The Devils Den

Greetings Everyone! Just like the most (or all) of you, I had read the posts and read the newspaper reports about the park going to auction to a private owner. Sorry to report that I do not know anything more then what has been reported and/or posted. I do not have any "inside" information about what is going on with the sale of the park. With that said, I am going to continue with my efforts of updating, improving and being the "Unofficial Caretaker" of the Devils Den. A...t least until I am told that I can not do it anymore. In previous posts I talked about the guide wheel experiment, in which I am working on creating new guide wheels for the cars. The first experiment, I made guide wheels and we used a mocked up bottom of a den car and rolled it through the den, A couple issues with some binding at the top of the dip. Today, after making some changes we conducted experiment #2 and rolled the new trucks with the new style guide wheels through the Den. No issues what so ever, with the exception of all the crud build up inside the track. Going to have to clean that out and will probably need some help doing it. More on this later. I posted some pictures of the experiment today and I will post a short video of the mocked up den car going through the dip in the front of the Den. Next is going to install the new trucks under car 4 and see how it does. I want to do a full test with pushing it in and letting the lift chain take it up the hill and release it as it would during the season. With the cold weather, the trucks don't roll as they would during the summer but we will compensate for that. More on this when we run the final test, fingers crossed for a good outcome. In the meantime, I have been working on repairing my Bridgeport mill, which I need to make Den parts. Still waiting on 1 last parts order to arrive so I can start reassembly. So while waiting for parts to arrive, me and my son Shawn cleaned and scrubbed the Bridgeport. Today we painted the Bridgeport, giving it a fresh new look. I am anxious to get back to making parts for the Den and the other rides. I posted some pictures of some of the issues with the mill and the painting of it. When I finish it up, I will get some pictures posted. Plus when I get back to working on Den stuff I will get pictures of that posted also. Well, that is about all for now. I have a positive outlook for the park. Without knowing more details about what is going on, I have good feelings for the park, based on what I know (which is about the same as everyone else). Stay safe everyone, Stay healthy and hope to see you this summer down at the Devils Den. Thank you everyone for following, the great words of encouragement and support. Can't wait for nicer weather to finish the skull arch and other projects. Until next time, Thank you! Devils Den Tom

Greetings Everyone! Well, I am back at it after taking time for the holidays! Starting off I started covering the legs of the head spider. Plus filling in around the eyes to blend them in better. Using liquid latex, so it has to get multiple layers to get some of the areas to fill in as much as I want. It is a little bit of a slower process but I think it is going to turn out good. So last weekend, my Bridgeport threw me curve ball. When I bought the Bridgeport, the pre...vious owners had placed some spacer blocks in the upright, as shown in the picture. Well, I got tired of standing on my tip toes to turn it on and off. So with some help of my son we went to lift it up to remove the blocks. But the engine hoist I was using would not reach over the motor and head. So we turned the head and accomplished removing the blocks. Well, come time to put the head back upright it would not move. Long story short the shaft to rotate the head was broken and I ended up removing the milling head off the machine completely for repairs. So now, I have the entire milling head torn apart for repairs and rebuild. So making parts is off the table for a while until parts arrive. Meanwhile, I created a mock up of the bottom of a den car and placed the 2 new trucks into the board spaced out just like the den cars. With Travis's help today we pulled all the cars off the den and ran the mock up through the entire den. Doing this gave me tremendous amounts of information on sizing new guide wheels. Also, I think this may eliminate the banging the cars sometimes do when engaging the lift chain. Things went very well with this "Guide Wheel Experiment" today. A couple little modifications and then I can start making all new guide wheels for the cars. Going to have to clean out all the built up gunk from inside the tracks, which is really needed. Well, that is about all for now. I will keep everyone updated as the guide wheel experiment progresses, when I get the Bridgeport together, along with other things I am working on. Waiting on better weather to do stuff inside the Den. When that happens, I will get photos posted. In the meantime, stay tuned as more is to come. Stay safe, Stay Healthy and Thank You for all the awesome support, words of encouragement and for following. Until next time Devils Den Tom

Happy New Year Everyone! I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and good riddance to 2020. This past year has been a troubling and disappointing one. I had some wonderful plans for the Devils Den for the 2020 season, and then COVID-19 happened. While the plans for 2020 are going to be incorporated into the 2021 season plans, it still is disappointing that there was no 2020 season. I fully understand and support the decision for the park not to open due to COVID-19, it i...s still a big let down not having the season. However, I really think that the park will do well this coming season and the Devils Den will be better then before. People will want to come out to the park once they are able to get out and do more things. Lets keep our fingers crossed and anxiously await the 2021 season. Since there was not 2020 season, I did not do my annual End of the Season Walk Through Tour of the den. I am going to post pictures of stuff I worked on over this past year. Sort of a Year in Review type photo gallery. While they have been seen before, I thought it would be okay. Even though I decided to take the holidays off from working on Den stuff. I have plenty to do before the 2021 season. Weather permitting, I need to finish up the skull arch. Need good weather to finish a couple things up and then assembly inside the Den. I have controller to program and update sound effects. I have a new feature to install inside the den. Along with continuing to finish up the new trucks for car 4 after the guide wheel experiment is over. Fabrication of all new trucks for the last car, car 7. Once those are done, then rebuilding the car itself, and the list goes on. I hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy, I want to see everyone at the park this coming season. Thank you everyone for following, Thank you for all the great words of encouragement and support. Stay tuned everyone, there I more to come. Happy New Year Everyone! Devils Den Tom

Merry Christmas Everyone! Hope you and your loved ones have a safe and healthy Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!Merry Christmas Everyone! Hope you and your loved ones have a safe and healthy Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!