139 replies to this topic

[sheave]

I was wondering how much Roebling is in the old Sky ride at Waldameer Water World (if it is correct and the chair lift was built by Hopkins)?

[Lift Dinosaur]

Sheave- You are relentless!
Congratulations!
Dino

[NHskier13]

When I saw you guys talking about the cherokee lift I thought of this
https://www.youtube....h?v=l74S30VayIg

[sheave]

NHskier13, on 06 June 2016 - 12:14 PM, said:

When I saw you guys talking about the cherokee lift I thought of this
https://www.youtube....h?v=l74S30VayIg

Already been there two years ago and took some nice pictures of this old Riblet (I'm glad they keep the other one in town up and running). I also went up to Ober-Gatlinburg to ride the double chair that serves the alpine slide (forget the manufacturer, I think it is C&S).

Today I visited Lake Winnie Amusement Park just to ride the chair lift (they call it Alpine Way). I have no idea about who built it and when (even the park's museum wasn't able to tell me).

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[NHskier13]

Looks like a Roebling (Majority of the ones I know were early 60's to early 70's)
based on the chairs, sheavers, and (what I think are) cable catchers

[sheave]

I sent another message to the park's customer service, maybe they will be able to tell us.

The 1989 CTEC double at Natural Tunnel State Park was on my agenda for today. Quite short lift, but also very steep (not sure if I've ever been on a chair lift that was any steeper, it was more like being in an elevator).

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This post has been edited by sheave: 07 June 2016 - 05:15 PM

[backyard lift]

Yooper Skier, on 01 June 2016 - 04:09 PM, said:

PIctures I rummaged up from Pullman-Berry. Not sure if #1 is from Barker Double or not, 2-7 appear to be promotional pics, and #8 is flying towers on the Barker Mountain Double at Sunday River. A gentleman by the name of Ron Rape showed up by our shop a couple years ago and gave us these pics. He used to work for Berry Steel in Pennsylvania and was pretty excited we still had/have (partial) one of the few Pullman-Berry lifts ever built. I think our chairs were of a different style than those advertised.

The seats of those chairs were the same...I remember riding them in 1971. There were about 4 different colors of fiberglass seats, and we never wanted to ride the 'baby puke green' ones.

[C W Craven]

Sheave,
If your going out west......a few come to mind that are worth a stop at:
You already mentioned the single at sun valley, I believe that Thiokol #1 is still standing / operating on top of the mountain (been a few years since I was there)
I saw Wallala on your list, There is a Hall gondola in Calastoga CA (top of Napa Valley) at Sterling Vinyards it has a PHB/Giavinola box grip. (and the wine is preaty good too)
Only a couple of Skygliders (OD Hopkins/ now Skytrans) in the west come to mind, 1 in Farmington UT at Lagoon amusemnt park and one at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (dont miss the cave train, coaster, and carosel).
The VR101 in Puyallup, WA at the state fair is only 1 of 2 three passenger VR101's running (the other is at the Minn. State Fair).

Here is a list of VR101's that are still running here in the US (as I recall):
Washington State Fair - Puyallup, WA
Great America Theme Park - Santa Clara, CA
Seaworld San Diego - San Diego, CA
San Diego Zoo - San Diego, CA
Tulsa State Fair - Tulsa, OK
Minnesota State Fair -St Paul, MN
Cedar Point Amusemnt Park - Sandusky, OH
2 (side by side) at Six Flags Great Adventure - Jackson, NJ
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Six Flags over Georgia
Busch Gardens Tampa

Six Flags New England, Bronx Zoo, Both Disney VR101's and the Astroworld machines have been removed.
There were a few others installed here in the US that came out years ago.

Have Fun, BTW there i a great wooden coaster in Puyallup too.

C W

[Smacpats]

Not in US, but Zermatt has a 1971 Giovanola gondola.

https://www.youtube....h?v=2dY2iAHcprY

This post has been edited by Smacpats: 08 June 2016 - 11:50 AM

[RibStaThiok]

C W Craven, on 07 June 2016 - 09:14 PM, said:

Sheave,
If your going out west......a few come to mind that are worth a stop at:
You already mentioned the single at sun valley, I believe that Thiokol #1 is still standing / operating on top of the mountain (been a few years since I was there)
I saw Wallala on your list, There is a Hall gondola in Calastoga CA (top of Napa Valley) at Sterling Vinyards it has a PHB/Giavinola box grip. (and the wine is preaty good too)
Only a couple of Skygliders (OD Hopkins/ now Skytrans) in the west come to mind, 1 in Farmington UT at Lagoon amusement park

So THAT is the make after all of the Lagoon skyride. I could swear it was a Roebling and essentially it is from the towers, sheaves, and bullwheel perspective. Thanks.

And yes, the 1972 Thiokol lift "Lookout" is still up and running at Sun Valley. (do not confuse with Lookout Express, a Yan/Doppie HSQ) Also at Sun Valley on Dollar Mountain they still have the Elkhorn lift for folks who are residents of the Elkhorn Village community area on that side of the mountain. 1972 Thiokol triple.

[sheave]

RibStaThiok, on 08 June 2016 - 05:04 PM, said:

So THAT is the make after all of the Lagoon skyride. I could swear it was a Roebling and essentially it is from the towers, sheaves, and bullwheel perspective. Thanks.

Just got the confirmation from Lake Winnie that their Alpine Way is also built by O.D. Hopkins in 1968.

C W Craven, on 07 June 2016 - 09:14 PM, said:

Sheave,
If your going out west......a few come to mind that are worth a stop at:

I'm heading east right now, but thank you for the ideas of lifts to visit (I've seen some, but I've always missed the Hall gondola at Sterling Vineyards).

Today I've been to the Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky to ride the red 1967 Riblet double. Old yes, but not rare (a very nice ride though).

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This post has been edited by sheave: 08 June 2016 - 05:44 PM

[julestheshiba]

sheave, on 06 June 2016 - 04:22 PM, said:

Already been there two years ago and took some nice pictures of this old Riblet (I'm glad they keep the other one in town up and running). I also went up to Ober-Gatlinburg to ride the double chair that serves the alpine slide (forget the manufacturer, I think it is C&S).

Today I visited Lake Winnie Amusement Park just to ride the chair lift (they call it Alpine Way). I have no idea about who built it and when (even the park's museum wasn't able to tell me).

DSC_5049.JPG

DSC_5052.JPG

DSC_5056.JPG

DSC_5069.JPG

Is it just me or do the seats look like Stadelis. Also the Santa Cruz lift is closed a lot. I live near the Sterling Vinyards gondola, but I have never gone on it, but the area there is really nice and I highly recommend going there.

This post has been edited by julestheshiba: 09 June 2016 - 08:51 AM

[NHskier13]

1.
2. That's no stadeli ;  SAM_6246.JPG (714.34K)
Number of downloads: 101

3. Are those chairs original? Or were they centerpoles with new carriers added on?

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 09 June 2016 - 08:09 PM

[Tramway Guy]

Hall Gondola at Sterling Vineyards: The grip used on that system was the genuine Giavanola-made grip. All of the other 'Giavanola' style systems that Hall (and previously by Constam) produced for the US used the PHB-made grip which was built under license from Giavanola Freres in Switzerland. Stadeli also built some systems with this design; including one at HersheyPark (which I think was moved to Thailand). And Habegger licensed it also. Habegger also upgraded the Giavanola design to handle a 6-passenger cabin and that was used at Squaw Valley by Lift Engineering to replace the old PHB 4-place Gondola. It would not perform at its intended capacity and was replaced.
Sterling is fortunate that its grips have parts available; neither major parts nor support is available for any of the PHB-made grips now.

[sheave]

So I went to Cuyahoga NP today to also visit the two ski areas Boston Mills and Brandywine (one of those ski areas that would never respond to any email when asking questions about their lifts). At least I was able to take some pictures from the parking lot at Boston Mills, because the road to Brandywine is closed during summer (+ no trespassing signs everywhere). Interesting to see six chairs on such a small hill.

First two pics are from the short double at the beginner's hill. Looks like a Borvig (what holds the sheaves reminds me of Graffer):

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Is this their Thiokol mentioned earlier in this topic?

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The two chairs next to the Buttermilk run (Borvig and Hall?):

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Another double (Chairs look like Hall):

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The triple on the far right side and a view to the other lifts:

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[NHskier13]

sheave, on 11 June 2016 - 05:44 PM, said:

First two pics are from the short double at the beginner's hill. Looks like a Borvig (what holds the sheaves reminds me of Graffer):

That beginners double looks like a Partek (to be fair, the difference is that Partek was formed out of Borvig basically

sheave, on 11 June 2016 - 05:44 PM, said:

Is this their Thiokol mentioned earlier in this topic?

Looks like it

sheave, on 11 June 2016 - 05:44 PM, said:

The two chairs next to the Buttermilk run (Borvig and Hall?):

The one in the foreground looks like it's hall based on grips and towers but that other one is Partek (again)

sheave, on 11 June 2016 - 05:44 PM, said:

The triple on the far right side and a view to the other lifts:

Riblet in case ya didnt know

[sheave]

NHskier13, on 11 June 2016 - 08:18 PM, said:

That beginners double looks like a Partek (to be fair, the difference is that Partek was formed out of Borvig basically

Actually the resort responded today saying they only have Borvigs and Riblets?

NHskier13, on 11 June 2016 - 08:18 PM, said:

Riblet in case ya didnt know

I was thinking of driving up the Lower Peninsula to Boyne Mountain to see their Hemlock chair, but all that is left from one of first two Sun Valley chairs are the two terminals. Everything else has been replaced by Riblet.

Instead I went to Waldameer to see this:

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Unfortunately the ride was closed "due to an unexpected mechanical issue". Better luck next time!

I don't really like inclines, but the next stop was still a nice experience with a great view:

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And today there was no mechanical issue soI was able to ride the Borvig triple at Knoebels:

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This post has been edited by sheave: 14 June 2016 - 06:15 PM

[Conrad]

Loving the photos! Keep up the good work!

[NHskier13]

sheave, on 14 June 2016 - 05:15 PM, said:

Actually the resort responded today saying they only have Borvigs and Riblets?

I still believe those chairs are partek at least. Could be new? I don't know. But as far as I know borvig had those chairs like the triple you attached from that amusement park, and another square kind, the ones at the ski area look more like partek's curved design, also the seat pads do look different.

sheave, on 14 June 2016 - 05:15 PM, said:

Instead I went to Waldameer to see this:
DSC_5187.jpg

There is an amusement park in my state (Canobie Lake, to be exact) which has a lift very similar. I believe it is manufactured by Roebling and is an old (and pretty small) "sky ride" chairlift. No pics however, I found some on google ;

[RibStaThiok]

Yup, pretty much. We have something similar (although longer) as previously mentioned, at the Lagoon park in Utah. Installed in in 1974. Pretty much has the Roebling characteristics even though Roebling stopped producing ski lifts in the late 60s I believe. As someone previously mentioned I believe another company took over the skyride production from Roebling.

Lagoon Skyride



Santa Cruz Boardwalk

This post has been edited by RibStaThiok: 15 June 2016 - 04:34 AM