Cedar Downs

As I recall this is one of two rides of this type. It seems like it would be a mechanical mayhem under the wood floor of the ride.

If anyone knows how the ride works...the horse up and down movement and the forward and backward racing effect. I can't seem to figure out how both work at the same time.

Also, if anyone has pics of what's under that wood, that would be really cool.

I'm guessing that the horse travels in an arc (a curve) so it goes up/down and forward/backward, with one mechanical movement. Of course this is a TOTAL guess.

I know that there is a cable that drives something under the floor. When I worked there we had to ride it like 30 times in a row to " streach the new cable".

There are three, rathofdoom. Rye, Blackpool, and Cedar Point. The other two go faster, but I've heard C.P. is the only one that still operates the back and forth race feature. Anyone know for sure?

When I worked at C.P. I had the chance to look down inside the floor when they were working on it. Now this was a long time ago, but I seem to remember that each horse had an offset wheel under it and that caused the up and down motion. The back and forth is indeed caused by a complex cable system, but even after looking at it I couldn't figure it out.

What I know for sure is that we are damn lucky to have it!

Here's a couple pics from under the ride. They arn't the best looking pics. Make of them what you can.

http://www.northcoastevents.com/cedardowns.html

For a ride that was built in 1920, the underside is surprisingly complex. I couldn't even figure out exactly what was happening even at close inspection.

Each row of horses travels on a track that has a series of small dips. This creates the up and down motion. The back and forth motion is from a web of wire rope weaved around a whole bunch of pulleys and is controlled by two motors mounted under the ride platform.

I wish I could explain things better to you, but I really didn't understand it myself. :)

Well, it seems like a very complex ride.

Thanks for the info. The arched "track" really eliminates a lot of mechanical stuff...if they used the merry-go-round mechanisms.

Almost looks like an Underground Railroad, or shuttle tracks.

I actually like Cedar Downs. I think it's a good, different twist on the traditional carousels.

I've always loved Cedar Downs too. It seems to run slower now than it did when I was younger. I think it would be great to make a trip up to Rye to ride theirs. I wonder if they operate it at full speed?

I saw a show on PBS last Sunday that featured some pretty good shots of the Racing Derby at Rye. The ride ops were showing off for the camera by jumping on and off of the moving platform. It looked like an a accident waiting to happen.

At Euclid Beach the ride ops always jumped on the platform and surfed around with the ride. They would walk the entire ride as it was nearing the end and present the winner in each row with one of those little American flags for a prize. As you went throught the evening you would see people here and there with their little flags and you knew they had been on the ride and that they had won. Nice touch. The name of the ride, incidentally, was the American Racing Derby. For a time it had bicycles instead of horses.

Good shots Rihard 2000. I always thought the wheels cause the up and down motion, but it's clear from the pics that they ride on undulating track. Cool as hell. Thanks.