Oh, wow! Does this bring back a memory! I grew up in Shamokin, PA, and, for two years in high school I made candy apples and candy floss at Knoebels. In the early 1970's, I played tuba with the Strolling Band. We were a small group of musicians who played on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. We did some Dixieland and covers of pop tunes. On Wednesdays, we used to ride the train and play. We always played "Wabash Cannonball" or "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad." The train, at that time, was single track. One train would sit and wait at the loop for the other train to pass, and then it would enter the main, proceed to the station, and take on a new load of passengers. In the 1990's, my father's company would hold its summer picnic at "The Grove," as we called it. It was fun to see how much the park had grown. It's refreshing to see that the Knoebels philosophy had been maintained all these years (I am 68.) Family oriented, clean, and well-maintained. Thank you for this posting.
When I was a kid in the early 60's a local department store had an F7 train ride that looks just like these. They only had it setup for their christmas wonderland. Being indoors it was electrically driven with power supplied by the rails. It really is a shame that we no longer have those great christmas window displays and the elaborate special christmas themes they would setup. FYI - Rochester, NY. Edwards department store.
Being a kid they probably appeared to be bigger or the same size as these. It was probably what they called an E10 for electric 10"gauge. The other models that we're gasoline powered were the G-10, G-12, then the same size model but could be gauged for 14"/15"/16" and respectably called a G-?? For whatever gauge it was ordered for. To change the gauge the wheels were actually casted 1/2" different on the inset of the axle hub. I took care of a G16 for over ten years and became enthralled with learning all of the history of the company that produced them. It all started with Mr Staurdavent building a small train in his backyard for his son and that's when a Sears executive down the street saw it and asked him to build a bigger one for the department store and that's how it got started. Of course they later built amusement rides etc. The original that you may be familiar with MTC or miniature train company actually lasted until that portion was sold the the Chance ride company in Wichita KS which continued to make the F unit and parts until the early 2000s at which time they auctioned off all remaining parts. I was told that the wooden pattern to cast the blomburg locomotive trucks were broken to eliminate hassle. As many know now they make the gas powered steam outline you see here but in the larger 24" gauge. Sorry for the rambling 😁!!
