Hey, this ride looks familiar!

http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/41711132.html

I thought it was still sitting at Stricker's Grove?

She looked mad!

I don't understand. Is that the exact same ride that was at CP? or just the same design?

I imagine it's just the same design, but with the picture provided in the story it's hard to tell.

I am absolutely sure it is not the same. Our lady was a permanent installation, as opposed to one designed for traveling. While it may be possible to convert a permanent installation to mobile, I would assume a carnival operate would be more likely to purchase one designed to travel as opposed to one they would have to retrofit.

Also, CP kept the fair lady and painted her black. Wasn't she recently moved to the Merry-Go-Round museum or something like that. Anyways, she was separated from her ride.

Hmm, I was told that when Stricker's bought it, she went with the ride and was in storage at Stricker's as well. I never saw any proof of that, though.

I thought the lady was here for at least one more year. Didn't CP use her for Halloweekends? Secondly, it may just have been a rumor, but I was told that Strickers decided the ride was in such sad condition, that they decided not to rebuild it. What happened to it after that, I'm not sure.

Monster Man - most of the flats at CP from that era are portable rides, and Schwabinchen is no exception. Cedar Point does a fine job installing and placing the rides so they dont have a parking lot carnival look, but they are indeed mobile. They came in on trailers and they go out that way.

I say it's our own Schabinchen. The give away for me is the red side panels on the seats- the ride originally had white ones with pastel markings. Toward the end CP painted the seats red and yellow, and refurbished the lady, I cant imagine there being another one like that out there. They also, apparently, have lost the fabulous back drop and flash along the way.

What a shame for something like that to happen.

I was at Stricker's Grove on the day that the Schwabinchen arrived:

http://capital2.capital.edu/admin-staff/dalthoff/adventures/tr2004/ussg01.html

At the bottom of the page is a photo of the center load. I noted that they had loaded the center onto a flatbed truck for transport, but it is worth noting that the design of that center could easily *be* a flatbed truck if someone were to put a set of axles under one end. It may even have the kingpin already installed. On the page I refer to the ride as a park model, but generally the only difference between the park model and the portable model of almost any ride has to do with wheels on the trailer. It would be a fairly easy conversion to make it a road model, especially given Stricker's assessment that the floor platform was in terrible shape. And losing the backstop flash might allow the whole ride to fit on one trailer.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
(not certain it was the same ride in the incident, but there is a lot of circumstantial evidence...)

Looks to be the same ride. Compare it to this pic:
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i17/JetstarIII/?action=view&curre...hen1-6.jpg

I agree, Dave, after the ride was transported away from CP, it would be an easy conversion back to a road model, and a selling point. Maybe someday Strickers can confirm if it was sold or not, but I can see that it was probably unloaded on a carnival operator, who seems at this point to be unscrupulous. So he took her, threw away the decor, and operated her as one of his flashier rides. (looks like he had a YoYo, too! Yikes!) It's all conjecture, I know, bit I'm sad to think that our Schwabinchen has met such a terrible fate, especially if she was involved in the injury of kids.

The lady was on display at the Carousel Museum in Sandusky for a while, and made an appearance at Halloweekends (in 2006 I think). But I recall she went with the ride after that.

The gentleman that is the woodcarver on the Trail (sorry, I can't for the life of me remember his name right now) was working the last half of the summer on a wood-carved replica of the lady. He was hoping to have her completed by Halloweekends, but on closing day he still had some to go. It's a scaled down piece, naturally, (maybe 2-3 feet tall) and according to the carver was commissioned by a former ride-op/foreman of the ride. I loved it - he's done a really great job with her and she was very authentic, down to the last (ahem) detail.

He also stated that the park was interested in looking at the finished piece to see if a life-sized model was possible, hoping to cast it and make a mold for a resin version that could be used at Halloweekends. Smaller versions might also be cast to market as a nostalgic art piece.

Wouldn't that be cool? And depending on price, I'd love to have one. I'm not sure which coffee table I'd put her on, but she would definitely have to spin!

Anyway, such measures indicate to me that she no longer resides at the Point.

I believe the wood carver's name is Paul. I have enjoyed many stories with him in the past about Cedar Point's history.

Looks like Paul currently has the lady for sale.....

http://cedarpointwoodcarver.com/catalogschwab.html

well, isn't that cool, Disney Mike, thanks. It looks like Ms Schwabinchen has been in production for a while - and at 20 bucks? I'll be havin one. The other CP figures are great, too.

I did not know that Paul had a website. That is sweet. Thank you.