clones, the solution is real simple—Stop traveling.

Repainted it
------------------
Support the Coaster Preservation Club at www.coasterpreservation.tk

Hmmm, I just checked out your link to your site....(Love how you are asking for someone to give you a shuttle loop)

Dude, you put Jeff Putz as a member? (Go to his site, and click on members) Why do I find that hard to believe? Is it the fact that you put his email as putz@popworld.com? Too bad Jeff sold that domain years ago! Sigh......

------------------
- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

*** This post was edited by Peabody 4/20/2003 11:23:26 PM ***

Would have posted this sooner, but my server went down, but I took a picture of this a few weeks ago on my visit. You can see it here.

*edit* corrected link

------------------
"If you make it too smooth, it'll be like sitting in your living room."
-Bill Cobb - Designer, Texas Cyclone
*** This post was edited by Black 7 4/22/2003 10:17:56 PM ***
*** This post was edited by Black 7 4/22/2003 10:42:00 PM ***

Black 7...the link still doesnt work.

------------------
G-Forces: The only positive addiction out there!
CoasterCount: 42

Give it a shot now, good to go, had to fix it in my server (again)

http://www.penncoasters.com/images/mysterytrack.jpg

------------------
"If you make it too smooth, it'll be like sitting in your living room."
-Bill Cobb - Designer, Texas Cyclone
*** This post was edited by Black 7 4/22/2003 10:44:23 PM ***

Too small. I think that what you found was one of many water pipes for the indoor water ride. I was on Volcano less than a week ago, but I'll go again and look. But I could see ques and old water-ride track in the breaking area in the volcano...

------------------
Love,
The Mole

The one ride I *do* remember inside the Volcano was that horrible Rotor....ugh...I hope the pieces of that thing got burned up in the lava....;)
------------------
"Brian, there's a message in my AlphaBits, it says 'ooooooo'"
"Peter, those are Cheerios"....Family Guy is BACK!!!

Black 7: That's it- the track I was talking about. It looks like Arrow track with the ties cut off at the 90 degree angles.

------------------
-Rob

That is indeed the remains of part of the track for Smurf Mountain. There was a short section of exposed track where the train could be seen exiting the mountain briefly, before re-entering the mountain and pulling into the station.

------------------
-Vater
Have you ridden a Toboggan?

Vater is correct. The track that is pictured is a portion of remains of the train track used for Smurf Mountain (and Land of the Dooz.)

The track was simply cut off using welding torches, since it was embedded into the concrete mountain facade. The area in question is just to the rear of the actual Volcano platform. If you are standing next to the mountain at the loading gate area, there are remains of a small waterfall area. This includes a circular concrete pipe opening on the ground that used to be a water entry area for the fall's circulatory and filtration system. Currently, guests tend to just throw trash down into it. Never-the-less, when you are in that area you can look upwards and you will see the track that has been cut off.

When Smurf Mountain (or Land of the Dooz) existed, the track curved out of the mountain at that point and then re-entered. If I recall properly, a small waterfall flowed down the mountain at this spot, and the train track curved around it. Later this evening I will scan and post a picture better detailing it.

As others mentioned, the que house for the ride still remains, although I believe the track was removed in the que house area. The old queue house is easily visible on the mountain to this day, but a great view of it can be obtained by looking to your right as you climb Avalanche Bobsled's lift. It is deserted, dirty and trash filled... or at least it was last year.

The entire mountain complex.... "The Lost World: Fantasy Mountain" was added in 1978, and included not only the electric-powered Arrow train, but also an Arrow double-seater flume, an indoor rotor as well as a Bayern Curve. The Arrow Flume began life as an Atlantis themed ride, but after one season was re-made into the Haunted River. One boat still remains in the concrete trough in front of Volcano. The Arrow flume did not have a track, rather used a flume trough.

The rotor was called "The Time Shaft" and was located deep inside the mountain. The Bayern Curve, called "Mt. Kilimanjaro" was located on a small mountain portion where the entrance to FOF is now located. If you look hard enough at that now overgrown spot, you can easily tell where the ride went in and out of the mountain.

I remember these attractions well because the first year I ever attended Kings Dominion was 1978, the year the mountain was built. I recall seeing it partially constructed, and since I grew up about 1 1/2 hours away, I visited KD at least once each season until 1991 when I moved to Ohio. By the time I moved, only Mt. Kilimanjaro had been removed, and Land of the Dooz had been changed to Smurf Mountain. It was in the 1990's (once I had moved away) that the park closed Haunted River, Time Shaft, and Smurf Mountain.
-----------------
Shaggy

Proud A-lister!
*** This post was edited by Shaggy 4/23/2003 3:26:21 PM ***
*** This post was edited by Shaggy 4/23/2003 3:30:26 PM ***

Hehe, i was standing beside Black 7 when he took that pic.

Yeah, I have always wondered what that track was from, but just recently I discovered that right before Smurf Mountain, there was a very short lived Arrow mine train in that same mountain, but I cant find any info on it other than it existed in the late 70's for like a year. The first year I lived in this area was 1997, so I dont know what smurf mountain was like, but I know it is a different thing than the mine ride I am talking about.

Also, because Drop Zone is taking alot of the crowd away from Volcano, I have rode it like 10 times this year, and have noticed some other remnants. On the second roll, look down(or up cause ur upside down) and you might see some more of that track, but it is higher up on the mountain than Smurf ever went, or so I am told. Also, when you are going up inside, look to the left, and there seems to be some.

------------------
wood's just as good
*** This post was edited by nightride 4/23/2003 3:47:35 PM ***

The "Short Lived Arrow Mine Train" you mentioned above was actually the "Land of the Dooz" which lasted from 1978 until 1984 when Smurf Mountain took it's place. Smurf Mountain used the same train, same layout, even a lot of the same scenery, they just took out the Dooz characters and put in Smurf ones.

Other than the rides I listed in my post above, no other attractions existed in the Mountain.

Dooz 1978-1983 then Smurfs from 1984 to 199?
Atlantis 1978 then Haunted River from 1979 to 199?
Mt. Kilimanjaro from 1978 to 198?
Time Shaft from 1978 to 199?

------------------
Shaggy

Proud A-lister!