Movement @ the station

[ripcurlboy_81]

Its been a long time comming, but on my way to work thismorning i noticed there had been movement at the station.... We all know by now (from reading old posts) that the zodiac hasnt been visible from the M4 for sometime now (due to the hydrolics leveling out and causing the arms to be in the horizonal position), and today was different, as i looked up thru the trees, i thought id be in for the same old regular sight of seeing just the spaceprobe and cablecar towers, but something else was there in my line of sight and that was the eastern arm of the zodiac in the air ( the arm closest to walgrove rd) althou it wasnt in motion, it was still there, as i looked back in the rearveiw mirror it was a great sight seeing the zodiac in the air with the morning sunlight shining on it. Put a huge smile on my face for the rest of the day. I really thought by now that the hydrolics would have siezed by now, but i could be wrong. I will stop tomorrow to take pics if time permits, if not it will be on saturday. Also on the return journey from work i looked back at the same spot(traveling westbound this time) and it was very dark, even hard to see the white pod in sky of the top of probe, as i got closer it looked like the ground around the zodiac/SP/demon was lit up with floodlights. Could it be they have started work on disassembling either SP or zodiac and starting with either taking the gondolas off the zodiac or taking the tunnel apart from SP. I dont know what the floodlights were for and im only throwing around possibilities. When is the demolition for BB going to start? Does anybody still have contacts with the guys from security? Anyways guys thought i would make a new post as its been a while since we had any new news regarding WLS.

Edited August 25, 2005 by ripcurlboy_81

[djsupersleuth]

They started by putting HMS Endeavour in containers and clearing the overgrown ground around Probe/Zodiac and starting the diesel motor on Zodiac and manually operating the lift cylinders as per evac when no power is available. So yes it has all started, you should see a solid 6 weeks of action and then a noticeable gap in the skyline of Eastern Creek. Will post more as it comes to me.

Edited August 25, 2005 by djsupersleuth

[ripcurlboy_81]

thanks djsupersleuth for your valued input to the post, and yes it would be great if you can keep us up to date

[RAVER22]

i noticed that too the other day and sadly when i took a closer look up Wonderland drive, i didnt like the look of the big bulldozers sitting in the carpark

[Mickazee]

Driving eastbound yesterday afternoon I did a double take as I saw the arm of the zodiac in the air! It was so nostalgic looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the spaceprobe and right behind it zodiac.

[Bussy]

I drove past Wonderland today and can confirm that the eastern arm of Zodiac is indeed up. Also it looks like they have taken down some of the cables from Sky Rider. However there is bigger news than that Bush Beast is now a pile of fire wood. Everything but the station has been demolished. I have photos and will up load them as soon as I can. "The Bus is now leaving for Gonella, NSW"

[ripcurlboy_81]

WOW, that is big news, didnt take them long, i wonder if they would sell me a piece of the timber, does anyone know if it were taken down by the dozers that were in the carpark? would have been great to see and record on video

[LunaParkFanatic]

WOW, that is big news, didnt take them long, i wonder if they would sell me a piece of the timber,  does anyone know if it were taken down by the dozers that were in the carpark? would have been great to see and record on video

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Been great to see?... WTF? This was a really good rollercoaster, and shouldnt have been bulldozed.

[ripcurlboy_81]

there is no point living in the past, the bushbeast had its day, yes i am sad to see it gone as it was my fav coaster, nothing could have saved it, so instead of being pi**ed off that its gone, reflect and enjoy what it used to be.

[LunaParkFanatic]

Your right! hmm yes, i remeber the day i went there and i was too small to go on it (like 5cm's short) so i cried and they said fine.. and let me on it! I love it.... Went on it like 10 times after that.

[ripcurlboy_81]

one of my first memories of BB was in hte good ole days of when it was $5after5pm, we had just walked down thru goldrush, the themeing was so funky back then where all the staff were in costumes, my whole family were there, was a great family atmosphere, my uncle had dared me to go on it so we walked up the green stairs, i was so nervous as i was used to the rides up an HB, i hadnt even been on the beastie at this stage, hehe so we got into the queue lines and a guy come over with the height pole, at this early stage the height pole was made from the tubing from the queue lines with the height mark engraved. The ride op asked if it was my 1st time on the Beast and of course nervous me sayed YES, so he sayed i was short by a few cms, and sayed if i wanted to ride all i had to do was lift up my heels when he measures me again...... presto We then joined the short lines ( those were the days when the 2 trains were in use ) we waited anout 4mins listening to the ride ops on the PA, the days when they made you feel like part of the ride and not some inconvience. We boarded the train and pulled down the lapbars and started rolling out of the station. By this stage the nerves were on high, was daylight saving and going on dusk. Going upthe hilllift was an amazing feeling, looking out to my right seeing the lights of the cars below as we got higher and higher then once at the top i held onto the lapbar for the rest of what was a truely amazing experience, the niose of the coaster as it was in full speed, as it jerked us left then right. We then came into the braking stage, my uncle then sayed, well dude did you like it my reply was my smile on my face as i was so happy not only had i been on my 1st wooden coaster but the biggest in the Southern hemi. Walking around the park back then was an amazing feeling, the sounds, the smells, the themed music coming from the speakers, the staff in costumes, listening to the wouldnt it be wonderful theme music as you were walking, was a truely amazing experience. We all have our 1st memories of the bushbeast and of the park in the early days, it would be great if others could share theirs as well

[Bussy]

Photos as promised. "The Bus is now leaving for Promisedland, Queensland"

[ripcurlboy_81]

Bussy, thanks for the pics muchly appreciated, if anyone else is driving past and can take pics and post them that too would be great, i will do the same during the week

[rappa]

Thanks for the update Bus. Kind of sad to hear that it's just gone, I'll have to go for a drive over there tomorrow and check it out. Would have loved to know this was coming so I could have gone and watched it come down. Guess it at least finaly gives some closure to the whole thing!

[rappa]

Well I just took a drive over to Wonderland to check this out for myself. Fortunately there is a nice spot of flat gravel beside the westbound turn onto the M4 where I could park my car Attached are some photos I took from the Walgrove Road perimeter fence and also from the top of the M7 overpass (I didn't stick around up there for long). It's very clear from the wreck that a dozer must have just been put through the old girl because it's just lying in one twisted heap there. I'm certain what you can see is just the big turnaround section that faced the road as it is such a long way from the station which still looks to be completely intact. Really sort of occured to me last night just how kind of sad it is to see. I mean we all knew it would happen but when you can actually look at a memory from your childhood sitting in a pile of ruins its a bit sad. It's amazing the amount of development out there now, hard to imagine you used to be able to see the Slide Tower and Beast from all the way back at the water piplines and the brick factory. It really is a bit of a joke that the council ever allowed it to happen, just shows you how different councils value recreation over direct income differently I guess I think it's a real shame that we didn't know this was coming, I for one would have been extremely interested to see the coaster come down and document it. Please if someone has or is going to have the info as to when Probe will be taken down let us all know! Overview of the main wreckage that is visible to the public. This is the main pile of wood that can be seen, one would assume there is more like it scattered over the former bush beast site. You can see the station is still standing. Closer look at the station. Just to prove this isn't just any random pile of firewood, you can see Probe in the background. Shouldn't there be a big hill here?? This is what is now left of the once big turnaround that would face the road. From the new freeway overpass you can see the remains of the Rapids holding pond and station. It's all very sad don't you think?

[ripcurlboy_81]

thanks for your update djrappa, your pics are very clear. i dont blame you for not staying up on the m7 construction for too long.

[djsupersleuth]

Does anyone think maybe just maybe some sense will prevail and they will keep the BB station as a museum type building which may house all sorts of Wonderland things? Lets hope this is the case and the reason that they have not dozed the station and not because they ran out of diesel. Of course only if this fits in with their planned use of the land, we could'nt have it hold up some warehouse's construction....

[joz]

That'd be a nice idea actually, though rather then be a stand alone thing would be quite nice to see at one of the main city museums. Would it fit in with any of the city museums? Brisbane Museum had a good thing on Expo, so it could work for Wonderland.

[rappa]

I recon it might be something to Power House would take on, they had the old Luna Park face. What I would like to see is a detailed document history of the park as I am yet to see one anywhere to date. Just something my father actualy mentioned to me when I was talking to him about bush beast tonight. Does anyone still have contact with who is managing the site? I would love to see some photos of the whole wreck, be interested to see if it is kind of still just lying out over it's original foot print... He sugested if someone was to rock up to security and say that they wanted to take photos for the site they might let them in. I said I highly doubt that however I know a couple of members did have contacts there...

[RAVER22]

drove past today and saw the carnage! Not good at all. Notcied that they were working to pull down the station around lunch time, guess they just wanted to get the dangerous part of the demolishon done, and now working at the clean up

[Shauno]

Shocked to see that it was actually on the ground on Monday when i drove past. What day did they pull it down? on friday moring i could still see it on the way to work .

[Shauno]

i too would like to to see the complete pictures of the park as it has been demolished. Maybe try contacting someone from the securty if they could take a camera in and take some pictures. Maybe the company carrying out the demolision might be able to help with the pics. also would like to see some pics of the part as it was built Shaun

[T-bone]

Regarding the station, it will go.

[Jobe]

Very sad but not unexpected eh? Fairly inevitable from the time of announcing Wonderland's closure really. Bussy do you know if the Beastie is still standing and when this will be scheduled for demolition?? It would be a fine idea to attempt to document this demolition since The Bush Beast's slipped underneath the radar. Cheers Jobe

[Jaggie]

That last picture is just saddening. That is a huge area now that everything is gone.