July 08, 2010
The Kiddieland Train resides in two places now. The Steam
Locomotives and some of the wooden cars are located at the
Hesston Steam Museum in Indiana
and the Diesel Engines and cars are being refurbished for use in the
suburban Chicago area.
The plan for the Diesel Train is to set
up a 14" gauge track using the materials acquired from Kiddieland at
Bengtson's Pumpkin Farm in
Homer Glen. I have not heard if Bengtson's has a target date for
the completion of the track. I could not find any information
about the Kiddieland Train on
Bengtson's website. Lets hope its completed in time for the 2010
Halloween Season!
The Steam Train (right) will be operating
most weekends at
Hesston this summer season.
Kiddieland's Hudson will take the
primary roll and work as a single
engine on non-holiday weekends.
The plan is to use both the Northern AND the
Hudson for the July 4th weekend and Labor Day weekends.
Last week, Hesston volunteers located
some interesting old placards that had been on the Kiddieland Hudson
back in the 40s and 50s. Look for them when you visit
Hesston this summer. These
little signs have not seen the light of day in something like 40 years!
Photo by T. Rita. (c) kiddielandtrain.com all rights
reserved.
The engineers stop to tend to the steamer's real coal
fire.
Photo by Bruce Moffat
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
DATELINE: May 29-31, 2010
HESSTON, IND. -- The Kiddieland
"Double-Header" was a complete success. Visitors to the
Hesston Steam Museum gathered
early on Saturday to await the arrival of the Kiddieland Trains at Hesston Junction
Station. The Northern and Hudson steam engines pulling Kiddieland
coaches arrived at the station shortly before noon. In a little
while, with two
whistle blasts from each engine, the first Kiddieland double header in
over 30 years pulls out with a full load of passengers.
Check out Grand Scales
Quarterly, Oct. 2007 for a great article that includes the
Kiddieland Train with photos of the Northern and the Hudson
"double-heading" way back in 1958.
Your kiddielandtrain.com webmaster at play.
Doing this was a dream come true for me.
Photo by Dan Vasta
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
Jim's running the Northern and Rick is on the Hudson
Both engines were built by Wagner and Son of Plainfield, Illinois.
Both Rick and Jim are from the Chicago area and loved the Kiddieland
Train as kids.
Photo by Ted Rita
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
The first run on Memorial Day. Engineer Jim operates the
lead engine while engineer Rick is in the second. Both engines ran
at Kiddieland for years and could be seen doing this exact same
"Double-Header" arrangement back in the 1950s.
Photo by Bruce Moffat
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
Engineer Jim waits for the "High-ball" (the go ahead)
signal from the conductor on Sunday May 30th, 2010.
Photo by Wayne Conklin
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
Kiddieland Train News Letter No
Spam, No Hype, No Junk.
Only Kiddieland Train News. And only when we have news. Remove
your address at any time.
Video by Brent Conklin .
April 8, 2010
The
Hesston Steam Museum reports
that the Kiddieland Northern (see below for the complete history) steam
locomotive is being serviced in preparation for the 2010 operating
season.
All are invited out for opening day weekend May 29, 30 & 31 where the
Kiddieland Limited Steam Trains will run again. Check the
Hesston
web site for details and other dates.
March 12, 2010 The
Kiddieland steam locomotive that had been removed from Kiddieland
on November 20th, 2009
has been relocated to the Hesston Steam Museum (see video below) and is being evaluated for possible
passenger service for the 2010 season. Check back here or add
your address to our
News
Letter mailing list for more information as it's made available.
February 28, 2010
Except for one steam train sold in the 80's, the Kiddieland train was
sold to the founder of "Gas City". It was removed by flat bed
truck and taken to an undisclosed location. I assume it is being
stored in the Frankfort Illinois area where Gas City is based but
don't know for sure.
We need your old
photos
of Kiddieland's trains from
the 40's, 50's 60's and 70's. Send 'em in, we'll publish
them here and give ya full credit.
i n f o @ k i d d
i e l a n d t r a i
n . c o m
We don't know exactly what Mr. Bill McEnery,
the new owner, plans to do with the Kiddieland Train he picked up on
November 20th. We hear Mr. McEnery is a train lover and has the
resources to give it a good home. We don't know if he plans to
set up the track he acquired to run the trains. I would guess he does
set up the track. The big question is: "Will he allow the public
to ride?"
We also know that another Kiddieland
Train (the missing train) that was sold off in the 80's is being
stored at a museum in Indiana. We spoke to the director of the
Hesston Steam Museum in
Hesston Indiana and they WILL BE RUNNING the Kiddieland "lost train"
(the Hudson) and some original Kiddieland coaches on Memorial Day
Weekend May 29, 30 & 31, 2010.
December 12, 2009 The Hesston
Steam Museum in Indiana informed us that they WILL BE RUNNING the
Kiddieland "lost train" (the Hudson) and some original Kiddieland
coaches on Memorial Day Weekend May 29, 30 & 31, 20102.
November 25, 2009 CBS 2 reports that a Costco store will be built on
the old Kiddieland site.
November 24, 2009 All 21 remaining
rides and other equipment sold at auction.
Bumper Cars (1962) $18,700 purchased by an
amusement company in Loganville, Ga.
Little Dipper Roller Coaster $36,300
(1950) from the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. purchased by Six Flags Great
America.
Carousel $320,000 (1925) from the
Philadelphia Toboggan Co. Future unknown.
Hand pumped mine cars sold for an unknown
amount and went to the Dutch Village in Holland MI.
November 20, 2009 The Kiddieland trains are loaded on a flat
bed trailer (right). Final destination unknown. The
exact sale price of the entire train including track, signals,
engines and cars is not known. It was said that this was sold for more than the
Carousel at $320,000.
The lucky purchaser is widely reported to be William J. McEnery of Frankfort
Illinois, founder and
president of Gas City (a chain of gasoline stations). We hope that
Bill McEnery will make it available to the public in the Chicago area.
click images to enlarge Photo taken 11-20-2009 by
L. Andrew Jugle
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
Do you want to hear the news and rumors first? Join the
mailing list for the Kiddieland News Letter.
No
Spam, No Hype, No Junk.
Only Kiddieland Train News. And only when we have news.
History
(what I've been able to piece together with help from L. Andrew Jugle)
1929
The story goes that founder, Arthur E. Fritz, won his original Pony Ride
in a poker game. Fritz had been a successful building contractor until
the crash and depression of 1929. He figured the pony ride could help
him until the economy picked up and he could continue his contracting
business.
1936
Kiddieland moved to it's permanent home on the corner of First Avenue
and North Avenue. The first 14" gauge (rails spaced 14" apart)
track was laid within the first year.
1938
Art Fritz acquires a smaller 12" gauge (rails spaced 12" apart) G-12
from Miniature Train Company (MTC) of Addison Illinois. It ran in
the area that was later occupied by the "Little Dipper" roller coaster
in 1950.
1941
The first of the large Wagner (Wagner and Son Manufacturing of Plainfield,
Illinois) Steam
Locomotives was delivered. The 4-6-4 Hudson type was the
replacement for the earlier steam locomotives that were underpowered.
The second large locomotive, a 4-8-4 Northern, was delayed by the war
effort and wasn't delivered for another 9 years in 1950. These 2
"trains" were pulled by actual steam engines (or "live steam" as it's
called) and fueled by coal. The smaller Hudson was sold off
in the mid 1980's along with several wooden passenger cars. The larger
Northern remained at Kiddieland until it closed at the end of the 2009
season. Both steam locomotives sported a streamline look
reminiscent of the
Sante Fe blue goose locomotives of the day.
1948
More trains were added. These new trains had the look of the modern
diesels of the day. While full scale F-2's were built by
GM at the Electro Motive Division (EMD) in it's La Grange Illinois factory, Fritz's locomotives,
G-16s. were built by the Miniature Train
Company (MTC) of Addison Illinois.
As a side note, the MTC G-16 debuted BEFORE any full size F-2's hit the
rails.
Art Fritz
ordered #514 in 1946, and had to wait until 1948 for delivery. It was
purchased for $16,949. It seems
that Miniature Train Company had a new factory built to meet the
post-war demand, and moved
manufacturing to Rennselaer, Indiana while maintaining offices in Elmhurst,
Illinois.
Photos taken 8-8-2005 by D. Crean.
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
Wagner Northern (left) and Miniature Train Company #704 (right)
click images to enlarge
photo by D. Crean (c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
Miniature Train Company #514 A-B
"Kiddieland Limited" or "Chicago and Northwestern"?
The
official Kiddieland website states that the Kiddieland train is
painted in the Chicago and Northwestern paint scheme.
Obviously, that's not true.
A letter
from one of our email newsletter subscribers put me straight on the
mystery of the C&NW paint scheme as it appeared on the old
Kiddieland Trains. With clues from a story written by L.
Andrew Jugle located here Grand Scales
Quarterly, Oct. 2007. Its not that hard to figure out what
happened. In photos from that story, you can make out
lettering (when you zoom in) on the G-16s and the steamers that say
"Chicago and Northwestern". The paint
scheme on the G16s were never C&NW but resembled the Southern Pacific look
(see photo above). Mr. Jugle verified that the the color
delivery photos he received 2008 clearly show the
train in it's familiar
SP
looking paint scheme (that black/yellow/red paint was the MTC
standard color scheme). So in the 50s, all the Kiddieland
equipment, steam or diesel, was lettered C&NW without regard to
paint color.
Now look at
this placard that was recently found by Hesston volunteers that had been removed from the
Hudson 20 years ago and recently re-installed. It would seem
that Fritz really liked the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad but
wasn't worried about matching the paint.
MTC #514 A-B Photo by D. Crean
(c) www.Kiddielandtrain.com all rights reserved.
1950
The Wagner built "Northern" steam locomotive arrives at Kiddieland.
1953
Fritz orders #704 MTC, a "C" unit to make the first A-B-A
"Transcontinental" MTC train (a "B" unit is cab-less and is controlled
by the A unit and the "C" unit is the same as an "A" but placed running
backward).
These new gasoline powered "G-16" trains were an instant hit.
Like the Wagner engines, these new trains would run on Kiddieland's 14"
gauge track (actually set 14 and 1/8" apart to reduce wear and derailments). The modern G-16s quickly
became popular with the crowds. The Wagners, needing more maintenance, were
used less and less over the years until eventually (we think) they stopped using them
all together. Many fans of the old steam trains continued to ask about
them and due partly by public demand, the Northern was refurbished and
taken out on special weekends. They must have figured they would
never run both steamers at the same time and besides, keeping two
steamers in running condition is much harder than one so the smaller and
older "Hudson" was sold off..
Kiddieland, the first amusement park in the
country with that name, became the prototype for family friendly amusement
parks during the baby boomer years in the late 40's. Dozens of "Kiddielands"
sprang up in those days. Many were even called "Kiddieland"
(Fritz failed to get the name registered) and all
the new Kiddielands had miniature trains as the show piece ride. Most had the MTC G-16 diesel
train. MTC would even help with the design and set up of a park as
long as you purchased MTC train rides.
What ever became of
that old "Hudson" that was sold off in the '80s?
The Missing
Kiddieland Train
Here's a photo of Harold Wagner on the
Wagner "Hudson"
4-6-4 in 2008. The photo was taken BEFORE it's restoration. Notice the
"Kiddieland" look and color scheme. This photo
was taken at the Hesston Steam Museum shortly after the Hudson's
arrival. There's plans for an "Unveiling" on Memorial Day, 2010 that will
be open to the public.
A preview of the "Kiddieland" train
scheduled to run on Memorial Day Weekend, 2010 at the Hesston Steam
Museum.
It's obvious that miniature trains in the Chicago
area are now extinct. So where do you take your kids for an old
fashion miniature train ride? These are places I have visited
and recommend...
Open every summer day plus other
weekends. See website.
About Your Web Blogger Jim O'Connor:
I'm from Oak Park. My older
brother Bob had a job at Kiddieland when I was about 11 years old back in
the mid 60's. No, he never drove the train but he would slip me
tickets on my frequent visits to the park and I would ride for free all day.
I must have taken a hundred rides on the G-16s. Thirty years later I
discovered and fell in love with the large scale Live Steam Railroad Hobby.
Now I run a website called
discoverlivesteam.com and belong to several live steam railroad clubs
and own several pieces of 7.5" gauge equipment including a working
steam locomotive in 1/5 scale.
Do you have more photos and info for this site? Contact me at
i n f o @ k i d d
i e l a n d t r a i
n . c o m