Since we do have the good news that Bowcraft Amusement Park is open again --- even if apparently it's because the plans to demolish it and put up condos is dragging its feet, rather than that the park is in the hands of people who want to keep running a park --- let me do a photo dump. Also I've got a lot of Bowcraft pictures so if I don't do some stuff like this I might never finish.
Entrance gate and the ticket/wristband purchase booth for Bowcraft. I'm not able to explain why the weird angle; I don't see any compelling reason for it in the composition.
Fountain just past the Bowcraft entrance; in the far background you can see Crossbow, the major roller coaster. Just behind the fountain you can see a Pinocchio-esque statue.
Station for the Train Xpress ride, which we never saw running the day we were there.
The Party Castle, the big structure that comes up against the strip-mall parking lot area. Not in use the day we were there, although tables inside were set up with vinyl tablecloths and all.
Coin-operated kiddie rides by the Party Castle and bathrooms and a food stand that was out of service but still had the menu board outside.
Manufacturer's plate for the carousel, from Chance Manufacturing in Wichita, Kansas. Model number 280(and the rest faded out). Serial number illegible. Maximum Operating Speed Five & One Half RPM CCW, Maximum Load Capacity 38 Adults Or 72 Children. Electrical Load Requirements Motor (illegible) Lighting (illegible).
The Chance carousel at Bowcraft. It's an antique. It's also a bit of a rough ride and I don't think it was at the 5 and one-half RPM that the manufacturing plate lists as its maximum.
Low-angle shot of Bowcraft Amusement Park's Chance carousel, featuring a shot of the chariot particularly. Can't quite see all the way through the platform but I gave it a try.
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bunny_hugger pondering the Slushies place and the giant slide; she's looking in the general direction of the kiddie roller coaster, Dragon (not pictured).
Speedway USA: an antique-cars ride that was out of operation. No signs of any of the cars and the queue looked as if they hadn't been running in a long while.
Animal figures along the track of the disused antique-cars ride. There were a lot of figures along that and along the railroad, neither of which we would be able to ride.
Cranes and elephant or along the antique-cars track at Bowcraft. Too far to go up to and investigate.
Trivia: The word ``immigrant'' dates to the late 18th century. The travel writer Edward Augustus Kendall wrote in 1809 that it was ``perhaps the only new word, of which the circumstances of the United States has in any degree demanded the addition to the English language''. Source: Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, Simon Winchester.
Currently Reading: The Best of Simon and Kirby, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby. Book Editor Steve Saffel. Ooh, hey, some pinball machines from one of their humor comics, when they were spoofing 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
