Home   Ghost Train! Ghost Train 1 Ghost Train 2



By Robert Lashmore

Launched into the dark.
With a shove, the attendant pushes us forward to crash through the doors
and enter the beckoning darkness inside Mr Lunas mouth.

Doorway to laffs....

The crash doors close using a weight on a pulley.   In keeping with the tradition of the ride, the pulley weight is an old wheel from one of the carriages.

 

We make a sharp Right hand turn and then turn left as we see...

The first stunt, to your left as you enter,which is this Pipe Organ.  

This is a 'handy' way to play the Organ, I'm sure !

...Looky Ma, no hands... Oh, there they are - on the keyboard !

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

 

As with most Darkrides, the wire mesh is virtually invisible when the ride is operating.

Pipe Organ

 


All the lights and sounds in the Ghost Train are controlled by a single PLC (Programmed Logic Circuit) and this uses sensors to trip the lighting and stunts as your carriage passes.   They used to use the traditional manual trips, and evidence of this can be found in parts of the ride, but that has been all changed over the years.

 

 

Portrait Gallery
Looking to our Right, we see the Portrait Gallery - a ghoulish collection of portraits
painted for the new ride and illuminated by Blacklight...

 

 

Lady BonesRotted Earl 
Family TreeEek !!
Family Portraits - Some family !!   That third guy must be the 'family tree'.

 

Creepy
From the portrait Gallery we head straight towards this creepy mural of mist-filled catacombs.

Bad luck if it crosses your path

 

Rounding the corner, we find this little black cat watching us curiously as we pass.



We turn to the right, travel through the inky darkness, then abruptly turn 180 degrees and head towards a staircase in an old mansion - as we watch, a ghostly figure appears at the top of the stairs.  The stairs fade from view, leaving only the shimmering apparition (below) facing us as we hurtle closer to it.

 

 

Ghostly Apparition

It's not a Ghost Train without a Skeleton !!

 

Darkness again !  We turn abruptly to the left, then to the right.  A figure of a dancing skeleton lights up in front of us.

 

Mirror Mirror on the wall

"That's OK", we think as we turn to the left, "I can cope with that" - but as we think this, another Ghost Train carriage with people in it comes rushing at us in the gloom........     Phew.. it's only a mirror !!

Who's there....It's Norman's mom.

 

...Then, continuing this non-stop volley of shocks, as soon as we turn away from the mirror, a bedroom lights up.... a hideous grinning corpse-like figure sits up abruptly in bed, startling us into screams..... but who is she ?

 

Check the book title

....Closer investigation of her bedside reveals that this is "Mrs Bates", and she is reading of her sons adventures....

Dexters Evil Laboratory
Rolling around to the left, we see a mad scientists laboratory, with jars of eyeballs, bottles with unmentionable liquids bubbling and trickling, and, as we turn to the right, a macabre collection of dolls, whose heads are revolving in an eerie fashion.

Tickets, please.

Dolly Did It !!

So intent are we on looking at the dolls to the left of the track that we don't see the shadowy figure standing right in front of us until it's too late..... LOOK OUT !! 

**CRASH** - we run headfirst into the Ticket Collector, standing there with his clipboard demanding proof that we have paid the price to invade his domain.   Luckily he swings out of the way as we hit him, but as he steps aside he reveals....

 

Spiders... why did it have to be spiders?

The kingdom of the spiders !!   Projections of cobwebs are on the walls as the ride passes.  The projections and the spiders on the walls are a little intimidating... however just around to the left...

 

King of the spiders
This guy does a good job of being intimidating......  Where's a can of bug-spray when you need one.

 

webs, or filament ?

 

Right after seeing the huge spider, you pass through some hanging cobwebs that caress your face... just the thing to reassure you... not.

 

Ooer.. derail !!

Looming in the darkness ahead, a horrific scene unfolds - the carriage in front of us has derailed, and out of the wreckage a lone hand waves in a plea for help.

I hope help comes soon, because that giant spider is looking for dinner !

Guillotine

 

Turning around to the right, we travel through blackness for a second before a ghastly beheading mural lights up.

 

keep your eyes on the mural

We turn to the left, and at the far end of the corridor, another beheading mural lights up...

Gotcha !!

Unexpectedly, before we reach the mural at the end, another beheading lights up, to our right,
however this one is not a mural...
we watch in horror as the blade drops and the head drops into the waiting basket.


Ben... the two of us need look no more
We reach the end of the coridor and snap around to the right,
and head straight towards a wall that has a large pipe running along the top of it.

There are rats running along the pipe, and as they do, a large rat pops up from the upturned pipe at the end.

Mutant Glow
We turn right to miss them, and make another left hand turn past a mysterious green glowing mutant, trying to escape from it's coffin.

 

 

Hope it's a book on skincare...

Suddenly we're turning right again, past a librarian sitting hunched over a big dusty book.  We see the bookshelves behind him and then realise that the librarian looks a lot like a Vampire.... Yikes !!

As we get close to him, he startles us by abruptly snapping his book shut with a little puff of dust.


 

Aww... Nice Doggy
We hurry away from the librarian, towards an alcove in the wall.... as we get closer we see a pair of red glowing eyes... It's a vicious guard dog who watches us pass.

 

Ooer... Peeled Doggy

Turning to the left, we see another red-eyed Dog sitting in an alcove.

Without warning, this dog leaps forward towards us - watch out if you're sitting on the right !!

If you're thinking this dog looks a little naked, that's because it's face-mask was being serviced at the time we visited.

 


 

 

a HELL of a mural

 

 

 

Another corridor awaits, and at the end..... it's Hell, ladies and gentlemen - our journey to hell is at an end - here it is in all it's glory.... lovingly painted in the recent refurbishment.

This mural is so detailed that you need to ride the ride several times to get all the fine detail in it.


...and with a fiery finale.....

 

Through the doors and...

 

...Out we go.
...and a final *Crash* we're back out on the relative safety of the loading platform. 
We exit laughing, and head to our left down the exit ramp.

 

 

A few facts for you:

The ride is 130 Meters long.

Ride takes 1 min  40sec ( 100 sec total)

Train travels at  1.3 meters/sec (or  4.6 Km/Hr)

The ride was installed in 1934

It was originally called the Pretzel.

It was renamed as the Ghost Ride.

It then became the Tunnel Of Terror

It's final name change came in 2001
when it was transformed into the Ghost Train.

 

 

For information about Luna Park Melbourne, visit their web site at ...

www.lunapark.com.au

Make sure you let them know Tunnel Of Laffs sent you!

 

 

This Article ©2004 Robert Lashmore And Used With Permission.
Photos © 2004 Robert Lashmore (Below Left)

Many thanks to Dean Leggert (Above Right) and Emma Nuttall from Luna Park Melbourne.

Thanks also to Rohan Storey of Friends Of Luna Park, Melbourne.

Graphics and web page layout by Robert Lashmore.

© 2004 Robert Lashmore & Tunnel Of Laffs No portions of this article, its text, photos, or graphics may be used without the consent of their creators.

You may contact the author through
robert@tunneloflaffs.com
Tunnel Of Laffs or the author are not affiliated in any way with the amusement parks mentioned on this website.


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