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The Ghost Train entrance has horrified , mortified, ampilfied and terrified our unsuspecting patrons for years. Where else in the world can you ride a ghost train to a seat at the theartre? The design and constuction of the ghost train was masterminded by Paul Newman. Unlike the theme park ghost train rides, Paul wanted to reinvent the dimensions of the carriages, along with other modifications, so that adults wouldn't have to squeeze into a carriage designed for children. To achive this, Dracula's ghost train carriages were constructed on site. Paul modified electric golf buggy engines and then mounted these into a skull-shaped chassis. State of the art safety devices were installed including infra-red sensors, radio controls, whip switches... the works! In fact there is more computer power in each of Dracula's trains than the entire Apollo space crafts! Crazy but true.
The train theme was inspired by the 1950's style side show rattlers, while
Dracula's little locomotive may not boast the hi-tech effects of the giant
theme park rides. It does have that creep show feel. That musky burnt
electric smell, the ubiquitous nylon threads that brush your face in the
dark, and hiss of compressed air as an animatronic ghoul lunges out at you,
now that's a real ghost train. The shrieking screams that echo within the
ghost train passages are testament that it works, especially when the
hilarious reactions of the shrieking commuters are being recorded on our
very own hidden infra-red video camera.
The ghost train video screening has to be one of the highlights of a visit to Drac's. Some of the reactions have been hysterical. We caught one couple having a naughty in the back seat, a young woman wearing a "boob tube" screamed and lost the tube, and one old fella's false teeth flew out and landed in his glass of vino!
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