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2007
New Years Eve, 2007 | Happy New Year folks! Just think-- the Haunted House has had 46 successful years thus far! Let us hope for another 46 wonderful years full of fun and spooky memories. Drive safe, and make smart decisions folks! |
December 30, 2007 | Priced out of the market? - A fantastic article written by Doug Trimper regarding how the family is getting priced out of the amusement market. This article was originally published in October of this year. |
December 29, 2007 | Calling all enthusiasts! I would like to start off the New Year with some great stunt reviews! If you are interested, check THIS out! |
December 28, 2007 | I currently have an auction on eBay for a collection of rare photographs of stunts from Trimpers Haunted House. The photos are actual photos developed from negatives, not printouts. The winner will receive the photos in a brand new matte-finished black frame. I call this collection Tracys Treasures. The auction can be viewed HERE. These photos show great detail, and would make a great addition to any enthusiast's collection. Good luck! |
December 24, 2007 | It's Christmas Eve, and although I doubt many folks are visiting a site dedicated to a Haunted attraction, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I doubt I will have a chance to update the site in the next few days as I will be going out of town, but I will have some more ideas to start off 2008! By the way, a new Videos section has been added to house any uploaded videos from fans relating to Haunted House and/or Bill Tracy subject matter. Oh yeah, be sure to check out THIS photo of my Christmas party this year. Happy Holidays! |
December 23, 2007 | As a little holiday treat, I uploaded a few sections of a video catalog from Distortions Unlimited. This catalog shows the most popular stunts of the late 90's era including the actual Gallows stunt as seen in Trimper's Haunted House, as well as a stunt similar to Tracy's Falling Barrels, which consists of a man detonating TNT causing a stack of steel drums to fall. It appears that a portion of the catalog was actually filmed at an International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Convention in the late 90's. You may be able to spot a stunt or prop that you are familiar with, although, it seems as if some of the props were not big hits. Watching this catalog only reinforces how much of an artistic genius Bill Tracy really was. Nothing can compare to his work and legacy! View video catalog hosted by YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3
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December 21, 2007 | Read THIS very interesting article published recently in The Dispatch newspaper out of Ocean City, Maryland, regarding the proposal to designate several Trimper parcels as historical districts, which would freeze taxes and offer some relief to the family, who at this point, are not able to profit on their family-owned business. They claim in the article that repairs, such as the roof of the carousel house, need to be tackled, but the family simply does not have the extra resources to be able to afford it. |
December 20, 2007 | Well folks, my Christmas shopping is just about done. It seems as soon as I think I'm done, I remember one more thing! But, it's all part of the joy of Christmas I suppose. On a different note, I noticed a Mispelling on one of the Trimper Ticket Signs--Unfortunately, they mispelled one of the best rides! Grrr!
Also, has anyone noticed the Graffiti-like artwork that is upstairs across from the Crab location? It is actually on the left as you reenter from the balcony. I find it amusing--It looks like something from a dark city alley, and the giant 4X spray painted in the center of other miscellaneous colors surely means something, but I cannot figure out what. |
December 19, 2007 | NEWS FLASH! - The Trimper's have redesigned their website in full! The new flash site will blow any visitor away, and includes full picture sets of each and every ride and game in the park, including the Haunted House and Pirate's Cove! The site also includes a new article of History, and enables guests to Submit Pictures of their memories via an upload feature. It took me nearly an hour to sift through the new site as it is much more complex and extensive compared to its predecessor. I am impressed with the user-interaction modules and flash animations as well as the extensive photo catalog that reveals every detail of the park. As their previous site was years old, I am glad to see this new site live. Hopefully, it will let the world know how special Trimper's really is! Direct URL is http://trimpersrides.com. |
December 14, 2007 | Bill Tracy seemed to like including cakes in his designs. It is obvious that he included a cake in his Birthday Party stunt, but what other Haunted House stunt includes a cake? And, why would he include a cake in this particular stunt? A new layout in the Features page, and more stunt reviews coming soon. Have a safe weekend folks!especially those of you impacted by the non-stop winter storms! |
December 13, 2007 | I spent some time to write a brief ballyhoo regarding some of the systems and operations in place should the ride suffer an emergency, including fire, vandalism, breakdown, etc. You may find some of the communications methods interesting. Check it out HERE. |
December 12, 2007 | A local news station in Baltimore did a quick sweep of Trimper's tax situation tonight. The short video can be seen HERE. |
December 11, 2007 | As I sit home sick from work today, I created a newer, fresher Image Gallery for the effects. I included a few pictures that were left out of the original gallery, including some of the recreations I completed in Photoshop. I think it covers the ride, and its past, pretty well up to this point. Of course, I will have to update it once I get pictures of the new stunts planned for installation this winter. I am also curious as to how the padding project is coming along for the cars, and the new track installation is going. It is so easy to plan things to do during the winter, but when the workers find themselves caught up in their annual paint jobs of the Zipper, Tilt-a-Whirl, and Merry Mixer, I am sure time can slip away from them
so, we will see. |
December 9, 2007 | A new Downloads section is available for any fonts or other downloads that may become available in the future. Also, a tidbit about Tracy's Haunted House doors and transitions in the Effects section. By the way, the head in the previous post was used in Tracy's Headslinger stunt before it was replaced due to wear. |
December 8, 2007 | POP QUIZ! - Does anyone know where this Bill Tracy head was originally located in Trimper's Haunted House? I will give you a hint; this stunt had a nautical past, and Tracy's mind was surely "off in the clouds" when he was designing this stunt... |
December 7, 2007 | The second font of this series is now available. I call it "Whacky Shack".
To download a ZIP of this font, click HERE. File Size 13Kb, True Type Font (TTF) Format.
To install, simply extract the zip and drop the TTF file into your font folder in your windows directory. The font should become active immediately. |
December 6, 2007 | So, I was thinking the other day how cool it would be if there was a font that resembled the same letter styling as those on the façade of the Haunted House.Well, here you goMy latest project, a font I call Haunted House. I have included all of the most commonly used characters in this font, including upper and lower case. I tried to mimic the styling of the HH letters as close as possible. See an example below:
To download a ZIP of this font, click HERE. File Size 9K, True Type Font (TTF) Format.
To install, simply extract the zip and drop the TTF file into your font folder in your windows directory. The font should become active immediately. |
December 5, 2007 | Enjoy a quick analysis about the use of Women within Tracys classic stunts. Luckily, a lot of Tracys womanly figures still remain in Trimpers Haunted House. But, for how long?!...
7:30 pm - I used THIS picture of the mermaid thanks to Bill Luca of Laffinthedark.com to create an example of what the original Mermaid looked like in its original location before exiting onto the balcony, complete with hair and jewlery. Check it out Here. |
December 4, 2007 | Trimpers Haunted HouseIn a childrens book? Thats right folks, you heard me right. Although it has been out for a while, visit MartyTrimper.com to buy your own copy of Hermione. This book and its sequel story were written by Granville Trimpers wife, Marty Trimper and illustrated by Granville Trimpers Grandsons wife.
The first storys preface: Hermione, Shipwrecked! in Ocean City, Maryland, is written by Marty Trimper and illustrated by Amy Holloway. This is the first book of an exciting series wherein Hermione Hippopotamus was captured in Africa and placed in a cage on board a huge ship where she was destined for life in a zoo. But during a turbulent storm at sea she was swept overboard and landed ashore in Ocean City. This initial book also sets the scene where Hermione finds her future home--a secret room in the Haunted House at Trimpers Amusement Park.
The last time I was down, I stopped into Down Memory Lane, an Inlet Village shop, and flipped through the pages of the first book. The illustrations are very nice, and the writing is very imaginative. Check it out! |
December 2, 2007 | The strangest thing happened to me the other day. I was walking the boardwalk late one night and happened to come across the Haunted House. Much to my surprise, it was decorated with holiday cheer. One of the members of the Birthday Party was standing out front dressed in a Santa Costume (weird) and ringing a bell yelling Ahoy! Come in to the Haunted House before a shark bites off ya leg!Arg! Being that this fellow had a nautical past, I can see why he was speaking with a pirate-like vernacular. After I spoke with him for a few minutes, he informed me that the Knitwit, Sawmill damsel, and the members of the Torture chamber had a holiday party and decided to decorate Gloom Mansion. It took some time for me to digest this, but I then spent a few minutes looking at the beautiful décor. Well, its hard to explain, but take a look at THIS and youll see what I mean
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December 1, 2007 | Shhhhhh.... it's a Surprise!
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November 30, 2007 | A little orange fluorescent paint never hurts...or does it? Orange you dying to see some comparisons? 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. Plus, check out this awesome painting I found via Google that someone completed of the Haunted House. I cannot make out the artist, but it is beautiful.
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November 25, 2007 | Content has been added to the Track and Trimpers sections. I have decided that a long-term goal will be to do complete websites for the Pirate's Cove and Aladin's Lamp. I will not start these until after Spring of next year, though. Now I must focus on the holidays... |
November 24, 2007 | The track page is complete. I am still looking in my archive for additional pictures of the track to post.
Thanksgiving in OC was a very nice, relaxing time this year with the family. Granted, the town was dead with little to no traffic or signs of tourism, but this makes it all the worthwhile to me.
This time of year, I visit often to take pictures, both at night and during the day. The Haunted House looked pathetic as it sat alone, dark, quiet, in amongst the surrounding games and gift shops; a 180 degree transformation from the busy summer nights of mid-July when upwards of 40 people would stand in line at any given moment in front of the building. It looked to me that maintenance had put a fresh coat of white paint on all of the gates of the games, which they normally do on an annual basis anyway. Crews were busy decorating the balconies and bolting the wreaths and garland to the light poles. On Thanksgiving night after a filling meal and good thanks, I wandered down to the inlet and Trimper territory to see what was what. I caught up with the security guard for a few minutes then went about my business taking pictures. The Trimpers Twin Twist illuminated sign was still on while mounted on the side of the Inlet Lodge--sort of spooky in its own right, but it was obvious that it had lured many passers-by in this summer for a nice cone. Trimper crews were also installing their large Christmas displays like the moving carousel horses and snowman in the lodge parking lot.
I took a ride through the Haunted House to see how things were holding up during this off-season. To my surprise, all of the pneumatics were not working; the sawmill, falling beam, falling barrels and a few others clearly did not have air flow to them. I figured one of the compressors was malfunctioned. A few black lights were burnt out, especially at the downhill and coo-coo clock. And as I said in my previous update, Scotty informed me that three new stunts were purchased from the convention this year and will be added over the winter. We shall wait and see what will be removed to make room for these.
My next major update to the Trimper page will be a section regarding the Inlet Village. I will also post some neat photos of the Pirate's Cove and Mirror Maze. |
November 23, 2007 | After spending a relaxing Thanksgiving in Ocean City and catching up a little with Scott, I am full of motivation to add more info to the site. My Track Zone example is almost complete-- I have more off-season photos which will be added in a few days, and I have created a new section for the Track. This section will house information and pictures of the Track as well as track zones when complete. Scotty told me that three new effects were purchased at the convention this year--let's hope they are good ones! |
November 18, 2007 | New and improved Track and Stunt Layouts are finished. Please note that track layout and/or stunt locations are approximate. Please refer to the key provided for name of stunt. It is possible that some minor stunts are not included on these schematics; this was done purposefully as I did not feel they were significant enough to include. Please refer to the Photo Gallery for enlarged stunt photographs. |
November 17, 2007 | A special thanks to Dave from Baltimore who submitted neat pictures of Trimpers Park during the off-season. The pictures actually show crews taking down the Slingshot. What a baron wasteland compared to the summer nights when upwards of 500 people are trekking along the endless blacktop pavement filled with dazzling lights and the aroma of Red Apples famous funnel cakes
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November 14, 2007 | Check out THIS photo taken in 1981 as an aerial view of the inlet I found in my archive. You can see the Pirate's Cove and a one-story Haunted House--No Mirror Maze though, as this addition to the park came with the second story addition to the Haunted House in 1988. Notice the Morbid Manor on the pier, and the absence of rides in the back of the park. Also, the Inlet Village is not built at this time. Ahhh, the good ol' days.... |
November 13, 2007 | Our favorite attraction looks so down and gloomy during mid-November. Only one more week to go, then it will be dormant for nearly 4 months as the compressors sit silent and the transformers sit cold-to-the-touch. This photo taken November 9, 2007. |
November 12, 2007 | I was able to find two additional stunt pictures: One of the Bartender (416 KB) and the Knit Wit (399 KB). Both photos, taken in 95, show great detail. I will try to look through my archive for other detailed pictures. The forum has been slow--Let's get that Tracy talkin back in swing folks! |
November 7, 2007 | This is off-topic. But, I was thinking today about how much fun and interesting it was to operate the Sling Shot ride at Trimpers in conjunction with many other rides and the Haunted House. I have included some PICTURES of my experiences operating the Sling Shot. Back then, this ride was brand new, and it was a blast to see the smiles on peoples faces. I was told not long ago that this ride was being sold this year to a man in Vietnam. However, I found the online advertisement for it HERE. Maybe the deal fell through, or maybe I was misinformed. The ad states that the ride has only been in the park for 4 years, but it actually joined the Trimper family in 01. It could be yours! |
November 6, 2007 | Some additions to the Lobby, and I am working on a diagram for the Track Zones. Not sure when it will be complete as this is a busy time of year for me, but will keep you posted. |
November 4, 2007 | Just a few more articles, one in particular is about Doug Trimper's Buckaroo Park, which he opened in 2006 in Frontier Town in West OC. The park would close within one year. Also, a new sound has been added. |
November 3, 2007 | Bottom line is--I'm feeling right, on a Saturday night. A short and to the point stunt analysis of The Crab |
November 2, 2007 | Houselights are so important inside of Trimper's Haunted House. With only the flip of a switch outside in the lobby, flood lights inside the HH turn on allowing workers to see. During breakdowns or other problems, these lights are often turned on for safety reasons. There are several communication methods the ride operator uses with workers stationed inside. Have you ever been riding through and all of the sudden seen a quick flick of the houselights inside? By turning the lights on and off once, this signals that the ride operator would like the worker inside to come out to the lobby (this could be for a bathroom break, etc). Two flicks means that a car with two males is entering the ride. In the summer, any time there is a car with two males entering, the lights will flash inside twice notifying the worker to stop what they are doing and make their way to the front of the ride to begin watching the car. Three flicks of the lights means an emergency outside. You may be wondering how those inside communicate with those outside-- Well, there is a doorbell system installed with several doorbells throughout the HH. One ring of the bell means there is a problem inside. Two rings mean "everything is okay, and resume ride operation." If you pay attention the next time you are down, you may see some of these communication techniques taking place, as they are used often.
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November 1, 2007 | I added a photoset of the Haunted House I built which was modeled off of Trimper's. Although my Haunted House does not exist anymore, it was fun nevertheless. Also, please join an interesting conversation taking place in the forum about Bill Tracy attractions. |
October 31, 2007 | 'Tis Halloween, a time to celebrate our favorite haunts and pastimes, a time to reminisce about what frightens us the most, or what frightening things amuse us the most. Happy Halloween all! |
October 29, 2007 | Today on the FORUM, we were talking about the space issues within the Haunted House. See THIS picture.
Wasted space has become an issue in the HH because of the stunt removal that has been taking place. As the Trimper's remove more and more of Tracy's stunts, which were originally built in wooden boxes, a lot of space has opened up that cannot easily be filled. New stunts tend to not take up as much space as Tracy's, so the space is not being properly utilized. The second floor, as shown in the picture above, is the biggest wasted area. Now that the crab, drunk, bartender and head slinger are gone, along with the birthday party and wine cellar, the space is practically bare. The mummy, moving coffin, giant skull, ghoul, and kicking man (gallows) have taken the place of Tracy stunts, but because they are not facilitated in a box, it is not a 1 for 1 ratio as far as space goes, and I believe it impacts a customers experience. Visit the forum, under the Haunted House Stunts section and tell me what you think. |
October 27, 2007 | As the rain continued to pour here today, updates were made site-wide. Adding material got me thinking back to a project I completed in 2005; the Fortune Teller. I got inspired to tackle this project after seeing so many vintage fortune tellers in park arcades, most notably the one located in Martys Playland, which is owned by Trimpers. I started from scratch, building the wood booth, painting it to look ancient, and then I spent several weeks purchasing the parts from eBay and assembling. A head, 2 hands, an old lamp, a Dayton Gear Motor, item number 3M101. I built a mechanism to make the arm move left to right over a deck of cards, and added a red spot light to create an eerie glow. I also incorporated a motion sensing device at the bottom, so when it sensed someone standing in front of it, the motor would turn on, the lights were activated, and the sounds of ancient pipe carnival music would play. Instead of a bill validater, I used an old capsule machine. When you would put a quarter in the machine and turn the knob, a capsule would disburse with your fortune inside, along with a little giveaway, like a novelty bouncy ball or toy.This project took me months to complete. What took the most time was buying and sewing the clothes for this women, which I had my girlfriend help me with. This piece sat in our game room for about two years until I sold it on eBay to a business man in upstate New Jersey. Although I didnt want to sell it, I needed to make room for other equipment that I wanted, so it had to go
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October 26, 2007 | A little rearranging on the site makes it more sensible. I will be adding additional photos this weekend, as well as doing my second stunt review of The Upside-Down Room, so stay tuned.
Before I ramble, I want to state that thanks to a friendly email from Mark, I have become aware that an original Laffing Sal will be auctioned off in Hagerstown, MD on November 18. You can get additional info at the website if you wish.
On a different note, I have been pondering different types of sound effects, especially that of the interior of the ride. I am in love with the HH house sound. The digital byte that is about 1:30 long loops constantly and contains a systematic assortment of wind, creaks, and falling barrels, along with intermittent moaning of ghouls. This byte is arranged fantasticallyas you ride through the attraction at a constant speed, the sound byte plays at a constant speed and sort of flows with you as you ride. On the contrary, I wonder how effective a sound would be that is not as uniform and constant, but more random rather than consistent winds keeping the sound piece uniform, how about a scream every now and then with loud crashes thrown in arbitrarily. For whatever reason, I am inclined to believe that it would not be as steadfast. Even though the current sound might not be a scary or heart-wrenching sound that makes you jump practically out of your moving vessel, it is still brilliant, and contains all of the necessary elements that make it so. In my opinion, any time it is a ride-through attraction, a harmonious, unified and consistent sound is needed to help flow the ride. But, a walk through can contain a different sound strategy; because you are on foot and free to move as fast or slow as you wish, the sound can be that much more random, and you (the patron) can be given the opportunity to directly react with the sound. A ride, where you have no free-will or liberty to move as you please, should have a sound that offers more of a background effect, so patrons can enjoy more of Tracys unforgettable artistry. In a ride like Trimpers Haunted House, even though the main sound loop can be constant, each individual stunt (i.e.; Knit Wit, Saw Mill etc) can have their own sounds to add fright to this classic Haunt. |
October 25, 2007 | I grew up listening to 50's and 60's-era of music. We always had Juke boxes in our house, and the faint sounds of classic 45's would not be uncommon coming from our basement on a warm summer night. I just sort of gained a respect for this type of music and learned to appreciate it for what it was -- in a time when people appreciated life and the world for what it really was. These tunes are about things that mattered; loved ones, happy memories, and a certain mood or feeling.
It occurred to me that during the installation of Trimper's Haunted House in 1964, it was most likely the workers (and perhaps Tracy himself), were jamming to the songs below while installing our favorite stunts and tweaking the light and sound effects. These songs were among the top 40 hits of '62, and were undoubtedly playing on the radio.
-Beechwood 4-5789 - The Marvelettes -Big Girls Don't Cry - The 4 Seasons -Bobby's Girl - Marcie Blane -The Cha-Cha-Cha - Bobby Rydell -Gravy (for My Mashed Potatoes) - Dee Dee Sharp -Johnny Angel - Shelly Fabares -The Loco-Motion - Little Eva -The Night Has A Thousand Eyes - Bobby Vee -Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp -Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
By the way, the picture a few posts down is hanging in the upside-down-room...upsidedown! |
October 24, 2007 | Gary and I have been having interesting conversations about how modern darkrides are using technologically advanced stunts in order to entertain their patrons. Although Trimpers Haunted House has a lot of Tracy stunts remaining, which for our purposes are considered art, they have also incorporated many newer stunts from Distortions. The Trimpers are very faithful customers of Morris Costumes and order a lot of merchandise from them. Over the years, I have obtained many catalogs from this company, as far back as the late 90s. I have a created a brief page of catalog images that correspond with the "newer" stunts inside the Haunted House. The catalog photos with item #s and prices can be found HERE. |
October 23, 2007 | I spent a lot of time tonight doing site maintenance. I am working hard to make this site as clean, simple, and easy to navigate as possible. I will add more content by the end of the week. |
October 22, 2007 | I decided to start doing weekly or bi-weekly reviews of stunts inside the haunted house. This week's review is of the bathroom. Click HERE to read the review. |
October 21, 2007 | This is somewhat off-topic, but at a site that is dedicated to Tracy's randomness, let it be. One of my favorite all-time amusement icons is Laffing Sal. There is a display of an original Sal in Ocean City's Life Saving Station Museum at the Inlet. The original came from Jester's funhouse which used to be up the boardwalk aways. To me, this icon represents an era of fun, joy, a "who cares" attitude, and a time when folks really appreciated things for what they were worth. There is nothing more joyous to me than the laugh of Sal, which can be heard by hovering your mouse over the image below. At the same time, it seems that Sal would be an excellent addition to a dark ride attraction. Her laugh, which was actually recorded by a man, is haunting yet joyous, and her movement forward and backward as she laughs signifies the end-all, be-all American amusement icon. Click below:
Click here to see an enlarged version of the above image; a poster from Euclid Beach Park's Surprise House. |
October 19, 2007 | Folks, I created a domain specifically to my HH Conversation. http://forum.ochh.net will be the place to go to access the blog and forum so you don't have to access it though the site. I am really hoping to have more fun facts and memories shared via these methods. Enjoy! |
October 18, 2007 | Six more classic sounds have been added from the ride. Still trying to dig up some more classic photos. More to come! |
October 18 2007 | BREAKING NEWS -- After looking over their numbers for this past year, Trimper's will stay open for 2008 in full! Read About It!. More sounds coming tonight! |
October 16, 2007 | A new cool flash photo gallery is installed for the effects and lobby pages. New OC articles, new postcards, new pictures, too. |
October 15, 2007 | I live my life by one simple rule: If you are going to do something, do it right, or don't do it at all. Unfortunately, I cannot say that those who are remaking the HH facade are "doing it right." In fact, it seems as if though they are cutting corners. So far, they have only completed a few sections of the facade. But, look below at the original Tracy (left) compared to the new (right), and make your own conclusion.
Granted, the new paint looks fresh and crisp. But to me, there is A LOT of wood missing from above the doors, and to the left. View a recent conversation related to this and other dark ride issues at the Dark in the Park forum HERE. |
October 14, 2007 | I am impressed by what Plokoon111 has completed with RCT3. Download Haunted House POV HERE. Although I believe he put an inaccurate website at the credits, it is still a nice piece nonetheless. You can view the entire conversation in the forum HERE if you wish. Enjoy folks. Good job, Plokoon111. |
October 13, 2007 | I am down the beach this weekend, and just happened (thanks to Robert on the Dark in the Park forum) to come across a website that has vintage Tracy stunts from the original catalog. I contacted the moderator of the site and he granted me permission to use them so I can show you all the originals next to the "actual stunts" as seen in Trimper's Haunted House. The website I borrowed the images from is Imaginary World. Click HERE to see these stunts. |
October 11, 2007 | I uploaded another video -- The Haunted House Facade and Lobby, shot in mid 90's -- Cliff Hudson, former HH manager, is shown in this video. Enjoy.
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October 10, 2007 | I created a new, shorter URL-- http://ochh.net. Please use this URL if you wish. I added a quick little bit on the workshops inside the HH located at the bottom of the Effects section for lack of a better place to put it. I will also upload some views of the track to go in the cars section. More to come! More to come! |
October 10, 2007 | I made a new site banner and menu for your viewing pleasure, plus added pics to Trimper's and Ocean City sections. I will attempt to get some more video, as well as some pics of last weekend's car show up very soon. Stay tuned for a little "behind the scenes" haunted house article I am working on. It is not long, but it includes some aspects that you may not know about. It will be in the EFFECTS section when complete. Will keep you posted. |
October 8, 2007 | Major updates folks. New effects pictures, cars section complete, lobby section updated. This past weekend was a blast--Not only because of the OC Car Show (so much fun), but because I got a lot of 411 on what is coming up next year. Scott told me that they are planning to put cushions in all the cars next year. They have apparently been having a lot of complaints and feel it is time to do something about it. After speaking with Scotty, I was told that the car shown as well as others will be refurbished this winter. The wood has started to rot at the base and they have become unsafe. This particular car has had the steel frame and Unit taken off. The head-carpenter for Trimpers will do the work (the same carpenter working on the facade). About six years ago, several cars left the ride during the winter for an overhall at Trimper's Warehouse in West Ocean City. At that time, wood was replaced, restained and repainted. Over time, the cars tend to rot due to the salt air, mold, constant humidity, and water in the attraction that interacts with the wood such as the water curtain at the ride's ending.
As you can see to the right, the wood is in desperate need of attention. I was able to simply touch the wood with my fingernail, and it crumbled. In this condition, it does not matter how thick of wood you use, it will always end up this way in due time. Perhaps a steel base made of sheet metal would due the trick? (No, because of rust). Either was you dice it, your end result is always the same.
I will keep updating on the progress of this project. Undoubtedly, it will take a long time. Scotty himself is doing steel work inside the HH shop, and being as busy as he is, it is hard to find a moment to work on it. The facade has received more boards lining the left and right walls. Although, I cannot say I am too impressed by them. Scott feels the same. There are not enough to space them properly, and they don't exactly follow the original template that Tracy had cut out.
Scott has asked me to send him photos I have of the ride from back in the early 90s so he can attempt to match the facade exactly when they re-do it this winter. Some, but not all, of the Trimper rides are down for the season. Apparently, the slingshot is SOLD, but the new owner needs to come pick it up. I am not yet sure if there will be a replacement. Tomorrow, I will add more photos of this past weekend. |
October 3, 2007 | My 1996 video is uploaded and ready for viewing. Enjoy!
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October 3, 2007 | I will heading downy ocean this weekend for a much-needed relaxation session. As far as I know, Trimper's should have the majority of rides down at this point. They started on Monday, September 17. The Haunted House is only open on weekends at this point, and the Giant Facade bat should be down and inside for the winter. I am going to try to take some pictures of the Trimper lot this weekend, and see if I can get some shots of the HH inside to cover places I may have missed. I will try to upload a video I shot inside the HH in 1996. I have it on DVD, but will try to import it into flash. It should be interesting because most of the effects in this video no longer exist. I will keep you all posted. |
September 29, 2007 | All sounds now available for you to listen to in the Sounds section. Old Trimper brochures uploaded in the Trimper Section. Morbid Manor articles from when it burned to the ground in 1995 are now in Articles. I am trying to dig up pictures of some old effects in the HH, but am having trouble finding them. Enjoy! |
September 28, 2007 | By the end of this weekend, I hope to have the HH lobby sound uploaded, additional pics of inside the HH, pics of Trimper's warehouse in West OC, and some other fun little things. If anyone has a good map of OC and/or the inlet, please let me know. I need something nice for our location page. Have a great weekend all! |
September 26, 2007 | Added some flash and advanced java to the site while also adding interesting pictures (old and new) and developing my interactive exterior which can be seen HERE. I was down OC this last weekend, and I noticed that even more of the facade was taken down. According to Scotty, they are planning a total rehab of the facade, ripping the entire front off, reconstructing it with new wood, new paint, and reinstall. I am anxious about this as I hope the workers do good work and keep it true to Tracy. I will be adding content to this site daily, and if you have contributions, Email Me and I will include it on our site. |
September 21, 2007 | The site is coming along nicely--although, I still need a plethora of photos and contributions to make it more interesting. Nevertheless, I added a Articles page where I will post articles that myself along with other people have written regarding Ocean City, Trimpers, Bill Tracy, and the Haunted House. I will eventually add old OC photos and postcards to the Pictures page as well. |
September 20, 2007 | After speaking with the Haunted House management a few weeks ago during a short trip to OC, I found out they will be replacing the majority of the facade of the building over the winter. The current facade is all original wood from 1964 I'm told, and carpenters will attempt to recreate Tracy's work and repaint to match. Last spring, they already started this project on the upper right panel (above the double doors), and the left panel that surrounds the doors entering back into the attraction from the balcony. I think they have done a great job with the work they have done so far. Based on what Scott said (Haunted House Manager), you can poke a hole through the wood with your finger, and it is extremely unsafe at this point.
In addition, Trimper Steel-Workers will continue a project to lay down all new track this winter. The old steel is original and needs replacing. During this time, they will add many more supports anchoring the steel track to the concrete floor to prevent track movement.
I was told they may get a budget this year for new effects. Two years ago, Granville granted a gracious budget and they replaced three Tracy stunts with new modern effects. One by one, the Tracy effects are leaving us, but the Trimper's feel they need to in order to keep up with a changing audience demand.
I will keep yall posted as I learn more information. |
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