13 replies to this topic

[Limelight]

This may have been asked before, but I'm at work, and I'm too lazy to use the search function right now.

What make is the skyride at the Puyallup Fair Grounds?

[Limelight]

Its a Von Roll. So there, found it myself, now that I've had my coffee....

[Snoqualmie guy]

Is it a 4 man?

[Limelight]

Last time I took a ride in that thing we could fit two of us in there, and it was tight. So three max, but four would be pushing it.

[liftmech]

I believe it's a three-person (unless four midgets signed up for a ride).

[skisox34]

Where is that located?

[Peter]

In Puyallup, Washington which is South of Seattle

[liftmech]

It was first located in the Seattle Center, built for the '62 World's Fair. I'm not sure when or why it ended up in Puyallup.

[Snoqualmie guy]

It was moved in the late '70s to early '80s because the Seattle Center was downsizing cause no one went there for rides anymore. Does anyone know where it ran?

[OldSki]

Snoqualmie guy, on Oct 5 2007, 11:32 AM, said:

It was moved in the late '70s to early '80s because the Seattle Center was downsizing cause no one went there for rides anymore. Does anyone know where it ran?

Go to http://content.lib.w...cdm4/search.php and search for skyride. You'll get a few pictures, none of them terribly detailed in their online form - but maybe you can figure it out. The original cars sure look different than the ones they have now; they appear to be completely enclosed.

There are also many aerial shots of the Seattle Center and amusement area (then called the "Gayway", now the "Fun Forest"), just try a different search such as Century 21 Exposition.

You can find a map of the Seattle Center grounds, circa 1962, at http://www.datombar.com/legacyofdave/featu...21/map1962.html

This post has been edited by OldSki: 05 October 2007 - 10:01 PM

[Snoqualmie guy]

I see they used the same stations from the Seattle Center. Anyone have some pictures of the new cabins because I haven't been to the fair for a couple years so the old ones look the same to me.

[liftmech]

The cabins have always been enclosed, as far as I know, in their current location.

[Bill]

Yes LiftMech is right. They were enclosed when they appeared at the Puyallup Fair. The old ones from the Worlds Fair were open. At the time of removal, I dont recall if the Skyride at the Worlds Fair were still open or enclosed.

[OldSki]

Bill, on Oct 6 2007, 09:56 AM, said:

Yes LiftMech is right. They were enclosed when they appeared at the Puyallup Fair. The old ones from the Worlds Fair were open. At the time of removal, I dont recall if the Skyride at the Worlds Fair were still open or enclosed.

I stand corrected... this old guy's memory is failing! A snip from http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/66...irwhere16.shtml, which includes a link to a 2002 photo of the skyride cars:

The former Union Oil Sky Ride carries passengers across -- and above -- the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup. Corky Erickson, one of the current owners, says it's basically a piece of ski resort equipment -- 40 gondolas running on about a third of a mile of cable -- that will go on and on ... with proper maintenance. In 1962, it was one of three gondola systems in North America, joining one in Disneyland and one at the Banff/Lake Louise ski area in Canada.