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Hey!  Hope all is well with you and your family. 

The films reflect my memories that, alas! are no longer repeatable.  That is the SDC I want to visit:  no coasters, smaller crowds, ridin' the green trams, non-PC robbery skit . . . .  All sorts of great things.  There is talk of a stage coach themed coaster nowadays.  Gimme the stage coach. 

Pointless to pine for a better city, I know.  HFE wants to make gazillions, and they likely will.  But SDC has always meant the Past for me, even in 1970 when I was 6.  The Past is no longer ahead of me, obviously.

Sorry to hear you lost your job, Palallin!  We would be happy to get at least 2 of you into the City with our guest passes if you can go sometime.  And they send us coupons to get as many as 4 in at a greatly reduced price, ie $20 each.

Thanks, Mark!  I appreciate that very much!

With my wife still unable to walk until her surgery, we didn't get to use our passes last year or this.  Then I got RiF'd, so no passes next year . . . .

Since I can't choose two, I'll just post that I would love to see the stage coach and the float trip return with exactly NO attempt at any updating.

In my mind and heart, I wish SDC were just what it was in the late '60s.

Yes, I am a dinosaur.

Sometime in the last couple of months the ozark marketplace was re-arranged making it more of a maze where you have to navigate around displays to get out. It's no longer two nice clear paths to walk through if you don't want to shop.

Unfortunate.  It was already hard enough to get ECVs through there. 

[Reinstall the cave in]

Agree with losing the guns on FM.  Reinstall the cave in.  Make sure everything works, and then leave it the heck alone.

If anyone is interested...Silver Dollar City just uploaded the new version of the Fire in the Hole song to YouTube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saeqx5nVQnc

Thankfully, the original version is posted, too.  The new performance lives up to the original, but the lyrics leave something to be desired, of course.

I have NO desire to watch SDC's activities--it's like watching someone eating cake and ice cream while on a diet--and I have less desire than none to have my own activities monitored and broadcast via the internet.

Look, folks, such accidents happen on real RRs fairly often.  The cause is that track takes a beating, and it is simply not possible to spot every potential weak point until it breaks.

It might be possible that a sun kink was involved, but the simple fact is that no amount of maintenance can prevent every failure of the track.  Deal with it.  FACT.  There is no conspiracy, no negligence, no scam, no PR, no sabotage:  a weak point just failed.  $#!t happens. Get over it, and go ride the train.  Or don't:  more room for me and mine.

Why anyone else should care whether a person is solo or one-in-a-group-of-100 is beyond me.  What possible difference does it make?

all the tack has been pulled off buildings, etc.

Perhaps the most disturbing detail yet.  Doing so is not neglect but rather targeted removal, actual effort into not just failing to replace but also intentional change.  That took man hours, man hours dedicated to eliminating the atmosphere.

[Gauge]

The State Fire Marshal's Office gave Silver Dollar City the following recommendations:

    Develop track safety standards for a 2-foot narrow gage track, as there are no standards
    Install ties at a consistent spacing
    Measure side bearing at set intervals
    Correct and monitor the correct alignment of rails
    Ensure and monitor joint bolts for tightness
    Ensure weight is evenly distributed during passenger loading

I am unconvinc3ed that the Fire Marshal has any business whatever issuing any comments or recommendations on this issue, especially since they can't even spell the word gauge.   I do not expect the necessary level of familiarity from inspectors whose job is in an entirely different field.

There ARE standards or the train would have fallen off the tracks at the first run.   Gauge, for example, requires a certain level of standardization.  Rail alignment is partly a function of the fish plates, but level of precision required is not that high. 

One issue that can be pointed at the City is the fish plate bolts.  They do require monitoring and retightening at intervals. 

The passenger loading comment is, in Ozarkian, foolishment.  I have watched and ridden the train more than most, and I have never seen a randomly-loaded car that evinced dangerous imbalance. 

One great bit of news!

A significant piece of SDC returns!

Everything changes. There is no future otherwise.

SDC has never been about the future:  it is--or has been--explicitly about the past. 

I would be perfectly satisfied--nay, delighted!--with the SDC of 1970, prior to ALL of the coasters.