Re: Silverwood Central RR

Glad to see it is still in operation. I was around there fairly often when it was being built and in the early years BRC (before roller coasters) I never saw #12 run in all that time. The crew did build a fine passenger car from scratch using good wood and advanced cabinetry techniques. It was always in the car shed.I guess it was like a private car for the owner, who made a lot of money in computers in the early days. Don't know if the coach is still there or not.

The Original operation was called Henley Aerodrome; owner had some fine examples of early aircraft, including actual WWI fighters. Sadly a fire destroyed the hangar and the planes. He has rebuilt the air museum and used to fly his P-51 Mustang at airshows there on weekends.

The company took care to make the buildings authentic, and it was initially a kind of old-west theme park, but didn't do too well economically. so they started putting in rides. One or more roller coasters there were considered state-of-the-art and I remember riding one that did two barrel rolls.

Skip Luke
Switchman (ret): Grand Canyon Railway;
Engineer (ret): Georgetown Loop RR Inc., Sumpter Valley Ry., Monticello & Sangamon Valley;
Dispatcher(ret): Illinois Central, White Pass & Yukon, Burlington Northern Ry.
Mariner, Musician, Miner