This past Friday was the 3rd annual "ACE Rides Avalanche" event for the ACE Western Great Lakes Region. Check in started at 9 AM
Rides at Timber Falls did not start running till 10 AM, but for those that did arrive at that early hour (there were 3 of us, including myself) we all had a wonderful time. The park was not crowded at all during the day, so we got a lot of rides on Avalanche. These pictures were taken before 10 AM, so nothing was running. But, for those that have not been to the park, they do give you a good idea of what the coaster, and the park, look like
The first drop
2 of the many airtime hills on the ride
Sorry I don't have more from the event. Once I get them back from Scott Heck's laptop, I'll update.
The event went very well, despite the weather (the last hour of ERT was during a downpour). Everyone also liked the Crazy Golf tournament that took place as well. The tournament took place on the course that is inside of the coaster, but with a twist. Each even numbered hole you had to putt following special rules. For example, one was to "Putt through your legs". Another was "Putt with one hand".
Then, on Saturday, ACE presented Little Amerricka with a plaque to recognize Meteor as an ACE Classic Coaster.
The plaque
Meteor Station
As part of the presentation, Wisconsin Governor James Doyle was there to say a few works about the park, and his feelings on the preservation of coasters like Meteor. He is the person in the middle with the dark red shirt on.
Lee Merrick then came up and said a few works.
Scott Heck, ACE Regional Rep for the region came up and talked about ACE, and the history behind Meteor.
Scott presenting the plaque to Lee
Then, everyone who was up in the station for the presentation took a ride on Meteor.
Meteor was then opened for everyone
Close-up of the sign
A train full of riders
This was taken from the Ferris Wheel, showing the full layout of the coaster.
Little Amerricka's Wild Mouse
Riding the Whiskey River Railway
Speaking of the Whiskey River Railway, I took a side-trip to the Riverside & Great Northern Railway. The R&GN is a 15-inch gauge railroad just 1 mile northwest of TimberFallls off of Stand Rock Road. They have four locomotives, all of which were built on site. 3 of them are Steam: A 4-4-0 American #82, 4-4-0 American #98 and a 0-4-0 Tom Thumb. The 4th is a diesel switcher used primarily for railway maintenance. The diesel is also the engine used to pull the train on Thursday and Friday, as the engineer who operates the steam engines has those days off! They also have 12 Passenger cars, which were also built on site.
Diseal Switcher
Caboose
Here is the 4-4-0 #98 coming back into the station
Workers on the R&GN using a manual turn-table to position #98 for the next trip
Few more pictures of #98
At the end of the line, there is a 2nd manual turn-table to turn the engine for the return trip.
For more info on the R&GN, here is the web page: http://www.randgn.com/index.html
It was a fun 2 days in the Dells, and I'm looking forward to next years event.
--Brian
( hopewe get a neww bm wingrider for next year!11!
