A never produced Tracey facade called "Ghost Town", in keeping with his desire to build "Old Western" Themed rides. Can you even begin to fathom what Madness Tracey would have included inside?!? Yet another example of Tracey Loving the "Old Western Drunken Cowboy Theme".
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 The Lake Winnie, Chattanooga Tenn. "Castle" dark ride. Known by hard core enthusiasts for being surrounded by a "moat" this ride also features several props from the now defunct Tracey walkthrough at the park called "Wacky Shack". Strangely enough, this ride was once a two-story version, but a local fire Marshall made the park cut it down to a one level ride sometime ago. |
A very rare look at Tracey's version of his Haunted House, this time when his company was called: "Outdoor Dimensional Display Company". This name would have been pre-Messmore & Damon. This ride was in fact created and built at West View Park, defunct, near Pittsburgh, PA. |
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The strange thing about Tracey is that everyone assumes that he built the majority of his props from molds and that they were duplicated in many rides. Not true according to Jim Melonic, who, very plainly states that he also loved to create custom props and stunts both on-site as well as in his factory. While its true that the "Vamp" figure almost always graced a ride facade, there are still a slew of Custom Tracey props still kicking around!
Various tales spin around that Tracey was a sub-par business man, but this is not a fact for the following reasons: While Tracey did at times build attractions for a small amount of dollars, his key to making income in the long term was that almost all of his rides had a maintenance contact toward future work! It was not un-common to find Tracey at Dorney Park, Allentown P.A. on each opening Memorial Day tinkering with either the "Journey To The Center of The Earth" or his "Wacky Shack". Another favorite stomping ground of Tracey was Paragon Park at Nantasket Beach, Mass.
It was here in his ride
contacts that Tracey probably made his major income. This is made a fact as
when Jim Melonic held control of "Amusement Display's" as he too
had a great number of contracts at Parks that Tracey had re-themed a ride
at, and Melonic had also refurbished. Smart for his time, no?
Tracey's love for Horror -- "his Twisted Side" -- is quite evident in his work. But a
closer look at his props tells us that he also loved wildlife and the
whole Jungle Concept. Take note of these photos of Hershey Park, Hershey
P.A. A very cool yet plain Mill Chute to the left, now take a look
after Tracey to the Right! He very much made an older, boring ride pack a
new life with the simple addition of the Jungle Animals on top of the Facade
as well as a few new scenes inside the ride. This was Tracey at his best, an
on-site creative geniuses.
There aren't too many Old School artists or designers that can claim as much fame as Tracey could, or can, as several of his creations are still operating. And if you believe what past history has dealt out for us to view, he was, in fact, a man well beyond his time. From doing custom work at the great Pretzel Ride Company to his own Company, Amusement Display's, he is both someone to remember and someone to think about as blazing a trail for so many others. Thanks for coming along for a final ride about our "Scary Skipper". Long may he be remembered. Lets take a fast look at some other of his great attractions, and pass the Rum Mate, its time!
-- Bret Malone, one of many Bill Tracey Fans! 
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More about Bill Tracey...
