I live in North Central Arkansas and have noticed several flat bed trucks in recent months hauling the old green trams down hwy 65. Today i was in Harrison and parked in front of a paint and body shop was one of the trams, now painted purple and with "Harrison Goblins Tram" and a Goblins logo painted on as well.
Harrison Schools use the Goblin as a mascot. I will try to get a photo soon.
Hmmmm??? ??? ???
So the green trams are now purple, eh? Awesome. Can't wait for a pic!
The harrison GoblinsTram
So how is Harrison utilizing the trams? Are they to transport kids around the campus, or are they used on football nights to bring visitors and fans in and out of Goblin stadium?
"The tram was purchased by an anonymous benefactor who gave it to the booster club. A pair of community businesses prepared the tram to make trips from the high school and middle school parking lots to F.S. Garrison Stadium. The booster club has since given the vehicle to the school district for use at all the Goblins' home football games." Harrison Daily Times.
In a way I am very sentimental about the whole situation since I believe the trams should still be chugging away in the Silver Dollar City parking lots. However, I am glad to see that this one has been given a new life, and can still serve proudly. :)
would be nice to have them back.. the new trams just dont "fit" in. irealize that we had no trams in the 1880s, but the old ones were there for so long they were part of the community.. but alas, like waterboggan and othe favorites.... they have been replaced and wont be back. :(
I have to admit I miss them also. Everytime we went we would park in lot C and ride in the green tram. Was very disappointed to see them ago. I usually now just walk which is a lot easier when you have a stroller anyway.
Am I the only one who doesn't miss those archaic, ugly old trams?!?! I mean, I've been going to SDC every year since I was really little, but I still wasn't sad to see them go! The ride is way smoother on these new trams... not that bumpety bump bumpdy bump bump of the old trams. I think they also might be quieter too. It was IMPOSSIBLE to carry on a conversation on those old things! Not that I hated them when they were there, but I certainly was glad to see some new ones! :)
Being old, and ugly, and loud, and smelly is what made those green trams so special! Those trams had a lot of character to them. Sure, they were "dinosaurs" of sorts, but they sure got the job done.
I think the reason so many people are attached to the green trams is because there are such a significant part of their Silver Dollar City memories, and that evokes a sentimental value within them. :)
Yes, I have memories of them too! But I still wasn't sad to see them go. TBH, I was more attached to the way the old parking lots were laid out than I was the trams. I miss being able to park in South B Lot (for free), which was a parking lot that it seemed NOBODY knew about, so I could easily hop in there and take an empty park and just was just a hop skip and a jump from the park... or if I was being especially lazy, the old, green, ugly trams. ;)
I was VERY sad to see the waterbogan go away. I was sad when they closed Huck Finn's Hideaway. And the new Riverblast was a bittersweet addition for me because I really, truly loved Tom Sawyer's Landing the way it was... with the balloon ride most of all! But the ugly, smelly, uncomfortable, bumpy, ancient trams? No.
Welcome to the forums Makayna. I last rode the old green trams in 2002. I kinda miss em. The new trams are ok. I liked the balloons and hopefully they bring them back. What I miss about the trams is being able to face the person with you. I don't think you can do that with the new ones. It also seems a little cramped on the new ones. Anybody else feel that way?
The thing that I miss about the green trams was kinda sadistic. Despite the conductor doing his due diligence in warning people, somebody always managed to bump their head on the ceiling. And I am man enough to admit that it happened to me too. It only takes once...This is one of the benefits of the "new" trams, I suppose.
Any other stories related to this? Has it happened often enough to warrant a separate topic?
I am sure the new trams are cheaper to maintain and operate on a day to day basis. They do have more leg and head room. I am sure the new trams were a financial decison more than anything else. Sure do miss the old ones....
You can still hit your head on the buses if you're not careful. Ask me how I know..
The green trams were an institution of SDC! No they were not pretty, and yes the smell of butane was not the best smell that could emit from the ride, but they were consistent. I have fond memories of them. They ment your finally here. You are ready to take on the day, as the smell of asphalt and butane hit your nose and excited voices rang! I miss the green trams and the way they stuck out and said LOOK AT ME! I miss riding backwards only to twist this way and that to catch a glimps of the park ahead. It was pure fun, and now its institutional white. Clean, white, dull trams.
Think about it....they were the first, and last rides you went on during your trips to SDC! They were as much of an icon as the short lived diving bell, or FITH, and the trams had a heck of a lot more riders that any other ride too....
I was able after they were removed to sneak one last "ride" on the green trams. They were stored in a Branson parking lot out of view, and I came across them one day, and photographed the heck out of them! (I think I even sat in the announcers seat!) The engines were absent from the lot, but all of the cars were still there!
They used those green trams as far back as my first visit in 1970, if I remember correctly. Probably gasoline powered at the time, not butane. Some things just gotta change...but I agree, it's hard for me to jump on a bus to ride up to the ticket booths...I keep looking around for the green trams. In my time as an employee on park, and going back to my first visit in '70, the cave folks, ticket booth and turnstyle people, and parking crews all dressed in an "official" brown or tan uniform that had a Marvel Cave Park patch on it. They looked like state park employees, which was probably the reason they were dressed that way...to look more "official." That was the difference between the modern SDC as a theme park, and the folks like me inside SDC who were dressed as citizens...hillbillies...or more sophisticated townfolk. Also in my time, the costumed characters from the 1880's seldom ventured past the hospitality house doors. Now some of the characters greet you as you get off the buses at the ticket booths!
Quote from: okiebluegrass on October 20, 2010, 12:36:40 PM
Welcome to the forums Makayna. I last rode the old green trams in 2002. I kinda miss em. The new trams are ok. I liked the balloons and hopefully they bring them back. What I miss about the trams is being able to face the person with you. I don't think you can do that with the new ones. It also seems a little cramped on the new ones. Anybody else feel that way?
Thank you very much. :)
I actually think the new trams are LESS cramped. If I remember correctly, the old ones didn't have individual seats like the new ones do. So, oftentimes, people would squeeze in right next to you to cram as many people into one seat as humanly possible. With the new trams, it's 4 people. Period.
I also think the new trams are faster, maybe?!
Either way, it doesn't really matter to me what I ride to get to the park... as long as I get there with plenty of time to ride the rides and see the shows I want to see. I guess the trams aren't that significant to me either way, which is why I don't have a sentimental attachment to the old ones. Now, if they got rid of trams altogether.... :o
Quote from: Junior on October 20, 2010, 06:14:45 PM
Now some of the characters greet you as you get off the buses at the ticket booths!
It's funny you should mention that. Terry Sanders himself greeted us this past week as we exited the parking lot
bus at the front entrance. Ugh, at least the white trams are still trams. :P