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Dorney Park Zephyr Railroad


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I've searched high and low for the Zephyr's track gauge (space between the rails), but unlike many other park railroads where I could easily find this info, I can't for this one (probably because it's custom-built and not pulled by a steam engine). I also tried e-mailing Dorney Park, but of course, since it's a big corporate park, I never got a response.

 

Do you any of you guys happen to know the Zephyr's track gauge? It is probably 24-inch or smaller.

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I've searched high and low for the Zephyr's track gauge (space between the rails), but unlike many other park railroads where I could easily find this info, I can't for this one (probably because it's custom-built and not pulled by a steam engine). I also tried e-mailing Dorney Park, but of course, since it's a big corporate park, I never got a response.

 

Do you any of you guys happen to know the Zephyr's track gauge? It is probably 24-inch or smaller.

 

I don't know the answer, but if no one can help you here on TPR, I'd expect a quicker response with the question directed to a Dorney Park fan forum, than the Park itself.

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Yeah the Zephyr is tiny, possibly the tiniest park train I've been on (though Kneoebels' is pretty tiny as well). Funny, never thought I'd see this ride get its own thread. It's one of the oldest rides at the park, right? I love how it's so futuristic and streamlined, unlike most amusement park trains that are so antique-y.

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After an exhaustive search for the Zephyr Railroad's track gauge, I decided to find it indirectly. In short, I have confirmed that the Zephyr Railroad's track gauge is 24 inches using the picture below.

 

I researched the exact height dimension of that orange Igloo cooler to the left of the tracks and found that it is 23.25 inches tall (source: http://www.target.com/p/igloo-10-gallon-seat-top-beverage-cooler-with-cup-dispenser/-/A-10281492#prodSlot=medium_1_0&term=igloo+10+gal+cooler). If you copy the part of the image with just the cooler and paste it horizontally over the tracks, it fits inside the tracks with about one pixel row to spare on each side. So, based on this analysis, we can infer that Zephyr Railroad's track gauge is less than one inch wider than the height of an Igloo 10 Gallon Seat Top Beverage Cooler, which equates to 24 inches. This is not surprising, as this is a very common track gauge for amusement park railroads, such as those using Chance Rides C.P. Huntington trains, which are all 24-inch gauge.

 

Feel free to tell me your opinion of this finding, and whether you think its genius, makes sense, or just nuts.

1744682330_ZephyrTrackGaugeConfirmation.thumb.png.358f36a7ccbc4e8acf620a8afc9f385f.png

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After an exhaustive search for the Zephyr Railroad's track gauge, I decided to find it indirectly. In short, I have confirmed that the Zephyr Railroad's track gauge is 24 inches using the picture below.

 

I researched the exact height dimension of that orange Igloo cooler to the left of the tracks and found that it is 23.25 inches tall (source: http://www.target.com/p/igloo-10-gallon-seat-top-beverage-cooler-with-cup-dispenser/-/A-10281492#prodSlot=medium_1_0&term=igloo+10+gal+cooler). If you copy the part of the image with just the cooler and paste it horizontally over the tracks, it fits inside the tracks with about one pixel row to spare on each side. So, based on this analysis, we can infer that Zephyr Railroad's track gauge is less than one inch wider than the height of an Igloo 10 Gallon Seat Top Beverage Cooler, which equates to 24 inches. This is not surprising, as this is a very common track gauge for amusement park railroads, such as those using Chance Rides C.P. Huntington trains, which are all 24-inch gauge.

 

Feel free to tell me your opinion of this finding, and whether you think its genius, makes sense, or just nuts.

 

You're definitely very close to that fine line between genius and nuts.

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^ You could always e-mail the park to verify.

 

I did! No response. I have e-mailed a few other parks about their park railroads asking for this same information, and I have had a 0% success rate. Parks are very tight-lipped about revealing technical aspects for their rides to individuals, which I have found out the hard way. I have found work-arounds for most of them, though, like this work-around for the Zephyr Railroad.

 

The only other park railroad that is still a mystery to me is the cable train at the end of the Marvel Cave attraction in Silver Dollar City. I THINK its track might be 48 inches wide (an unusual gauge), but I have no way of proving it.

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After an exhaustive search for the Zephyr Railroad's track gauge, I decided to find it indirectly. In short, I have confirmed that the Zephyr Railroad's track gauge is 24 inches using the picture below.

 

I researched the exact height dimension of that orange Igloo cooler to the left of the tracks and found that it is 23.25 inches tall (source: http://www.target.com/p/igloo-10-gallon-seat-top-beverage-cooler-with-cup-dispenser/-/A-10281492#prodSlot=medium_1_0&term=igloo+10+gal+cooler). If you copy the part of the image with just the cooler and paste it horizontally over the tracks, it fits inside the tracks with about one pixel row to spare on each side. So, based on this analysis, we can infer that Zephyr Railroad's track gauge is less than one inch wider than the height of an Igloo 10 Gallon Seat Top Beverage Cooler, which equates to 24 inches. This is not surprising, as this is a very common track gauge for amusement park railroads, such as those using Chance Rides C.P. Huntington trains, which are all 24-inch gauge.

 

Feel free to tell me your opinion of this finding, and whether you think its genius, makes sense, or just nuts.

 

I like the creativity that went into the analysis, but I don't know that you can just rotate the barrel sideways and span it directly across the tracks like that and end up with an accurate measurement. Looks to me like the tracks are at an angle to the camera, and so the barrel is not perpendicular to the tracks. You would need to skew the barrrel at an angle and somehow keep the "depth" of the barrel the same so it does not grow or shrink due to being brought closer or further in the foreground of the image.

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I like the creativity that went into the analysis, but I don't know that you can just rotate the barrel sideways and span it directly across the tracks like that and end up with an accurate measurement. Looks to me like the tracks are at an angle to the camera, and so the barrel is not perpendicular to the tracks. You would need to skew the barrrel at an angle and somehow keep the "depth" of the barrel the same so it does not grow or shrink due to being brought closer or further in the foreground of the image.

 

^^^Eh...it's close enough for government work.

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