The Riverview Park Bobs

The Bobs at Riverview Park was one of the highest rated wooden coasters of its time. Built by Frank Prior and Fred Church in 1924, it had an 85 foot drop, reached speeds of 50 mph and had a ton of curves and drops, reminiscent of today’s wood coasters, in spite of being built nearly 100 years ago.

Postcard via Ultimate Rollercoaster

Before I get too into the weeds about this incredible, and sadly abandoned, coaster, we should discuss Riverview Park, located on the North Side of Chicago. It got its start in the early 20th century, when numerous tiny amusement parks began, many of which were built by railroads and interurban lines to gain traffic. 

Image: Chicago History Museum via WTTW

By the 1950's, Riverview Park billed itself as the largest amusement park in the United States with 40 major rides and attractions and a staff of more than 1,000, according to L Stop Tours.

Image: L Stop Tours

The carousel is the only remnant of the park that remains in operation, as it was relocated to Six Flags Over Georgia, and is now considered a Historic Place. "This carousel was originally built in 1908 and is celebrating over a hundred years of delighting the world." The Bobs was demolished, but a POV video taken in the 1960's thankfully survives on YouTube.


Nonetheless, the Bobs was the signature attraction of the park, which had 7 coasters in 1967 (out of 19 to ever operate there). Despite the profitability and popularity of Riverview, it would not be long for the world.

Map of Riverview Park


It met its end, along with Riverview Park, in 1967, despite over 1.7 million people visiting that year. The Tribune stated, "Riverview had been sold to developers for more than $6 million. Aladdin's Castle and the Pair-O-Chutes and the Tunnel of Love and the Flying Turns and the Water Bug and the Rotor and the Ghost Train and even the revered Bobs would be flattened, gone, history." Crime and juvenile delinquency at the park had become a growing problem, and rather than increase security or close earlier, the decision was made to close the park and redevelop the land.

Image: John Owens, Chicago Tribune

The Raging Wolf Bobs at Geauga Lake was built in 1988 and based off of this ride, with both that ride and Geauga Lake having been abandoned as well.

Thanks as always for reading!

Location: W Belmont Ave, Illinois, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Choum Tunnel: The Monument to European Stupidity in Africa

Image
Scars of European colonization are located all across Africa, although some are more obscure and strange than others. With that in mind we come to the Choum Tunnel , built in Mauritania when it was controlled by the French. At first glance, it seems like an ordinary railway tunnel, however, one look at the local geography and you'll find yourself asking what its builders were possibly thinking with creating the project. Choum Tunnel in Mauritania. Unknown photographer. The Mauritania Railway was being built in the early 1960s, and was planned to connect Nouadhibou to Zouérat to exploit the iron ore reserves at Zouérat. That route still exists today in largely its original state, with the exception of the tunnel. Image: Ammar Hassan via Atlas Obscura The easiest route required running a short section of track through the then-Spanish controlled Western Sahara , but rather than pay Spain for the land and other concessions, the French engineers instead chose to tunnel under a hill sp
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2024

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i
Read more

11 Of The Most Amazing Abandoned Railroad Bridges Still Standing Today - Updated February 2023

Image
With the hundreds of thousands of miles of abandoned railroad corridors in the world, it's no surprise that some of the most amazing infrastructure humanity has ever built was eventually abandoned, or re-purposed. And indeed, many bridges, trestles and viaducts have been lost to history, such as the Brushy Creek Viaduct in Alabama. But there are also many which still stand today which serve as reminders of bygone days, the folly of man, or the power of Mother Nature, or some combination thereof. Here are 11 such bridges. 11) Goat Canyon Trestle, Jacumba Hot Springs, CA (32.729167, -116.183333) Image: CoachellaValley.com Goat Canyon Trestle is the largest standing (for now) wooden trestle in the United States, and in spots is 200 feet off the ground, and 750 feet long. Built in the 1930's, it's actually a lot younger than it looks, since by the 1930's, steel had all but replaced wood as the preferred construction material for bridges. It was made out of woo
Read more