Intro

I moved the topic of today’s episode from my master list of parks to my short list based on the name. Just a silly, wacky name, and I expected grand things from it. What I learned once I began my research is that the story of Wobbies World is perhaps a story of misconceptions – where expectations do not meet up with the reality. 

As I welcome you to the new year and back from the holiday season, I invite you down under. It’s time to go back down to Australia and see what’s happening on that massive country continent. 

Well, what’s happening in 2020 is a massive series of wildfires, abnormally extreme due to the ongoing climate change crisis. For now, let’s dial the clock backwards to the sometimes comparatively blissful 1980s. Broadly speaking, the social revolution of the 70s gave way to the economic revolution of the 80s.

The 1970s and 1980s saw the development of a number of major and minor theme parks throughout Australia.

Today’s topic is not the biggest of these theme parks and not the best of these theme parks. It’s unclear if it was the smallest, but it’s certainly remembered online with quite a bit of notoriety. Everything about this park was a lot grander in advertisement and memory than reality. 

Today: Wobbies World.

Wobbies World

Wobbies World opened around 1978 in a Melbourne suburb called Vermont South. The land in this area had predominantly been orchards, specifically apple orchards, until the 50s or the 60s. At this point, demand for housing in the Melbourne area was growing, and the orchards began to be subdivided. The 1966 acquisition of a large block of orchards is considered the start of the acquisition by the local government, Nunawading Council. 

(This begins the start of the delightfully fun names, at least to American ears, which my statistics tell me most of you listening are. For all that Australia speaks English, the odd place names and baffling slang definitely provide a little bit of a language barrier. And even though I know that intellectually, it’s still surprising and amusing when I come across it out of the blue. It makes me happy!)

With the rise of the suburbs, there was a boom in the development of theme parks in Australia, ranging from small to large parks across the country. 

Wobbies World was on the smaller side, as I said earlier.  

From the beginning, the park advertised itself to local and not-so-local kids TV, with well-edited footage promoting the thrills of the park. A near-universal remembrance of the park is its TV commercials, which reportedly played “often” or “incessantly”, depending on your perspective. (Several of them can be found on YouTube, and linked through the shownotes, of course.) People who were children at the time remember the FOMO feeling of seeing the commercials and then hearing mom and dad say no. But ultimately, the park was very good at promotion, as we’ll see, and the actual experience was often more of a letdown.

What’s a Wobbie?

The first question you might wonder about is what’s a wobbie? Is it a person? Is it a thing? 

Google unfortunately did not answer this question for me. The majority of people discussing the question out there are confused. It turns out, no one knows. There’s no real definition for the word. There is a book series out there (“The Wobbies and the Caterpillar”). Meant for children, it shows Wobbies as miniature blue fox-like creatures. A 1946 short story in the Sydney Morning Herald tells the tale of Wobby the Whale. There’s a modern guy named Mike Wobschall, nickname Wobby, a major talking head for the Minnesota Vikings who recently quit or was fired from that role. The American Agriculturist Cyclopedia of Natural History from 1887 described “red-throated diver” birds as “wobbies”. One single reference used it colloquially to mean “shark”. But that’s about it, and that’s not a lot of results.

Google also suggests “woobie” in the search, which, while an unlikely option, does have an interesting history. Did you know that a woobie is colloquially a child’s lovey, and that this became the name of a popular item of military kit? Technically called the “liner, wet weather, poncho”, this item was originally produced in the 60s in the Vietnam War. Troops fighting in the jungle needed a lightweight poncho to serve the dual purpose of both rain protection and warmth. The poncho and liner were originally crafted from leftover camouflaged parachute material all the way from World War II, or so the story goes. This poncho was so beloved by the troops and so synonymous with comfort that it began to be called a “woobie”. Today, if you search for the term “woobie”, the dominant result is for this poncho. In a writeup on the US Armed Forces focused website, “Task and Purpose,” they described the woobie thusly: “Simply put, it is the greatest thing to ever be issued by the U.S. military.“

Ultimately, none of these possible meanings for the word appear to have anything to do with the theme park, leaving an open mystery for now. 

What Was Wobbies World?

Back to Wobbies World, then. Wobbies, spelled without any apostrophe as far as I’ve seen in my research. There was a “Mr. Wobbie” used as a mascot to promote the theme park in shopping malls, but the internet holds no details about what or whom he was. My suspicion is that he essentially looked like the Saggy Baggy Elephant based on some abandoned photos, but there’s no confirmation of this.

The park is said to have opened in or around 1980 on seven acres of land off Springvale Road in Nunawading. (The real opening year may have been 1978, based on a line item in the official “Survey of Post-War Built Heritage in Victoria” done by Heritage Victoria, the governmental heritage department. 1978 was also the year the park began acquiring vehicles. At least one internet commenter specifically notes a visit to the park in 1979, as well.) It was a place geared towards younger children and particularly those interested in vehicles and moving attractions. The owner was a man by the name of Robin Laurie, and he owned the theme park (or “children’s playground” in Australian) for most of the park’s operation. He’s remembered online as being a nice guy and good to work for, at least at first. 

Wobbies World was memorable for its handmade and unique, vintage rides, in particular. The aesthetic wasn’t much: “this place looks like it’s from the 1930s” is a quote from a visitor videotaping the park during its operating years. Overall, the theming was perhaps “transportation”, if anything at all. Here’s an album of photos in operation and a second album of photos. Kids remember the park for mailing free park vouchers on your birthday – quite the highlight to get a birthday card from a theme park as an under-10 year old, if I’m being honest. I like this policy!

Attractions at Wobbies World

Vickers Viscount

Perhaps the attraction with the longest history at Wobbies World was the big old Vickers Viscount airplane sitting with a staircase, waiting for guests to walk through it. It perhaps was not incredibly interesting for small children at a theme park, but had a deep history.

The Viscount, as a general model of plane, was one of the first turboprop planes. This plane was revolutionary for introducing a new type of engine, the turboprop engine: a jet engine with a propeller on the front, and incredibly fuel efficient. The engine it replaced was a piston-driven engine. 

Designed by a man called George Edwards, it was originally called “Viceroy” after the viceroy of India, Lord Louis Mountbatten. After India’s independence in 1947, the plane was renamed Viscount as it began production. The first aircraft entered service in 1950, a British plane. A comment from 1953 described the play as “an excellent shorthaul airplane and a definite crowd pleaser”. It was known for the smooth flight, lack of turbulence, and higher flying altitudes.  In Australia, the Viscounts were widely used by Australian airline companies, as replacements for the piston-powered planes favored a generation earlier. 

This specific Viscount was built in 1958. It was built for the Cuban state airline Cubana, registered as CU-T622 and CU-N622. Rumor says it served as the personal transport for Fidel Castro for some time. By 1961, after only a few years in service, it was seized for non-payment of debts and cannabalized for spare parts for other planes. The plane was intended to be sold until Cubana to South Africa Airways, but this deal never went through. Instead, the planes was eventually sold to Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) with the tailnumber VH-TVR in 1962. She was named as “John Murray”.

There is some discussion on Facebook posts that TVR was involved in an incident where a catering truck ran straight into the wing, damaging the plane. The March 2015 issues of the TAA Museum newsletter describes the incident as a forklift, and not a catering truck, running into the plane just after it had been completely rehauled to new condition. This was during the time when the Viscount was being retired, so spare parts were at a premium, having to come all the way from England. In a pinch, the wing from sister plan VH-TVP was removed and attached to TVR to allow the plane to continue to fly.

After a few years flying in Australia, VH-TVR was retired from service in April of 1970. 

In June of 1970, it’s said that the personal intervention of TAA’s chairman, Sir Frederick Scherger, saved TVR John Murray from being destroyed as a fire training aid. 

Instead, she was donated to the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group at Moorabbin,, but space considerations meant that she had to take a substantial detour first. Reportedly she languished in the Essendon graveyard for several years after the airplane wing incident.

In October 1978, she was delivered in a basic paint scheme with the name “Wobbies Airlines” to what the Vickers Viscount plane book describes as “a children’s playground”. Yes, our plane friend with that long history was now solely an exhibit for mildly interested children to tromp through. Well, tromp through isn’t quite fair. Apparently you got to pay an extra $0.50 in 1991 dollars to sit through a 25 minute video of a plane taking off and landing at Melbourne airport. (Walkthrough of the plane in its current incarnation at the Moorabbin Museum.) When they weren’t experiencing the other rides at Wobbies World, that is.

Rides at Wobbies World

A commenter online states “A place more schizophrenic between ‘awesome’ and ‘■■■■■■ awful’ than Wobbies World I have never seen.” 

Wob Cats

One of the attractions generally considered awesome were the real vehicles, like a real construction vehicle (a Fiat 4S1C Diesel Bull Dozer) and a real tractor (Kubota L246 Diesel Tractor) and a real Bren Gun Carrier from World War II that kids could drive. Collectively, they appear to have been called the Wob Cats.

Quote from an online commenter: “I was 12 and I was DRIVING A REAL TANK.  Talk about the best thing ever.”

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20487 The tank (the gun carrier) had no actual guns on it, but the ride line was reportedly always long, indicative of its popularity. Children were able to drive an actual tank and get a token for their troubles. Imagine! Or a real tractor, or a real bulldozer – can you imagine the chance to do that as a child? The latter were rigged to a power grid like a supercharged bumper car in later years, and only those over the age limit could take their turn to drive the vehicles in jumpy mechanized circles across muddy ground. 

There were other rides too. Nothing was a “standard” theme park ride – everything had the aura of the custom and homemade. Take the entrance, for instance. By some bizarre reason, the entrance and offices were inside a boxy bulky castle facade. The park’s nominal theme could best be said to be transportation, so it’s unclear what “theme” this castle was intending to tie into. 

Carousel (Wobbies Whirls?)

A six-person swan shaped carousel (an extra $0.50 per ride in 1991) sat at the park, by all accounts appearing to be home brewed in most ways, as the swans were simply two plywood swan-shaped cutouts bracketing a basic seat. In one of the videos of the park in operation, we get a good view of this ride, with one single child glumly going round, mum chivvying them to smile and wave, trying to induce some excitement into the scene. The carousel appeared to operate at about the speed of your average airline luggage carousel. 

In the March 1992 issue of “The Fare Box” (which is a monthly newsletter for transportation token collectors) there is a description of “a beautiful ride token” which appears to have been for the swan merry-go-round (labeled carousel) –  “I’ve never heard of Nunawading before, so I guess it’s some sort of theme park with rides”. Very inspirational.

Wobbies Wheels

There was some sort of amphibious ATV type ride, bright red cars, called “Wobbies Wheels”. These were actually Sierra Trailboss vehicles, six-wheeled ATV type cars circa 1970. They went along a three rail track through the woods. There’s some debate online as to whether the cars were powered by motor or by the track it ran on; in my opinion, a motor seems most likely based on the other Sierra Trailboss vehicles out there, but this is only a guess. (Here’s a photo of the cars in action during the park’s operation.)

The ATV ride provided minor thrills like small puddles and a fake crocodile popping out at unsuspecting guests. These ATVs (and according to some commenters, all rides at Wobbies World) did not have any emergency stop zones – it was apparently solely up to the operator’s discretion to decide when each car should be released from the station. Clearly, this is not a situation that would fit with more modern standards of health and safety.

Splash Down

In the later years, in 1994, roughly $40,000 was spent to add a ride called “Splash Down”. This ride barely seems worthy of the classification of “ride”. It was literally just a small red boat with stick-on “Wobbies World” letters on the side. The boat was winched up maybe 7-10 feet on an incline and then splashed down in a small pool of water, coming to a stop almost as soon as the splash occurred. (It can be seen in this circa 1998 promo video: https://youtu.be/tQCkWIfaHAY?t=4) This appears to be the “log ride” that some refer to when describing the park. General opinion on the internet is that this ride was underwhelming, to say the least, with only a few former visitors exclaiming happily over this as their favorite ride. 

Fire Trucks, Mini Golf, and Other Rides

There was a vintage Dennis fire truck, and also a fire truck “ride” which ran on a small central rail track. It seems that there was a mannequin “firefighter” who sprayed the car as it went by at one point, and everyone who rode got firefighter hats to wear. The online commentary does seem to find this ride memorable, despite how basic it seems in the description. Perhaps it was the plastic hat.

Of course there were other rides. One was a vintage hand pump car on a small circuit (reportedly requiring much effort to operate) called the Push Pull Railway (an additional $0.25 in 1991). There a basic kids playground setup with several slides and sense-confusing spinning tunnels and a rope swing and a swinging rope bridge and a flying fox (that’s the name for the thing that’s essentially a heavy duty zipline). There was a ball pit of bright colorful plastic balls (reportedly 18,000 of them). There were large trampolines with injury-awaiting exposed springs. 

There was a mini golf course of no particular special theming – just basic blue surfaces surrounded by concrete gutters. But hey, mini-golf was an extra $1 per 18 holes. Apparently the final hole, #18, had a large rock wall or mountain facade of some sort, where a hole-in-one would earn you a free game.

Trams and Trains at Wobbies World

And there were several trams (which are sort of like trolleys to an American audience, and not my initial interpretation from the video of “train”) – actual commuter trams, formerly serving the Melbourne area. (In a minor tangent, I found it interesting in my research how trams are a huge form of public transportation in Melbourne, and that they have by at least once source the largest urban tram network in the world. Obviously given my accent, I’m an American living in this vast wasteland of terrible public transportation that is the majority of our nation, and I’m envious.) 

Briefly, trams in Melbourne have operated since 1885; electric trams operated irregularly beginning in 1889, and have been operating continuously for more than a century, since 1906. Where other cities shuttered their networks, Melbourne’s stayed in operation: factors included wide streets and gridded geometry of the city; union resistance; and successful argument from the MMTB chairman that it would’ve been prohibitively expensive to rip up the tracks in the streets. The tram network has expanded several times over the years, and today, trams form much of Melbourne’s character and occupy a large part of general tourism and travel advertising. 

The backbone of the Melbourne tram fleet between 1940 and 1969 was the W2 class, a model of electric tram introduced in 1927. More modern, wider trams began to replace the W2 series, with the final W2 being taken out of service in 1987. What’s fantastic is that the government maintains public records of each tram and where it went after it was sold from service.

As Wobbies World geared up to open, it was November of 1979 that they purchased their first W2 tram, number 302. The next spring, April 1980, they purchased another, number 283. Both of these were originally “W” models from 1924 which had been converted to W2s in the mid 1930s.

Five years later, in November of 1985, Wobbies World bought two more W2 trams: number 579 and 624, both manufactured between 1929 and 1930.

All of these W2 trams were stationary, serving as exhibits and places to have picnics, lunches, and parties. 

There was another set of trams said to have been installed in the late 80s, and these were a “ride” – a very slow-moving mechanized trip up and down a pathway. These were painted a very cheerful green and yellow, matching the paint scheme livery of their larger cousins. The miniature trams used a traverser – essentially an automated switch to move the tram from one set of tracks back to the other to allow a return trip. These trams had names after local suburbs: Vermont, Burwood, Nunawading, Forest Hill.

A Flickr album also notes a few other pieces of rolling stock set up together, originally having been displayed with the J550 locomotive at Mirboo North station. According to one commenter on railpage.com.au, they were called “The Crumpet Train” when they were at Wobbies World. One was a “BPL 59” painted pale blue (this was a “bouncing passenger lounge” or carriage); and a “ZL 539” (or perhaps 536?) painted bright red (wooden frame, built towards the end of the 1920s). The “Z van”, I learned, is what’s called a “guard’s van”, or a brake car, akin to a North American caboose, albeit with a different look. Originally, the only brakes on the train were in the loco and in the brake van, not continuously on every car, so you might see the importance of the guard’s van. As continuous brakes began to be implemented, the guard’s van fell out of use. 

Traverser miniature tram images: image one, image two, image three.

Helicopter Rides at Wobbies World

There were two other big rides at Wobbies World, though, and both involved helicopters. 

Bell 47J at Wobbies World

The first was the big Bell 47J helicopter, perched on a large piece of machinery in the middle of a field. Formerly registered as VH-INE, this Bell 47J with serial number 1772 once operated for Airfast and Ansett-ANA Airlines in the 1960s. The copter was said to be one of those used during the search when former Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt went missing in 1967. 

(Here are links to images of the helicopter in operation and sitting in the paddock post-Wobbies World; and a nice image from the National Library of Australia here and here and here. It was withdrawn from use in 1976, and from there made its way to Wobbies World.

It was positioned as a virtual reality simulator. For an additional $1 (in 1991 dollars) per ride, kids were able to “drive” the copter and experience what it would be like to fly one.

In reality, of course, the ride was nothing like the expectation. I suppose from a “guy builds amusement park from his workshop” sense, this ride was impressive. But compared to any actual theme park ride, it fell spectacularly short for all but the youngest riders. The copter rose up a few feet on its mechanical post and did spin in circles, but otherwise didn’t do much at all in the way of a proper simulator. Remembrances online are all about how disappointing the helicopter ride was in reality, and of guests trying to spin the copter in order to hit other guests still queuing up. Others recall simply riding the ride as an excuse to get frisky behind the blacked out front viewscreen.

Nonetheless, regardless of reality, in commercials and pictures, the big Bell helicopter cut an impressive figure. 

Whirlybird Copter Rail

The other helicopter ride featured miniature Whirlybird copters done up in primary colors, and was somewhere between a monorail and a roller coaster. From a layout and structural perspective, the ride was incredibly tame. However, given that this ride was essentially to the scale of, say, a beach ball perched on a string of yarn, the thrill came from the constant sensation that this ride was going to fall apart and kill you. Most visitors online recall this ride as quite scary.

A former visitor online sums it up, describing the ride as ancient and decrepit. The ride was said to shudder along, shedding flakes of rust. Some even described the I-beam rails as shuddering beneath the helicopter-shaped car’s weight or the entire apparatus, track and copter both, literally swaying in the wind. Quote: “the whole contraption just gave off a million-decibel ABOUT TO COLLAPSE AT ANY TIME warning.” 

The gentle turns and U-bends combined with the mild slopes to give a terrifying coaster-like ride, solely because of the wildly unsafe nature of it all. Every time a small copter took a gentle turn on the rail, the small two person capsule shuddered and wobbled, seeming to barely hang on to the rail. A 90-degree turn after a short downhill incline seems to have been the worst offender, terrifying many who rode it. Multiple reports and stories exist online of the cars stopping, tilting, dangling, or doors simply not opening, so it’s a fairly safe bet that this ride was not anywhere near modern standards of safe. One particularly vivid story described a day nearly to end of the park’s life, with a worker on a ladder, shoving at a dangling whirlybird car with a broomstick, attempting to right the car onto the track before the two screaming children inside puked or passed out. It sounded super safe.

In fact, none of the rides were close to today’s modern standards of health and safety.

Closure of Wobbies World

Wobbies World is long gone by the time I’m recording this in 2020, which I’m sure is unsurprising given what I’ve already told you about the park. One commenter online sums it up, describing their only memory of the park as the lingering sense of deep and utter disappointment.

A number of factors were involved in the closure, not the least of which were the typical: mismanagement, compliance with safety standards, and financial difficulties leading to audience decline. 

Costs

The park was said to be expensive for the time: $36 for a family of four admission in 1994 dollars, the oft-quoted number I saw. This is over $60 in today’s money. However, we could argue about the validity of that price quote. A 1991 price list I saw from a very reliable source (a legal proceeding) has adult admission at $3 and kids ages 4 and up $2, which is a very different pricing scheme. 

However, given the miniscule scope of attractions at the park, the increasingly unsafe maintenance, and the very short amount of time a person could find themselves entertained at the park, and you can see how the cost was high. Additionally, most attractions had an additional cost, as noted earlier. For instance, to walk through the Vickers Viscount, the 1982 price was an additional $0.50. (About $1.30 today.) Only the playground equipment, firetruck, vintage cars, and trampolines were “free” (included in admission price). 

Very late in the game, a “Red Baron” monorail type ride was added, featuring a single airplane on a very gentle slope. Most recollections of this ride are not particularly fond, and many describe it as “lame”.

Maintenance

Unsafe maintenance too seems to have played a large role. Urban Dictionary actually has a review or definition for the park:  “Located in the state of Victorian, Australia, Wobby’s World was a little kiddie’s theme-park hangover from the 80’s. Was run, until recently, with complete disregard for health and safety regulations: the rides were never oiled, many were structurally unsound such as the best ride there which resembled a Hills Hoist washing line, and the workers there seemed as if they either never slept, were hung-over or stoned. The last two options were definitely more likely.”

Many reviews and comments online from the latter years of the park’s history describe how poorly the park was looking – rides and attractions broken down, covered in rust, ungreased, and not working properly. The ride vehicles in general were said to all smell like sweat. Other comments talk about the overgrown landscaping, with stagnant water in the ponds and blackberry bushes overgrowing the paths. My general sense is that most people in the area found the park iconic, though often in a negative, run-down sort of way. 

One comment relates an anecdote about riding the Whirlybird monorail in the later years, with the Whirlybird tipping over on a curve and dangling from the rail; passengers reportedly had to be rescued with the help of a stepladder. Another commenter online talks about giant cracks in the minigolf course and a hedge maze that was more holes than maze. 

And of course, the park had to have broken so many health and safety laws. Or, perhaps if they didn’t actively break them, they didn’t upgrade to comply with new regulations. The rides certainly were relics from a different age, of common sense, burning hot slides, exposed machinery, and the like. 

Hand in hand with health and safety laws had to be the ever-rising cost of insurance for a park such as this, as we’ve talked about so many times. That certainly didn’t help the bottom line, especially as maintenance and advertising costs also rose, and as attendance began dropping.

Mismanagement

But the final nail in the coffin for Wobbies World was “mismanagement”. Such a small word to describe some rather large ramifications and shenanigans. 

Come the mid-to-late 90s, Wobbies World began having trouble staying in the black with the park – reduced attendance, larger spending on maintenance and advertising, and even new rides like the Red Baron airplane monorail (similar to the Whirlybird but not appearing to replace it).

In February of 1996, roughly $16,000 was spent to move the Vickers Viscount from Wobbies World back to Moorabin and the Australian National Aviation Museum (originally known as the Moorabin Air Museum). All pieces acquired by the museum are required to be directly related to Australian aviation history. And of course, as noted earlier, the Viscount was simply on loan to Wobbies World.

 Apparently there was some drama involved with the move, of which I wished I knew more details. From an account of the life of the plane, we have only this quote: “the aircraft was transported to the Moorabbin Air Museum ( a saga in itself)”. Perhaps it was simply a difficult job to get the plane out past the tight squeeze of the Whirlybird tracks and other attractions? I’ll include links to several photos of the plane on the move in the next paragraph. One comes with the caption “a sigh of relief”. 

To move the plane, the wings, engines, and nose were removed. A large crane hoisted the plane body up onto a very large flatbed truck, and from there, it presumably moved quite slowly to its new destination, some 20 km south. An album with four images of the plane being moved is located here; a different image of the plane being moved is here; another different image of the plane being moved with its faded Wobbies Airlines signage; an image of the plane being lifted off the stands at Wobbies World; the disassembled engine props. Here’s an image of the plane beginning to be reassembled at the museum.

In 1998, it still sat partially disassembled, as seen in this image linked here.

The plane still lives at the museum today, reportedly the only complete Viscount remaining in Australia. It is still on display, and is reportedly undergoing major restoration. 

But returning the Viscount to the museum in 1996 may have only hastened the public opinion issues with the park – one of the major attractions and pieces of background scenery, after all. By 1997, attendance was continuing to drop. Mr. Laurie, the owner, perhaps saw the writing on the wall, and put up the park for sale. 

By December of 1997, the sale was finalized. Laurie was no longer the owner: now, it was owned by a company called Crystal Auburn, changing hands for the tidy sum of $550,000. Remember that Australia is in the southern hemisphere – summer runs from approximately December through February – so the park was in operation at the time of the sale. 

And it seems that as they operated the park in the high season and went through the paperwork immediately following their purchase and acquisition of the park, Crystal Auburn began to smell a rat in the walls. Something wasn’t right. By March of 1998, three months after the purchase, they began seeking legal advice, and reportedly asked Laurie if he would take the park back. 

He declined.

Crystal Auburn put Wobbies World up for sale at the end of that month, March 1998, at a sum of $650,000. 

From a public perspective, the park was seeming increasingly run down, untidy, and simply not up to par. Things were dirty, rusty, moldy, mildewy, and broken. Descriptions of the park from former workers around this time paint a picture of an empty park and not much to do. Workers were primarily bored high school and university students, whiling away the days. There were said to be a bare handful of visitors on most days, with workers helping themselves to hot fries from the snack bar and passing the time with some hot book reading action (Stephen King! It was the 90s). Visitors weren’t being drawn in by the constantly running television commercials. The park had some irregular operating hours. It was circling the drain, in medical parlance. Ultimately, it was ingloriously shuttered the next year, in mid-1999, with fixtures being sold at public auction in June of 1999.

Of course, none of this tells the story of what really happened to Wobbies World.

It wouldn’t be until a series of three court cases, in 2000, 2001, and 2004, that the details came to public light. 

The problem was that the 1997 sale of Wobbies World had apparently been done under false pretenses.

(The remainder of this section is sourced from my interpretation of three court cases, linked in the shownotes. I’m not a lawyer, so I’ll apologize in advance if I’ve misinterpreted anything. Read the case for yourself here: http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/FCA/2004/821.html) 

So it seems when the park was put up for sale, attendance figures and a profile in a business magazine were used to promote the sale of the park, and were the basis by which Crystal Auburn chose to purchase the park. Only the problem was, it turns out that the business numbers – profits, attendance, etc, were determined to be falsified and misleading. The park’s income tax returns, even, were apparently incorrect for several years. 

Of course, this wasn’t known at the time that Crystal Auburn purchased the park in December of 1997, though they quickly seemed to be figuring it out. Wobbies World under Crystal Auburn operation reportedly had attendance numbers 60% lower than the previously provided attendance figures. It wasn’t until several months later in March of 1998 that they began to ask for legal advice, and subsequently put Wobbies World back up for sale.

In August of 1998 with no offers coming in on the sale of the park, Crystal Auburn took the advice of their lawyers, walking away from their contract, walking away from Wobbies World. Laurie and his associated companies subsequently re-occupied and re-opened the property throughout the summer of 1998-1999 (remember, southern hemisphere – what Americans would consider winter months). A major vandalism incident is reported to have occurred during this time, closing several of the rides; ultimately, this may have been the final death knell for the park and its visitors. 

By January of 1999, Laurie and his businesses had relisted Wobbies World for sale at a cost of $390,000. A buyer was found when the park land was finally auctioned in June 1999. The ad wrote: “Falling within an area zoned reserved living and in a predominantly residential district, agents believe the property is ideally suited to residential subdivision. But the site will be sold with conforming use rights, allowing an enterprising purchaser to continue to operate a theme park. McGees director Mr Richard O’Callaghan said the Wobbies World theme park commenced trading in 1980 and was a “source of joy for countless children. It would now appear that the site will be the source of much enjoyment for one successful residential developer.’ ”

A buyer was indeed found, splitting the theme park land up, so Wobbies World as it had been had to go. The park was shuttered. A public auction was set in July 199, one month later, to sell the park’s fixtures and rides. I’ll include a listing of the auction contents in the Appendix below. It’s said that Mr. Laurie himself personally bid on at least 24 different items.

By 2000, Crystal Auburn filed a legal proceeding against Laurie and his associated companies, seeking damages under the claim that Laurie’s companies had misrepresented Wobbies World when selling it. It took three cases and four more years before everything was settled. Ultimately, the courts came to a decision: apparently Laurie’s companies had knowingly misled, deceived, and mismanaged the sale of Wobbies World by falsifying data that led to Crystal Auburn’s purchase of the park. Crystal Auburn was awarded damages to the tune of almost $1 million dollars.  Again, I recommend reading the original case, linked here.

After Wobbies World

The land that was formerly Wobbies World, there on Springvale Road in Nunawading or Vermont South or Forest Hill, whichever Melbourne suburb you’d like to place it in, was split up after the theme park shuttered in 1999.

Half of the land was sold to property developers, and became just your average basic housing tract. The other half stayed nearly as it was, and this was the half with the “castle”. The castle, in fact, was one of the longest-lasting parts of Wobbies World, as this half of the theme park became….a garden center. A plant nursery! In fact, there’s an indication that for a period of time, the castle was considered a heritage site, though this is only an educated guess.

The name was “The Park Nursery and Pool Center” – after a few weeks of research with this name kicking around in my head, I’ve decided that perhaps it wasn’t as generic as it sounds – do you think “The Park” was a subtle Wobbies World reference, as in “theme park”? Maybe.

Anyhow, the garden center stayed there for several years after Wobbies World was broken up. A few internet commenters say the original owner and/or his companies remained the owner of this garden center, though this isn’t clear or well-sourced in the slightest. A surprising amount of the physical infrastructure from Wobbies World remained – posts, the snack building, the mini-golf setup, and of course, the castle. Google Earth extends back this far, and shows that pots and plants are simply organized in neat rows over much of where the parking lot used to be. For a time, it looked quite nice (thanks, Google street view).

Everything stayed for years, because I suppose if there’s one thing Australia has a ton of, it’s land. But finally, a sign went up indicating a new purpose for the site, and in September of 2012, it was announced that the Forest Hill police station was to be built there. The garden center closed, and the property began to be the target for graffiti artists, as seen in this album of gorgeous abandoned images of Wobbies World. An October 2013 Google street view shows the shuttered, graffiti’d former castle.

A few accounts exist online about explorations of the park at this stage, and even a short video round about the demolition timeframe. There are few images available of the abandoned property since most of the interesting items (the rides) were sold fairly quickly. One shows a dingy, decrepit section of the mini-golf course blue AstroTurf obscured by debris, while another shows folks looking at an original Wobbies World sign that had fallen in the grass. A sad, misshapen elephant (possibly Mr. Wobbie himself) perched on a ball remained as a peeling mural on the wall of a building (apparently the former “birthday hut”). What little infrastructure that had been left was in a sorry state: rotting wooden bridges and walkways, rusting metal, massive overgrowth of blackberries and other flora, muddy mucky pools of water.

Between January 30th and February 27th of 2014, the castle building was demolished. The ceremonial first shovelful of dirt was dug February 12, 2014. The $12 million Forest Hill Police Station went up in its place, opening in March of 2015 all shiny and gleaming and modern, but the outbuildings and the back quarter of the park remained in their decaying glory, until the entire site was finally demo’d in July or August of 2016.

Wobbies World in Culture Today

That was the end of Wobbies World as anything resembling a physical site, but the park remains to this day as a concept in Australian cultural parlance.

Back in the 90s, it was the height of the late-night sketch comedy show. One of these was the short-lived but well-remembered show, aptly named “The Late Show”. Based out of Melbourne, this was a show appearing to be similar to America’s MADtv or Canada’s The Red Green Show. One of the recurring segments on the show was “Pissweak World”, where fake commercials were shown promoting a theme park called Pissweak World. Video showed bored-looking children (known as The Pissweak Kids) experiencing disappointing rides at a terrible “theme park”. Voiceover provided exuberant commentary about the terrible-looking rides and attractions: “travel on a real golf buggy”, “roll down a slope”, etc. The exciting-sounding descriptions were obvious send-ups: for instance, the voice-over of “ride a bucking bronco” showed a child sitting calmly on the back of a golden retriever, Marine World was a swimming pool, and one of the Air World rides involved wearing ski goggles in front of a small fan. Ultimately, there were seven Pissweak World episode segments: Pissweak World, Pissweak Colonial World (also known as Ye Olde Pissweak Worlde), Pissweak World Fun Park, Pissweak Western World, Pissweak Marine World, Pissweak Movie World, and Pissweak Air World. (Here’s a playlist of the Pissweak World segments, linked here!)

(And in a brief sidebar, the voiceover narration was provided by one Tony Martin, who today has his own podcast, Sizzletown, among other things.)

It’s generally accepted that this segment for the worst theme park ever was directly inspired by and parodying Wobbies World in particular. Depending on your point of view, it’s a direct example of how influential, inspiring, uninspiring, or unexceptional Wobbies World actually was. Today, Pissweak World is perhaps even more well-known or commonly referenced than Wobbies World, evidenced by its regular use on Twitter and other social media sites.

The park also reportedly was immortalized in an episode of the Aussie TV show Prisoner. If anyone has any leads on which ep (there are 692!), I’d love to know! 

And of course, Wobbies World remains a talking point in discussions today, including political debate. From online notes, we find at least two references to Wobbies World: April 2016 comments by the Premier Andrews to the opposition leader during legislative assembly: “The Leader of the Opposition ought to get down to Wobbies World because he might have the numbers there. He should not waste his time on me; he might have the numbers down at Wobbies World. They might need a leader down there — he will be unopposed.” And Parliament of Victoria Legislative Council, Mr. Leane, April 2013: “I am glad I have parliamentary privilege because Wobbies World was probably the worst amusement park you could ever imagine in your lifetime. Sorry, Mr Wobbie, but it was pretty ordinary.”

And on YouTube, in addition to all the vintage commercials, don’t sleep on the “Jurassic Wobbies World compilation.

Wobbies World: the Physical Remnants

Of course, physical remnants of Wobbies World still remain, even with the park long-shuttered and the castle demolished.

The miniature trams remained onsite for some time – one commenter online posted a picture of them said to be circa 2005, still in their former storage shed, now much overgrown and dirty. At least one of these mini-trams was sold at auction, and the remainder are said to have been gifted by the former owners to the same person who now owns the iconic Bell 47J helicopter, on a farm near “Frankston-Dandy” road. 

The copter sits in the front paddock next to a busy road, delightfully visible to all traffic passing by. According to an online comment, the local council fought the owners about it for several years after they’d purchased it at the Wobbies World auction, but finally settled. Reportedly the copter is unlikely to fly again, missing the motor and gearbox – an expensive proposition to get it in flight-worthy condition. Today, the copter’s paint is peeling and there have unfortunately been some vandalism incidents. However, it remains safe from the scrap heap, and a reminder of good times gone by for the regular traffic on the busy Frankston-Dandy road. Link to Google map view of the helicopter here.

Another copter, one of the Whirlybird monorail cars, is also visible at a house on the road to Healesville Animal Sanctuary. Link to the Google map view of the helicopter in Healesville.

The W2-class trams are all now said to be in the hands of private collectors or restoration enthusiasts. And as recently as 2018, the 6-wheel Sierra Trailboss “Wobbies Wheels” ATV cars could be found for sale up on Facebook Marketplace. Little bits of this decades-gone theme park still remain, and there’s something infinitely charming and melancholic about that. What remains when we’re gone into obsolescence, and what meaning is left for those looking back?

Conclusions

 “It’s great at Wobbies World!” 

I can’t close out this episode without bringing the discussion back around to the wildfires raging in Australia right now. Half a billion animals are dead, millions of acres have been destroyed. It’s bonkers. 

Climate change is real and causing massive, problematic weather, amongst other things. You can combat this. You can make small changes like reducing your car and airplane usage, eating less or no meat, supporting policies that control and reduce large companies’ emissions, and by talking about climate change to others. Climate change is relevant to us all, even if you’d rather be talking about defunct theme parks. 

For many, Wobbies World remains a place of good memories, especially for those who visited at a very young age or with young kids. It was a place for birthday and holiday parties, and a place for the young at heart who wouldn’t necessarily see the flaws. For the older folks, it seems as though Wobbies World was more mixed – everyone seems to remember the constantly-running TV commercials and the iconic sights of the park as they drove by, but the general sentiment was of misconception, disappointment, and a fairly sad theme park experience. “I think the ad was more enjoyable than the real thing.” and “So bad, it was good” and “the worst theme park ever, which was what made it great.” No matter what, Wobbies World was memorable. And it inspired the parody “Pissweak World”, a concept which I might be incorporating into my own vocabulary. 

And you know, for all that I said at the beginning that this park was about misconceptions, Wobbies World was actually a whole lot of fun to research. I think given the right frame of mind, or the right age, it would’ve been a fun place to visit, too. Even if it was really a bit of Pissweak World underneath.

“At Wobbies World, there’s heaps to do / bring your friends, and Mum too / visit the castle, or fly in the sky / Wobbies World has lots of rides: helicopters, fire engines, trams, and slides.”

Appendix: Auction Listings for Wobbies World

These lists are taken from the 2004 legal case regarding Wobbies World, and are presented here to help the interested understand the types of rides and equipment which used to be at the park.

References

1. Trams Downunder. https://tdu.to/m/242547/wobbies-world-vic. Accessed December 17, 2019.
2. Trams Downunder. https://tdu.to/33738.msg. Accessed January 3, 2020.
3. Trams Downunder. https://tdu.to/m/242547/wobbies-world-vic?insearch=1. Accessed January 3, 2020.
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6. Laves YM Laves – Guess who went to Wobbies World today!!!! Woo Hoo! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1542542755963550&set=bc.AbrLFoGZqfxbigqBAu92kjcX6MR1tJX-rIvBEPbXmVArPSyH-gIYpdkxNlSrrfHUGQ5lTdd5ChVGEt5Dy6n9f7-yCM8EXgWI9IO_GWdiE57DYfMUpQVJvXe9xAv1Jxfh_JNsCsHpmQNIjcp9lzWAsctW&type=1&opaqueCursor=AbpYvcsl2f3VY85aNcpBGAvNhy_-eRh4U0HIg6eo8JeBgPCNoHf_zQU5S5OF500e6f7fo2IZk4D0stzxJGJQz94N0DwUe31qZEHa3haSkjVwUb8X0HANk3_o2u_O43-K1hc7jcaMmrlqLTkPUE6aVKbwjvPjGhr8vQUrwBmNnh-ZPJd0vlT4onVDq6KAkS6x7hyXg3TiUU17q1p0x-GIVdMHbvpW3V2byPVTSt_-tQpaxwopH1tisXCA7UdqZFIbCYvlo_RIQUjxb5ZxnuNwbNAl6-kSV9n9Dv_t0n1ZDdQVkiSWuWLA7HPzGoaWmYyq-wTCFOQaMo7XILuM0SJj49GuvBCeG5y7inHWjlb5f6gTKRHnmil60i9uYeD1O_sFC5IkQnAe0k5gxJ0cZmzHaYrwjU7L50JEHXIKt43SpI-9FPaknzhIu5S-E2dbbhqYv3WYawqCDeFzZwq5TrN2nQYzagKH0j3rUh68F7JrZY-QaA&theater. Accessed December 31, 2019.
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17. Check out this vintage ad for Wobbies World. https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/blog/check-out-this-vintage-ad-for-wobbies-world-041516. Accessed December 18, 2019.
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The Human C. P. Huntington

The roots for this episode began growing a long time ago. I was looking at pictures of miniature theme park trains on Google. I started seeing these trains that looked really similar, except for the numbers on the sides, and started casually making A List. I later learned they were called C. P. Huntingtons, but I still had that question: what was the deal with all these trains?

The story of the C. P. Huntington trains begins with a member of “The Big Four”, the four tycoons who built the Central Pacific Railroad. We start our story with a great man from the 1800s: robber baron Collis Potter Huntington.

Collis had a nose for buying and selling. If you’re at all a fan of Star Trek, he would’ve made a fine Ferengi – very concerned with profit. Born in 1821 on the East Coast, Collis came westward in his late twenties, making money by selling supplies during the California gold rush. He was an entrepreneurial man, making his way up in the world by moving on to hardware store ownership before setting his sights on the “railroad issue”.

Collis invested in the new Central Pacific Railroad Company, along with the other members of the Big Four: Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker. Ultimately, their railroad in California connected with railroads from the east to finally make transcontinental travel possible.

Starting in 1861 in Sacramento, CA, the Central Pacific railroad began building eastwards until it met the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. This was accomplished with the driving of a ceremonial “golden spike” which is now on display at Stanford University.

This was a huge deal – coast to coast train travel was finally possible, allowing for people to reach the opposite coast in about eight days. This replaced months-long sea voyages around South America’s Cape Horn, or rickety and dangerous wagon rides across the United States.

Huntington continued on throughout the rest of his life as a railroad tycoon, getting involved in the Southern Pacific Railroad line, too. He became a lobbyist, bribing politicians and Congressmen. He was reportedly one of the most hated railwaymen in the country by the end of his life, due to his preference for profit over people. According to his contemporaries, he was “possessed of the morals of a shark.” 

The CP Huntington Locomotive

Now that we’ve talked about the man, let’s get into the story of the locomotive that bore his name: the C. P. Huntington. 

“In the early days of locomotive building, it was considered a great achievement when that pygmy engine with a flaring superfluity of a smokestack, the C. P. Huntington, was put on the road,” wrote a 1926 newspaper op-ed.

Stories from a century ago often seem to bring up the wild adventures of these “Monarchs of the West” as the early Iron Horse engines were called. Apparently, all of these vintage engines were known for having interesting stories or thrilling escapes. 

The CPH was one of these. 

Origin of the CPH

Collis Potter Huntington needed some engines for his transcontinental line, but nothing else was available due to the Civil War – only these two small identical engines. Both engines had originally been built for a different railway back East, but were never delivered as the original purchaser did not pay for them. Collis Porter Huntington went ahead and purchased the CPH and her sister.

The engines shipped from Cooke Locomotive Works (also known as Danforth-Cooke) in New Jersey, all the way to San Francisco in a journey of 131 days around Cape Horn. CPH was #277 out of the locomotive works, and given the #3. The identical sister engine was #325 out of the factory, less popular in cultural references, was named the #4 T. D. Judah, in honor of the CP railroad’s first chief engineer who surveyed a passable route over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The CPH engine was put to use to help build Huntington’s transcontinental railway. 

The CPH: 4-2-4T

In technical details, the CPH is a 4-2-4T. I’ll give a layman’s definition of what this means, but I’m not a true train junkie (yet?), just a research nerd, so please forgive any errors. (I already know I’ll get letters about calling it a “train” and not a “locomotive”. Be kind, my train-friends.) 4-2-4T is train shorthand for the configuration of the wheels on the locomotive. A 4-2-4T has four leading wheels on two axles, two powered driving wheels on one axle (on the CPH, the big wheels) and four trailing wheels on two axles that support the tank (here, a “side tank” is noted with the T-suffix). There were other trains beyond the CPH that also bore this configuration, but a 4-2-4T is apparently colloquially known as a Huntington.

Working History of the CPH

The CPH did good work on the Central Pacific Railway, used in construction as well as pulling some passenger cars. Notably, she pulled the first passenger cars over the newly completed Western Pacific Railway from Sacramento to Stockton in August of 1869. In 1871, Southern Pacific purchased the engine and re-numbered it the #1. 

Under Southern Pacific operation, things were not as rosy for the CPH. In 1872, the train suffered a massive collision with a larger train. The engineer in the CPH was killed. Quote: “The San Jose Mercury of June 7, 1872, noted: “the construction locomotive is small, and when the collision occurred the larger engine went completely through the smaller, taking in steam boxes, cylinders, smoke stack, driving wheels, boilers, etc., and leaving it a mass of ruins.”” 

It took several years before the engine was rebuilt. Quote from “May 1, 1875, the following account appeared in the Minor Scientific Press of Nevada – most likely taken from an article originally appearing in a San Francisco newspaper. “Certainly a peculiar looking craft it is [the CPH]. The engine is of a most unique pattern, there being but one or two others like it on the coast. ”” 

However, the CPH was only put to limited use once she was rebuilt.

Around the turn of the century, the engine spent some time in storage before being rebuilt as a weed burner (someone’s got to clear the tracks, after all). Reportedly this didn’t last long either. The engine was rebuilt again back to her original configuration, and bounced back and forth out of storage in Sacramento at Southern Pacific’s machine shops, where it was put on a platform to display at the shops. She was pushed into official service retirement around 1900.

Disuse of the CPH

Why all this bouncing around instead of actually using the engines? Well, apparently this 4-2-4 locomotive design had significant issues. The single driving axle was too light and did not carry the full weight of the engine’s trailing rear end. The engine couldn’t reliably pull trains, particularly not on gradients. And the Forney-style water tank was too small, so the trains would consume all their water (necessary to make the steam) if they went any moderate distance. 

Something that’s hard to convey from all of this discussion so far is how small the CPH is. Technical schematics indicate she is 7 ¾ ft wide, 12 ½ ft tall, and 29 ½ ft long. This is incredibly small compared to many other locomotives. Indeed, some of my favorite pictures of the CPH I’ve found during my research are those where she is posed next to a larger engine.

The CPH Out of Working Service

As the years went on, loads grew larger, and the small CPH just couldn’t handle the requirements for larger modern loads of the times. With a need for bigger locomotives, the small 4-2-4s were left in storage, on back spurs at the train yard, or up on high trestles in the paint shops, for longer and longer, until they were scrapped.

The T. D. Judah, C. P. Huntington’s sister engine, was rebuilt into a 4-2-2 configuration at some point in the late 1800s. Some reports indicate that the Judah worked at a sugar plantation in the Hawaiian islands (“Sandwich Islands”); others say she was sold to the Wellington Colliery Company in British Columbia, sometime around 1889. Ultimately, the Judah was scrapped in between 1912 and 1914. (Though several of the 1922 texts I found indicated she was still in active service, nothing else I could find to substantiate this. Another 1899 text indicated she had been scrapped several years earlier. Central Pacific #93 was also converted to a 4-2-2 configuration, so it’s likely that the confusing reports is a result of mixing up the two. Big mystery, our T. D. Judah.)

Why the Poor Railroad Records?

As an interesting sidebar, you might be wondering why the stories of the CPH and the Judah are relatively light with details and mixed in with a bit of confusion. Well, as so often happens, this is a tale of fire damage. The 1906 San Francisco fires, the result of a devastating earthquake, destroyed nearly 80% of the city. Among the losses were those of the railroad: records, drawings, and photographs. A decade later in 1917, another fire in the Sacramento train shops destroyed more railway documentation. What we have available to us now from the time of the Iron Horses is what was saved by families of employees and the occasional state library record – the tip of the iceberg compared to what had been.

Back to the end of the working service record, we’d been talking about the scrapping of the T. D. Judah.

The C. P. Huntington was nearly scrapped in 1914 as well, but was saved this fate by the decision to have her put on display for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This was a World’s Fair, meant to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal and showcase San Francisco’s recovery after the 1906 earthquake. 

At the World’s Fair, the C. P. Huntington was displayed alongside a much larger loco, a 2-4-4-2 Mallet. This was meant to drive home to the visiting audience the massive changes in railway needs over the prior 50 years, and it did so very well. The 1840s CPH looked practically like a child’s toy next to the large and modern 1900s locos.

The Original CPH on Display

Thus began the history of the original C. P. Huntington engine as a display piece and a showcase from a different era. 

In January of 1920, national papers reported the CPH being put on display in a place of honor outside Sacramento’s train shops. They called her “California’s oldest locomotive”, and in a bit of revisionist history, the papers declared that she had been the first loco to ever operate in California, a claim which certainly cannot be true. Tall tale or not, the CPH was getting a rest, and getting the due come to her.

She next went on major display at the “Days of ‘49” celebrating the 1849 Gold Rush. Not just a poem by Joaquin Miller that was turned into a song by Bob Dylan…no, in this context, I’m talking about the May 1922 celebrations in California to commemorate the Gold Rush. Old #1 was cleaned up and hooked up to a flat car with seats. She pulled passengers around the city for a modest fare of 49 cents. 

After this, she was kept in better repair, and participated in other displays and showcases, such as being part of the filming for the 1924 movie “The Iron Horse”, the highest grossing movie of that year.

The Iron Horse movie (click for more information).

Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, a lavish movie palace in downtown Hollywood that opened in 1922, held the premiere of “The Iron Horse”. During the movie’s run there, the little CPH was parked in the forecourt of the theater, facing the street, in order to help promote the film. 

She went to state fairs, dedicated bridges and railroad depots, and so on. When she was not out on display, she sat in front of the railyard there in Sacramento, under a small pavilion.

On December 16, 1935, she was even driven on a flat car down to New Orleans, where she was the first train to cross the new Huey P. Long Bridge. 

1939 Opening Ceremonies

In 1939, the engine participated in the opening ceremonies for the Los Angeles Union Station. 

The occasion was observed by Ward Kimball. If this name sounds familiar to you, that’s because he was one of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men”. Kimball was an animator, responsible for the creation of Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio), Jaq and Gus (Cinderella), and the Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland) among many many others. 

Kimball was also a railway fan. He had his own narrow-gauge railway collection which he ran in his 3 acre backyard. Reportedly, Kimball’s train enthusiasm bumped up against Walt Disney’s, and Kimball helped encourage Disney to install the iconic railroad at Disneyland when it opened in 1955. 

Well, don’t mind me, going down a Ward Kimball rabbithole. He was a very interesting man, particularly if you’re into Disney. 

Why did I bring him up? 

Oh yes. Kimball was on hand to observe the opening ceremonies for the Los Angeles Union Station in 1939 because he was a train buff. Not only did he see the ceremonies, he filmed them on 16mm color film video, incredibly expensive in 1939. 

Kimball captured the only known footage of the opening. Decked out in brilliant red and green paint, Southern Pacific’s engine #1 was a relic from a different time, even in 1939 – the little engine was 76 years old at that point! It can be seen puffing smoke, wheels churning, steaming down Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles.

It’s an incredible sight.

This was likely one of, if not THE, last time the boiler of the venerable CPH was fired and moved under her own steam.

Later Years of the CPH

The CPH was towed out for a few more railway events in the late 50s and 60s, but primarily sat on static display in the Sacramento park in front of the trainyard.

The railway donated the CPH to the state of California in 1964. It was displayed at the Stockton fairgrounds for years. After refurbishment at the Southern Pacific’s Sacramento train shops, the CPH was moved to an exterior display at the Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station.

C. P. Huntington on display. Click for more information.

In 1981, the CPH moved into the newly-opened California State Railroad Museum, where it is still on display in 2019. 

She was restored to her 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition appearance, covered in complicated and artistic gold leaf highlights. A 1930s newspaper article on California railroad history devoted several newspaper inches to descriptions of the paint schemes of the old wood-burning locomotives – what a luxurious, different time it was to see a newspaper devote column inches to such a thing.

The engine is reportedly the only surviving standard steam engine of its type. Danforth-Cooke’s factory produced well over 3000 engines in the Iron Horse era between 1852 and 1926. Of these, only 11 reportedly remain in existence now in 2019, one of which is the CPH; she is the only 4-2-4 remaining.

Reportedly, this locomotive will never operate under its own steam again. The California State Railroad Museum made investigations as to the state of the CPH in 1998. Reportedly “the boiler shell is too worn out to be safely steamed again without major repairs and replacements that would compromise the state of the otherwise intact artifact.”

The C. P. Huntington is the second oldest locomotive owned by the California State Railroad Museum, and one of the older surviving locomotives worldwide. (The oldest known locomotive is the 1813 “Puffing Billy” at London’s Science Museum, an engine some fifty years older than our heroine the CPH.) The CSRM currently owns eight of the 45 pre-1880s locomotives still extant in the US, inclduing the CPH. The CPH silhouette even serves as the logo for the museum.

The Chance CPH

Now, if you’ve sat through this episode in confusion so far about how all this locomotive talk ties into the theme of the podcast, get ready to have a galaxy brain moment. You might think back to the Joyland episodes, for a bit of a clue to the rest of the story. 

In the mid-twentieth century in Wichita, Kansas, a man by the name of Harold Chance was building miniature steam trains. First under the Ottaway Amusement Company name, Chance incorporated his own company as Chance Manufacturing in 1961. A year earlier, in 1960, Chance had begun production on the first version of a new miniature train.

It was the beginning of something magical.

According to the CSRM, the C. P. Huntington had been displayed at at least two occasions: the Southern Pacific Centennial Celebration in 1955, and the Salute to Steam Age in 1958. (The latter event was a good-bye ceremony marking the last run of the last steam engine of SP, #4294. The engines were placed side-by-side in the park in Sacramento to mark the beginning and end of the steam era in Southern Pacific’s history). 

Additionally, scale models of the train were reported nationally around this time in the papers, including a 1951 half-size model by a man named Jack Collier, and much smaller 1.5” scale rideable models by a man named Bob Harpur. Oh, and a very large model made entirely out of fruit by an enterprising Lions Club. 

Being a person interested in trains, it’s highly likely that Harold Chance saw news reports of these events, at the very least, particularly the reports on the end of the steam era for the Southern Pacific in 1958. And like a train at a switch, we can see the leap Harold Chance might have taken.

He began building a miniature C. P. Huntington train for use in amusement parks.

Chance’s CPH was a one-third scale model of the original. His miniature version was faithful to the original as far as looks – handmade, and incredibly detailed. The littler steam engine had the unique design of the original, with the iconic stack and wheel arrangement. 

From a mechanical perspective, his models made some changes. Apparently the big “drive” wheels are false (they can even be removed without affecting the locomotive’s operation, which many operations do to ease maintenance) and the engine powers drive shafts on the front and rear trucks of the locomotive. Gone too was steam power: Chance’s model used gasoline for fuel.

He delivered his first engine to Joyland Park, there in Wichita, Kansas, in 1961.

Joyland’s iconic train served that park from 1961 until 2006. “Joyland’s train really launched Chance Rides,” said Larry Breitenstein, National Sales Director at Chance Rides, some time later. The train was last seen publicly when the park closed in 2006. Reportedly, it is in the hands of a private collector local to Wichita.

Other Chance CPHs

Joyland’s CPH wasn’t Chance’s last miniature CPH, though.

The company has produced over 400 miniature CP Huntington rides as of the time of this recording – 400+ trains over about 60 years. 

Some basic stats: engines run about $200k, and coaches run around $60k (prices from Wikipedia, date unclear). The trains are a narrow gauge. Most CPHs are 24” gauge. However, some of the early CPH models were 20” gauge. Chance still provides individual parts for the CPH in their sales inventory. This is unsurprising, as the CPH is reportedly Chance’s most popular ride.

To some in the amusement park world, the train is frowned upon – considered a cookie cutter train, which is both sad and inaccurate. Each engine has its own modifications and personality, and each engine runs differently. But to a general audience, the CPH is an incredibly popular thing – because it’s a train! Who doesn’t love to go on a train ride?

CPH #1-400+

I’m not going to talk about every single engine on this podcast – that would be a wild, very long episode and I’ll tell you right now that this will already be a long one as it is. But I will hit a few highlights. 

Why should you care, and what is the reason for me even doing this episode in the first place? 

Rabbitholes and those giant numbers on the side of the locomotive.

The best and worst thing about these trains is that they often (but not always) have the engine number visible on the side. This number is usually (but not always) the loco number from Chance. This is the reason I got into the topic in the first place – I got sucked down into a Google image search, wondering why there were similar-looking trains all around parks and zoos, and why they had the numbers they did.

A minute ago, I said “usually” the numbers reflect the manufacturing number from the factory. It’s not always true. Some park remove the numbers, some parks never have the numbers installed, and some parks change the numbers to reflect internal numbering schemes, confusing us all. The only way to accurately know which number CPH a particular train is would be to look at the builder’s plate, attached to each loco, which contains the engine’s serial number. But sometimes these too have been removed, or have become illegible.

Additionally, they are usually robust little trains. (Engine #2 has been in operation for almost 60 years at the time of this recording!) Given their hardy nature, the trains are often sold from park to park. This often leads to confusion about the trains, as when they are in storage or in the hands of private owners, their locations are unknown or unclear. Some engines have also been scrapped, such as the #29, formerly of the St. Louis Zoo, where it was involved in an accident that more or less destroyed the entire engine. Others are nearly so, such as the #8, which currently sits without wheels on the dirt at New Orleans City Park.

Should this podcast ever make money (lol) it would be fantastic to do a history on each of the parks associated with a CPH. I cannot count the number of times during my research for this topic that I would get stuck down a rabbithole for a particular train.

I’m not even going to include a list of the CPHs in my shownotes, the List being the holy grail of CPH research. For that, I’m going to direct you to the incredible Facebook group “C. P. Huntington Train Project”, where you can find an incredible Excel spreadsheet and some very smart people and a lot of cool photos.

Anyhow, let’s talk about some of the engines. Every engine has a story, and here are a few.

#2 – “Robert D. Morrell” at Story Land (Glen, NH)

The #2 is the oldest train currently in public operation, as the #1 from Joyland is in storage or private ownership. It lives at Story Land in Glen, NH, a small family amusement park aimed at the under-teen set. They have five CPHs: #2 (red), #4 (blue), #14 (in storage), #18 (used as a backup), and #47 (green).

There are a lot of interesting things about the Story Land engines that we could get into at another time. For today, we’ll talk about the number on the front. Every CPH has the year 1863 on the front of the engine – that was the year the original CPH was manufactured. There’s only one exception: CPH #2, the red engine from Story Land named “Robert D. Morrell”. It says 1861 on the front. It’s a bit of a mystery why this is. One possibility is that this is a reference to the incorporation date for the Central Pacific Railroad, which of course was where the original CPH first operated as engine #3. It’s not clear why only one engine has this plate, however (and only #2, not #1!). 

#34 – Coney Island and Lake Como Railroad

The trains with the smallest numbers are the oldest, and some of these have been through multiple hands. Let’s take the case of #34, and I’ll illustrate how you might go down a rabbithole of fascination with just a single engine. 

This engine #34 was a 1964 model, part of the “Coney Island and Lake Como Railroad” in Cincinnati. It was painted light blue and red, the “standard” color scheme, and was called “Mad Anthony Wayne.” Coney Island in Cincinnati is a park with an incredibly long history, which we may get to one day. For now, we’ll just talk about the train,where engine #34 operated with engine #35 (“George Rogers Clark”). The train and amusement park delighted guests there at the site of a former apple orchard until 1971, when Coney Island moved to Kings Island. This was a larger site, further away from the river floods that had constantly plagued Coney Island throughout its history, and most of the rides from Coney Island were moved over to Kings Island. However, Kings Island already had trains – larger Crown models, so the small CPH engines were no longer needed. 

CPH #34 was sold to the World of Golf in 1971, reportedly along with the former station which had been cut into sections. Unfortunately, shortly after it was all installed, the nearby Florence KY sewer treatment plant overflowed in 1976 into the area, and the park, including railroad, was shut down. The train was reportedly stored in the deteriorating station for most of the next 20 years. 

In the early 1990s, it was sold to the Oil Ranch in Hockley TX. It has been repainted black and red and lost its number but still operates there as of this recording in 2019.

#235 – Michael Jackson’s Neverland

Other notable trains belonged to public figures. Take #235. Michael Jackson was a hugely influential public figure, of course, no matter what your stance on his personal life and the decades of abuse allegations against him. 

His private ranch, Neverland Ranch, was over five times the size of Disneyland. It had a zoo, a movie theater, an amusement park, and two different trains. One was a CPH – #235, a 1990 model. It was customized for Michael Jackson, and had extra twinkle lights around the coach canopies, extra decorations, and a high end sound system installed. When Jackson died, David Helm (of Helm and Sons Amusements based in CA) purchased the CPH as well as other amusement rides. The engine hasn’t been seen in public since then.

#195, 196, 178, and 89 – Heritage USA

Other problematic public figures had CPHs, too, like Jim Bakker over at his Heritage USA “Christian Disneyland”. (Don’t worry, Heritage USA is a whole, giant episode for the future. The story of Heritage USA is absolutely wild.) Although general public reporting only refers to one train at Heritage USA, it turns out that there were actually FOUR. 

Two trains were delivered new to Heritage USA in 1979, funded by the many private donors who believed in Jim Bakker’s televangelism – these were #195 and #196. One of these was featured on the Tammy Faye Bakker album cover for “Movin’ On To Victory”. The other two trains were purchased used (one was described as a “shell” and the other barely ran), one of which was #178. 

When the park went under in the late 80s as Bakker’s pyramid scheme collapsed, the amusement park assets were liquidated. #195 had been involved in a minor collision with a gate during Heritage USA’s operation, and suffered cosmetic damage. It also was reportedly cannibalized for parts to keep #196 running. As such, #195 was reportedly traded back to Chance Rides during the liquidation of the park in the late 80s (1987/1988). Chance rebuilt the loco, and sold it. This engine is currently in operation at Lakemont Park in Altoona, PA, home of Leap-the-Dips, the world’s oldest surviving, still operational rollercoaster. 

#196, the loco in better shape, was purchased by private collector Mokey Choate, who owned 13+ CPH locos under the business name Big Mokey Trains, Inc. While Mokey passed away in 2016, the business is still in operation. Big Mokey Trains leases out its fleet of trains to parks. Perhaps someone needs short-term extra capacity for an event, or perhaps a park finds it cost-effective to have the trains only during the season and outsource any maintenance costs. This of course adds an extra level of confusion for any CPH hunters, as trains are rotated in and out for maintenance and may not always be at the same park. #196, then, is one of the Mokey trains, and was last seen operating at the Jackson Zoo in Mississippi.  

The other two locomotives, #178 and the unknown loco, have not been seen since.

Electric #400 and it’s Electric Brother, #402

If you’re in Houston and you’re hearing this, I hope you’ve visited the Houston Downtown Aquarium. That’s the home of the groundbreaking landmark CPH #400, the first electric CPH train from Chance. It was named “Electric Eel”. CPH #402, also an electric CPH but this time with a blue color scheme, went to the aquarium just recently, in July of 2019. 

Both trains run through an incredible exhibit called the Shark Voyage, where the trains travel through a completely see-through tunnel with a unique view on a massive shark aquarium exhibit.

Chance Rides spent quite some time perfecting their electric train. One of the few train videos they’ve posted on YouTube is from fall of 2017, showing the electric prototype in a stripped down state, taking some test laps in the Chance lot there in Wichita. 

It is likely not surprising considered today’s environmentally conscious consumers, but it appears that Chance will be making a big push for electric trains as the main CPH going forward. Reportedly, many places looking to make a new train purchase have inquired about electric models. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the next trains be predominantly electric over gasoline models, particularly for more environmentally-minded zoos.

The St. Louis Zoo’s Many CPHs

Finally, the last in the case studies I’ll cover today…the St. Louis Zoo. If there were a record for the place that has had the most CPH engines pass through it, that place might be the St. Louis Zoo.

The zoo has a long history with the engines. They started with engines #27, 28, and 29 in 1963 and 1964. The Zoo caught the CPH bug, and began purchasing additional trains for what became known as “The Emerson Zooline Railroad”. They are reportedly the business that has purchased the most trains direct from Chance, and in the early years, replaced their trains after 10 years of service. 

So when it came time to purchase the next engine, we reach the slight snag in the story. Remember how I mentioned that sometimes, the big numbers on the side of the tender don’t always reflect the manufacturer’s number? This is one of those times. The St. Louis Zoo wanted the numbers of the new trains to be consecutive. So St. Louis Zoo #30 was not CPH #30, muddling the issue of The List significantly. And, as noted, they’ve moved through a number of different trains, with their old trains being sold across the country, continuing to muddle the history of the individual trains. 

All told, St. Louis Zoo has owned a total of 23 different CPH trains to date. The current trains in operation are St. Louis Zoo #45 “Daniel Boone” (CPH #247), #46 “Pierre LaClede” (CPH #263), #47 “Lewis and Clark” (CPH #289), #48 “Ulysses S Grant” (CPH #300), #49 “Charlton Tandy” (CPH #303), and #100 “Emerson” (CPH #362, purchased during the zoo’s centennial). 

Reportedly, the Zooline Railroad is in the preliminary steps of exploring an electric locomotive purchase. Apparently the Zooline Railroad is reputedly the steepest of any CPH railroad, and there is some question as to whether the electric version could handle fully loaded trains on that grade. 

And if you’ve got a child who’s a train lover, you’ll love the St. Louis Zoo – they’ve got a program where kids can shadow an engineer for part of the day.

Other Variations on the CPH

Of course, Chance isn’t the only game in town when it comes to the CP Huntington. 

Western Train Co CPH

Western Train Co, in California, builds its own variation of the 24” miniature engine, suitable for theme parks and zoos as well. There are subtle differences between the WTC versions and the Chance version, but both are beautiful miniature trains.

Little Engines and Bob Harpur

Or, if an even smaller version is your speed, Little Engines makes a 1.5” scale model. Yep, still to this day! These can hold 2-4 people, perched on top of the cars like giants. Remember the 1950s model written up in the newspaper by Bob Harpur that I mentioned, oh, thirty minutes ago? Yep, that was these. Bob’s miniature CPH can actually be seen onscreen in the 1956 film “The King and I” starring Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr. http://www.trainweb.org/jeffhartmann/CPH_models.html 

The episode is running long, so we probably don’t have time to get too in-depth here. However, the short version is that Bob Harpur was a fascinating man. He was incredibly involved with the live steam engine scene through his work with the Little Engines company after his discharge from the Army. He met Walt Disney in 1949 when Walt and his daughter came to the shop to look at the trains. Bob ultimately joined the Walt Disney company as an Imagineer twenty years later, in 1969. He had his hands in a number of different projects, notably including the trains at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Disney Paris, and WDW Animal Kingdom. 

So there you go, information on two different Disney Imagineers in an episode that has little at all to do with Disney. Isn’t life grand?

CPH in Pop Culture

Elsewhere in pop culture, the CPH (or T. D. Judah, depending on your perspective) are iconic, providing inspiration for books, film, etc. The most well-known of these is the design for the Little Engine That Could – think on that friendly blue engine in your mind, and you might immediately see the parallels. Of course, as I’ve already mentioned, the logo for the California Railway Museum is a silhouette of the CPH. And the engine was featured on the cover of the Nostalgia version of Monopoly.

#44, #55, the Pittsburgh Zoo, and Chris Churilla

It’s not just the classic Little Engine That Could, though. There’s a whole series out there in recent days, aimed at the elementary school and younger audience, starring zoo trains Zippy and Guido. 

The best part is that Zippy and Guido aren’t fictional. The series is based on author Chris Churilla’s experiences with the real trains, CPH #44 and CPH #55, both from from the Pittsburgh Zoo. I know I said I was done with case studies of individual trains, but let’s get into just one more.

Churilla actually spent several years as engineer for the #44 and #55, there at the Pittsburgh Zoo. At the age of 14, he began spending summers as “host” of the trains (since he wasn’t allowed to engineer/drive them until age 18). At that time, the Pittsburgh Zoo train ride was dilapidated, giving out a lot of problems for the zoo and receiving very little love in return. After all, the trains had been there since 1965. Chris was instrumental in restoring the trains. He gathered together a group of train lovers, and together they cleaned up the trains, performed regular maintenance, and began raising funding from donors to keep the trains running. 

Eventually, Chris became the primary engineer, in charge of the whole train operation. “Engineering them was a dream come true!” he told me. In 2010, he upgraded the train exhibit (along the train route) to tell the history of the Pittsburgh Zoo and breathe new life into the ride. 

Unfortunately, despite a new paint job for the trains in 2011, the entire train ride was shut down indefinitely in 2013. Although the trains themselves were in good shape, the tracks weren’t. The zoo didn’t see sufficient value in the train ride. They were unable to find funds to repair the tracks, and were looking instead for a place to locate a new dinosaur exhibit. 

To honor Zippy (#55) and Guido (#44), Chris honored them by writing and illustrating first one, and now four, books about them. “There were so many people who loved riding the zoo trains so I wanted them to be able to continue to bring smiles to families for years to come!” If you follow him on social media, he’s recently been showcasing delightful hidden details from each book, such as the real-life counterparts to the cats, coaches, and other engines in the book. 

He still loves trains today. The CPH Facebook group I referred you to is a project Chris moderates, along with several other train-minded folks. There, they collect information on each of the C. P. Huntington trains. Chris now travels the world to ride CPHs, especially those where he can participate in “engineer for a day” programs to get his engineering fix. He also consults with zoos and parks on all things train: finding used trains, operations, and historical information. 

As of the time of this recording, a private train collector has purchased the real #44, Guido, and the real #55, Zippy, and is in the process of slowly restoring them.

No End to the CPH Rabbithole

There’s something about the CPH, that quirky little engine and her 400+ quirky little Chance copies. The CPH gets in your head, gets her hooks in you, and you can’t stop falling down the rabbithole. Maybe it’s something in the steam?

I don’t quite understand it, myself. I’ve reiterated this a few times on the podcast so far, but I’m not really a train buff, not particularly interested in the technical specs and all that. But this episode on the C. P. Huntington train is the one I’ve been working on the longest. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d spend fifteen single-spaced pages writing an essay about theme park train history, I’d have called you mad. But there’s just something about the diminutive overall size, the comically large smokestack, the proportions of the wheels…the CPH just such a classic-looking train, and she really gets in your head.

There’s so much interesting information out there, not only about the 400+ Chance trains but about the namesake engine herself. Someday I hope to visit many of the places I’ve covered on the podcast and visiting the original CPH on display in northern California is definitely high on my bucket list.

Chances are (see what I did there?) that there’s a CPH at a zoo or theme park near you. Maybe get out there and ride one soon. 

All aboard!

Acknowledgements

I’d like to particularly thank Chris Churilla for patiently answering my many questions on the C. P. Huntington trains. You should check out his Facebook group “C. P. Huntington Train Project”, an exhaustive resource and archive for the person interested in compiling a more complete history of each Chance C. P. Huntington. And check out his books about Zippy and Guido – ask your local bookstore, or find them at a major online retailer. 

I also recommend the 1943 article by D. L. Joslyn, “The Life Story of the Locomotive C.P. Huntington As Told By Itself”, available for free online. It’s a charming chatty first-person history of the original locomotive, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Podcast cover background photo is by 4045 on freepik.com. C. P. Huntington photo is by Chris Churilla, used with permission. Theme music is from “Aerobatics in Slow Motion” by TeknoAXE. Incidental sounds and ambience: FreeSound.org (Dungeness miniature railway – jjbulley; old railway station – YleArkisto; Jacksonville Zoo Ambience – inspectorJ; Amusement Park – _alvaro_; Steam Train Interior – allh; Brighton carousel – onetwo-ber) and freesfx.co.uk (Blacksmith Working on Anvil With Hammer).

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show on your podcast app. You might also leave a review, or share an episode on social media. Your word of mouth brings new listeners to the Abandoned Carousel fold.

I’ll be back soon with another great episode, so I’ll see you then. As Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

References

I’ve included a complete list of references used while researching this topic. It’s hidden under the link for brevity.

The post C. P. Huntington appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

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Imagine you’re an urban explorer. If you’re listening to this podcast, then you probably have some small or large interest in urbex. The footage is shaky, poking through the remains of a couple of buildings where a small wildlife park once was. Not too much of note: lots of limp paper and half-broken arcade games.

You turn a corner: it’s a room filled with debris. A giant rectangular box sits in the middle, filled with an opaque green fluid.

Huh, that’s weird.

Hey, there are arcade games over there.

You check out the arcade games and turn your head back.

Now backlit with the light from the open doorway, you can see it. A shadowy figure suspended in the green fluid. A great white shark emerges from the gloom, right there next to you.

This is the story of Rosie the Shark.

Rosie the Shark: Origin Story

In the late 1990s, a large white shark was repeatedly sighted in the waters near Port Lincoln, in South Australia. The shark was seen so often that the locals reportedly gave it a nickname. And that nickname was Rosie.

In 1998, Rosie was hanging around the tuna farms of the Lukin family, for several days. One day, she reportedly chewed through the “predator net” (meant to keep the predators out) and made her way through into the main tuna net. Rosie the Shark reportedly ate quite a bit of tuna before getting tangled in the nets. She was shot and put to a merciful death.

Seal Rocks Sea Life Centre

Around this time, the owners of the nearby Seal Rocks Sea Life Centre were putting out feelers about purchasing a shark to display at their center, which opened in spring of 1998. This place was a small ecotourism attraction on Phillip Island, directed at the time by former insurance man Ken Armstrong. It had standard educational displays, a cafe, and a gift shop. The business had goals for a grand second stage of development, however, including an underwater tunnel that would allow visitors to walk to a large fur seal colony offshore and view the seals and their predator, the sharks.

The tunnel was opposed by the government at the time, with quite the political fight, and the plans for the grand tunnel fell through. The center’s scope was reduced to “a glorified kiosk where you can get a cup of tea and go to the toilet”.

(Ultimately, the Seal Rocks Sea Life Centre was a winner despite the original ruckus. The property was damaged by a tornado in 2002, and the government repaid the center over $42M in compensation and legal costs over the failed expansion. Today, they are “The Nobbies”: still offering guests a view on the fur seal ecotourist trade, but this time via digital remote cameras.)

Anyhow, Armstrong became the owner of this newly dead shark off the Lukin tuna boats, but in the end decided that a dead animal wouldn’t work with the center’s themes.

Rosie the Shark and Transport to the Giant Earthworm Museum

Ultimately, Rosie the shark was (either permanently or temporarily) transferred into the care of the Giant Earthworm Museum in Bass, Australia.

This necessitated a trip of over 900 miles for the two-ton shark: not an easy task.

Max Bryant, then responsible for procuring the shark in the first place, is quoted as saying “It was a hell of a task.” The shark was frozen at the Lukin tuna business near Port Lincoln, where it sat while a custom-built 20-foot steel frame was made to transport it.

The logistics didn’t stop there.

The truck driving Rosie was impounded by the South Australian Government as the truck crossed the Victorian border. At the time, a local woman had gone missing on the beach, and they reportedly were worried she might be inside the shark.

Rosie was then detoured to the South Australian Museum in Adelaide. She was defrosted and dissected, though only her stomach was removed.

The missing woman was not found inside the shark.

Rosie the Shark’s Vitrine

The decision was made not to refreeze Rosie the Shark. Instead, she was placed in a tank of formaldehyde and left to cure for several months.

Her tank is also known as a “vitrine”, meaning “glass display case”. Rosie’s vitrine was made out of glass and heavy duty steel, and it was filled with the preservation agent formaldehyde.

One of Rosie’s later owners, Chris Cohen, says that this preservation likely cost somewhere in the range of $250,000.

If this seems like a wild number, let’s stop and consider Damien Hirst.

Damien Hirst

You’ll often see Damien Hirst’s name dropped when reading about Rosie the Shark, and for good reason. Hirst is a British contemporary artist who dominated the British art scene in the 1990s, and is reportedly the UK’s richest living artist.

Hirst’s works are about the central theme of death. He’s most well-known for his 1991 piece, “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living”. This contemporary art work is a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine. (If you were not previously aware of the confluence between Hirst and Rosie the Shark, you may now be having a galaxy brain moment.)

The New York Times described the work thusly: “In keeping with the piece’s title, the shark is simultaneously life and death incarnate in a way you don’t quite grasp until you see it, suspended and silent, in its tank. It gives the innately demonic urge to live a demonic, deathlike form.”

In later years, Hirst continued to explore the theme of death, responding to “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living”, as well, with his pair of works, “Death Explained” and “Death Denied”. “Death Explained” is a tiger shark bisected longitudinally, and “Death Denied” is a similarly sized shark, whole, positioned next to the first work. Together, the pieces make up a pair of works Hirst named: ‘Coming to Terms With and Trying to Understand the Complexity of the Feelings and Ever-Changing Fears and Doubts that Every Human Being Experiences when Faced Every Moment with the Unfathomable Uncertainties of Death’.

Hirst’s work has sold for astronomical figures, making the exorbitant costs of the materials seem paltry. It is said that the original 1991 artwork cost somewhere around 50,000 pounds (roughly $65,000 USD). The replacement artwork in 2006 cost over 100,000 pounds for the formaldehyde process alone.

Replacement artwork? Yep, Hirst’s original shark-in-formaldehyde began to decay and grow opaque. Eerily familiar, perhaps.

(Damien Hirst’s “The Kingdom”, yet another shark-in-formaldehyde work, sold for 9.6 million pounds.

If you like Rosie the Shark, you should check out Damien Hirst.

Rosie the Shark and The Giant Gippsland Earthworm Museum

After a jaunt in the formaldehyde spa (not really a bacta tank), Rosie the Shark eventually made it to her new home: the Wildlife Wonderland, featuring the Giant Earthworm Museum. This small park/museum was created by John Matthews in the mid-1980s, and purchased by Robert Jones and Chris Cohen in the early 2000s.

Gippsland, east of Melbourne and in the area where the museum is located, is the native home to the “giant Gippsland earthworm”.  These worms average 3 feet long, and can reach up to 10 feet long. The museum was created to promote the giant worm, and the main building itself was shaped like a worm. Visitors were invited to crawl through an oversized replica of a worm burrow and worm stomach. Other attractions, including a small movie theater, other live animals, and Rosie the Shark, were second fiddle to the giant worm.

A common thread among recollections of visitors from the early 2000s is that Rosie the Shark left little impression, while the giant worms, wombats, and koalas were much more memorable. Robert Jones, a co-owner of the park, described her as “ultimately underwhelming”, just another object after the initial curiosity. The park did well with visitors who were heading from Melbourne out to the popular Philip Island; tourists loved the wombats, the koalas, the dingoes, and the peacocks.

Disputes over Rosie the Shark’s Ownership

Apparently in a generous mood after Rosie had already been dropped off with the earthworms, Ken Armstrong, Rosie’s original owner, apparently promised Rosie to the Melbourne Museum. Remember, she was only “temporarily” housed at the Wildlife Wonderland. A small legal battle ensued, with the Melbourne Museum reportedly very eager to acquire her. The then-director of the museum’s collections described Rosie as “an extremely important specimen for the public”.

Robert Jones and Chris Cohen, the new owners of the Wildlife Wonderland, stood firm and ultimately won.

Their case, apparently all rested on timing, as no one disputed that Ken Armstrong had offered Rosie to the Melbourne Museum. However, the offer had been made after the park had already been sold to Jones and Cohen, including “the entirity of its contents, listed and otherwise”. Melbourne Museum parent company spokespeople, when asked recently about Rosie the Shark, said, a bit snootily, that they “investigated the acquisition of this specimen some time ago, but the decision was made not to acquire the object due to its poor condition”. Museum staff were reportedly frequent visitors to the shark exhibit, despite this.

Structurally Challenging Rosie the Shark

Rosie the Shark was not an easy occupant of the Wildlife Wonderland. She had an admissions price tag of $0, which was nice for visitors but not great for the pocketbook.

A concrete bunker pool was built underneath Rosie’s vitrine, with the purpose of capturing any formaldehyde if necessary. The fluid had to be continually topped off and filtered to avoid becoming cloudy. The daily monitoring was neither free nor cheap.

Rosie herself was a challenge, requiring the roof of the building to be removed so that she could be placed in the new vitrine by crane. John Matthews, original owner of the Wildlife Wonderland, estimated that it could’ve cost over 500,000 pounds to prepare and maintain the Rosie the Shark display.

The investment did pay off, at least initially. The park received over 350,000 visitors per year in the early 2000s, with many saying that they came to visit because of Rosie the Shark.

Closure of the Wildlife Wonderland

The Wildlife Wonderland park operated for several more years. Visitors of all ages still describe their many positive memories associated with this place. But under the surface, all was not rosy.

In 2006, Jones and Cohen had a falling out. Jones sold his part in the business and Cohen continued to run the park with two other investors.

The government upgraded and expanded the M420 highway nearby, but did not add a turn-off for the park. Traffic dwindled, as without a convenient exit, tourists would continue on to the popular tourist destination of Phillip Island.

Cohen described the park as “already in decline” when he sold it in 2011. The park reportedly quickly fell into neglect. The day-to-day managers and operators had a very casual relationship with both maintenance and paperwork.

The government noticed in 2012, citing the Wildlife Wonderland for violating the “Wildlife 1975” rule, displaying animals without a license.

The Wildlife Wonderland park was shut down. The 130 live animals were put into the control of the Department of Sustainability and the Environment.

The live animals departed. But Rosie the Shark remained.

An Abandoned Shark in an Abandoned Park

It is mind-blowing that no one took away Rosie, not even the Melbourne Museum which had been so interested before.

Perhaps it was the expense of relocating her, perhaps it was the challenge of finding a new site to host her, perhaps it was her condition? As epitomized by the David Hirst sharks, vitrines full of dead animal and formaldehyde can be an expensive operation.

The park began, or perhaps continued, to fall into disrepair. The sudden closure of the park left much of the material onsite to decay, including signs, pictures, displays, and games. And, of course, Rosie the Shark.

Soon after the closure, Tom Kapitany, among other interested parties, visited the former Wildlife Wonderland site with the option of redeveloping the park. They of course saw Rosie the Shark at the time of the visit. The park redevelopment was ultimately not viable for logistical reasons and didn’t proceed any further, and they were unable at the time to do anything to save Rosie.

Without any immediate plans for redevelopment, the former Wildlife Wonderland became a haven for squatters and vandals and casual urbexers.

Urbex and the 2018 Viral Rosie the Shark Video

After the closure of the park, in the early years, word of the shark in the vitrine was whispered, hush-hush, from person to person. People in the urbex community kept this sort of fact close to the chest, as it were, and the knowledge wasn’t passed along unless the recipient was deemed worthy.

In December of 2014, a post on Reddit attracted some attention, sharing an artistic image from Flickr user Murdoch80. It was black and white, with the shark in profile: head on the right, fins up and tail proud and tall on the left. Ghostly light seemed to filter through, and the reflections on the vitrine made the shark look unearthly, glowing, yet transparent. A broom or pole could be seen in the background behind the vitrine, and the juxtaposition of something so ordinary with something so unusual was very unsettling, to say the least.

Beyond this, internet rumor about Rosie was pretty quiet. The silence surrounding her in the digital space made any tidbits that much creepier, that much more eerie. Like Steven Spielberg has discussed in the context of Jaws, the *idea* of the shark is a lot scarier than actually seeing it, because you build it up in your own mind.

Lukie MC Puts Rosie on the Map

On November 3, 2018, an Australian urbex Youtuber, Lukie MC, posted a video with the title “Abandoned Australian Wildlife park. Decaying, left to rot.” Burying the lede, a bit.

The video shows the moments described at the top of the episode, with the discovery of Rosie the Shark in her tank, amidst other, fairly prosaic abandoned place videography.

Lukie MC’s video became a viral sensation, picking up YouTube hits, and then media outlet coverage. It is by far his most popular video, with over 13M views as of June 2019.

Copycat and amateur urbexers quickly caught the Rosie fever, inspired by Lukie MC’s video. New exploration videos went up that more or less followed the same pattern, with a bit of pretend interest in the wildlife park, a long focus on the shark, and commentary about the smell.

You see, vandals too caught the Rosie fever. Viewed chronologically, the urbex videos display the vandalism right there. The lid to Rosie’s vitrine was pried off, and items were thrown into the tank: a TV, CDs, a chair, bolt cutters. Two panels of the glass had something heavy thrown at them, shattering into a delicate spiderweb.

Toxic Fumes From Rosie the Shark

The formaldehyde began to evaporate.

Rosie’s doral fin became exposed.

And again, the smell.

When Damien Hirst was repairing his famed piece of art in 2006, the New York Times writer Carol Vogel described the process, saying that “so toxic was the air that the property could be reached only through security-coded iron gates, and no one, not even the artist, was allowed near the shark without protective gear”.

Yet here was a similar scenario, in an unlocked shed in an abandoned theme park in South Australia.

Like I said, everyone mentioned the smell. The smell of formaldehyde is potent, and obviously toxic. Yet here were all these inexperienced folks, moseying on down to see the shark. Some reports described police needing to visit the property four times per shift.

“Save Rosie the Shark”

The property owner quickly recognized the liability issues, and made plans to destroy Rosie the Shark at the local landfill.

Numerous campaigns spread across the internet, television, and radio, and these caught the attention of Sharon Williamson, part of Australian Animal Rescue and one of the people who’d investigated redevelopment of the park right after it closed. She got in touch with Thomas Kapitany.

Tom Kapitany is a collector, a museum owner. He opened “Crystal World and Prehistoric Journeys” in Devon Meadows, about an hour away from the Wildlife Wonderland, as a place to source interesting natural history specimens. They have the largest collection of fossils on display in the Southern Hemisphere there, and Tom also serves as one of the directors for the National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra.

At the last minute, the owner of the Wildlife Wonderland property got in contact with Tom Kapitany, and agreed to donate Rosie the Shark to Crystal World, including the removal and transportation costs.

The toxic formaldehyde was pumped out.

Rosie lay awkwardly on one side in the tank, surrounded by rubbish and debris. Her skin was a wrinkled, dark brown; her eyes wide and flat and very unsettling; and her mouth wide-open, gums visible, gaping with sharp, sharp teeth.

The roof was removed from the shed she’d called home for the last fifteen or so years, and a crane was called in. Rosie the Shark and her vandalized tank were removed from Wildlife Wonderland and driven on the back of a truck the hour drive up to Devon Meadows.

Rosie: Safe but Not Saved, Yet

By this point in early 2019, the social media coverage on Rosie the Shark was overwhelming. Several Facebook pages and groups have been made, each with differing degrees of officiality. The entire process of moving Rosie has been filmed and will be made into a documentary.

Described on the Gofundme page and shown in a personally narrated video on his own Rosie the Shark page, Tom Kapitany has reasonable goals for Rosie the Shark, with a restoration estimated at $100,000. The first steps were to remove the formaldehyde, then neutralize any remaining formaldehyde on Rosie or her vitrine. The tank needed repairs, not only to the shattered glass but to the rusting steel frame.

And after repairing any damage to Rosie herself, she will be re-immersed: not in formaldehyde this time, but in glycerine. Costs for the glycerine alone are estimated between $30,000 and $50,000. As her tank has been slowly refilled, the cost of each portion of glycerine is marked on the side of the tank in marker.

The glycerine added to date has rejuvenated the look of Rosie, plumping her out a bit, and she now sits on a gleaming layer of pink rose quartz.

Informational displays have been added around Rosie’s tank, sitting out to one side of a back lot. Her ultimate home will be inside a show building that has yet to be built. It is clear that Tom Kapitany is treating Rosie the Shark with the utmost respect. On the “RosieTheShark” page (Facebook.com/RosieTheShark) Tom and his team have started posting regular videos updating fans on the happenings with Rosie and describing the challenges of preserving her.

Rosie’s story after her death has been at turns sad and fascinating, and it is heartwarming to know that Rosie is now safe from vandalism and in the process of being saved (restored).

The license to display an animal is prominently posted next to Rosie’s tailfins.

Visitors can come to see Rosie for free at Crystal World, any day except Christmas. The original most eerie and unsettling of images, Rosie the Shark floating in a murky vitrine, has become prosaic, normal: just another object for the background of a tourist’s selfie.

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References

I’ve included a complete list of references used while researching this topic. It’s hidden under the link for brevity.

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• Wobbies World
• C. P. Huntington
• Rosie the Shark

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