Episode 758: Amusement Park Disasters: Independent Parks

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And

you're listening to Morbid [ __ ]

>> Whoa. You are [ __ ]

>> I changed it up.

>> Good morning, good afternoon, good

night. You could be driving tomorrow. Of

course, you could be driving to work,

home from work,

>> picking up your kid,

>> doing laundry,

>> going to sleep,

>> just chilling,

>> picking your nose,

>> farting.

>> I hope you're doing all those things

simultaneously, though. Driving to and

from work at the same time as picking up

your kid.

>> Yeah, I hope you sounded like I sounded

like Jou.

>> You did.

>> You know what really rips?

>> Driving to and from work, bro. Honestly,

if you're not listening to Josh,

>> Josh,

>> uh, it's J A Wsh on T Tik Tok and

Instagram, I think you can find. But,

>> uh, we love Josh.

>> We love Josh.

>> We love Josh. We love his hottest homie.

We changed our husband's contacts to my

hottest homie

>> because of Joshomie.

>> Um, he's he's delightful.

>> I love him and he will tell you what

really rips.

>> Yeah, he's just literally the most

positive person and he's always just

telling you what rips. in life.

>> So if you're looking for something that

just rips and to he will show you to

romanticize the small room moments of

life.

>> Truly nothing but

everything rips.

>> Today what ripped for him and for us is

that it's [ __ ] Friday the 13th.

>> Hell yeah. Hell yeah.

>> And then tomorrow is Valentine's Day.

>> Yeah.

>> What a [ __ ] weekend we have ahead of

us.

>> What a one-two punch.

>> I'm going to see Chicago this weekend.

>> That's fun. And I'm going to lose my

head. I'm going to lose my head.

>> I'm going to lose my head. I've never

seen Chicago, first of all.

>> That's going to be great.

>> Um, and I'm going to see Whitney from

Secret Lives and Mormon Wives. She's

playing Roxy. And I'm so [ __ ]

excited.

>> I'm excited for you.

>> Thank you. What are you doing this

weekend?

>> Going to the Science Museum in Boston.

>> Okay.

>> With the kids.

>> That's the most us thing ever. I'm like,

I'm going to New York City for the

weekend. And you're like, I'm going to

the science museum with my children.

>> Yep. Um, this will come out after, so

don't worry. Nobody Nobody will find us.

>> Nobody will find us.

>> You never know.

>> You never want to say your location

right when you're there.

>> No. That's what we are here to teach

you.

>> Yeah. Little tip from me to you. I don't

post about [ __ ] until after I finished

it.

>> Yep. And you should too, all of you

listening. Yep.

>> Um because the world is really [ __ ]

crazy right now.

>> It's the world is um probably burning a

little bit.

>> Yeah. I think it's what I am hoping

>> we're going to rise from the ashes.

Yeah. Like I hope it's burning because

fire is cleansing.

>> Agree.

>> And we're going to start a new

>> I love it.

>> I think we're going to burn it all down

and we're going to start with way less

pedophiles.

>> That'd be dope.

>> And way more chill [ __ ] who

want to protect kids and don't want to

be [ __ ] to each other and hateful

and divisive.

>> Those are my top two things that I want

in in the new life.

>> Yeah, that's all I'm looking for in this

new world.

>> Those are my New Year's resolutions. I

hope that the system does in fact crash

so that there's less pedophiles and more

cool people who want to protect kids.

>> Yep.

>> That's it. That

>> it's so simple

>> that honestly that should be and I know

that's there's going to be people that

are angry at us for saying that. But I

can't fathom how you can find something

wrong with

>> you want the system to burn right now.

It's been in place since 1776.

How could you want less pedophiles? Like

that's I that's that's something we

should all be able to agree on. I think

that's the least controversial thing I

have ever said in my life is we should

have less pedophiles.

>> Somehow people will find

>> controversy. But here's the thing. Our

listeners,

>> no, our listeners, no,

>> they're not going to you guys aren't

going to find it's the bots controversy

for sure, you know. Oh my god. But you

guys listening, you're you're you get

it. I'm probably not the first person to

ever say this, but God, I hope I am.

It's the bots and the ops.

>> There you go.

>> That came to me.

>> That came to me. came to me up here in

this noggin.

>> Well, you know what? In the

>> in the spirit of um being crazy, being

kooky,

>> let's talk about amusement park

disasters.

>> You're going to ruin my [ __ ] life

like that. You would.

>> This honestly would ruin my life. My

idea Dave,

>> our beloved Dave,

>> beloved David

>> had this idea and I said, "Hell yeah,

brother.

>> It's a great idea."

>> Yeah. Except I thought Here's the thing

about this show. One of us sitting on

one of these couches despises amusement

parks with her entire

>> I bet you can't decide.

>> The other one of us would literally go

to an amusement park every day to be

amused.

>> That sounds horrible.

>> Wow. So, you really let them know that.

>> We didn't even give that one second to

last.

>> I mean, I think people know.

>> I know. I'm kidding. I think people know

by now. Um, we're going to be talking

Well, we have two of these, but today

we're going to be talking about

independent parks.

>> Okay. So, we're not going to be talking

about, you know,

>> the big ones,

>> the the biggies,

>> my faves.

>> Uh, we're going to be talking about some

independent parks. And this is all just

things that happened. Like, this isn't,

you know, us having opinions on like how

they're run or anything like that. It's

just

>> I don't even know how they're run.

>> These are just things that have happened

that have been reported on.

>> And let's let's let's start in the way

back,

>> shall we? Um, so this first one I'm

going to do my absolute best to not

butcher the pronunciation,

>> but when we get there, we get there and

we're going to see what we do. Okay,

we're going to see how we handle it.

>> Okay.

>> Um, so as early as the 14th century,

>> a long ass time,

>> long time. People have always loved to

attend like big gatherings with other

people. They love to combine those

gatherings with music, food,

performances,

>> culture

>> explicitly for the sake of entertainment

and enjoyment. We've all needed that

forever.

>> I love entertainment and enjoyment.

>> For example, in and here I go with this

pronunciation.

>> I believe in you.

>> Linguarbeck.

>> Not sure.

>> Denmark. And this is in a place called

Here comes another one.

>> Oh, there's more.

>> Here comes another one. Hold on. Dire's

Vakan.

>> Direvaken.

Dire's Vakan in Denmark.

>> Sure.

>> Um, that translates Dire's Vakan

translates to Animal Park Hill.

>> Oh.

>> Um, it has been entertaining guests for

nearly 450 years. Initially,

>> that's insane.

>> Long time. initially with clowns and

animal shows and music, then with

mechanical rides, and eventually with

modern thrill rides and roller coasters

commonly associated with like modern-day

amusement parks that we think of. And

while it's fair to say that like

amusement parks that we think of now,

like modern ones of the last century or

so, can trace at least some of their

roots to like fairs and carnivals of

like the Middle Ages.

>> Their real point of origin can be found

in the mid 19th century quote unquote

pleasure gardens of London.

>> Not pleasure.

>> Not pleasure.

>> I feel like they should have workshopped

that one.

>> So these are these are not like the

sprawling parks filled with mechanical

rides that we are thinking of.

>> What happens at a pleasure garden?

pleasure gardens provide and and here's

the thing. There's like a there's a

there's a there's a lead from these to

the modern day parks that we're thinking

of, but obviously there was a branch off

of who they were catering to and what

they were catering. But the same idea

was there of like being a place that is

purely for amusement.

>> Yes,

>> what amusement it is. Pleasure gardens

are for something different.

>> Okay. They provided a similar kind of

escapism through fantasy entertainment

and commercialism that would eventually

be the the amusement parks we know now.

According to British journalist Kath

Pound, the pleasure gardens offered

quote an environment in which societal

norms could be cast aside, if only for a

few hours. They captivated the public

with their heady mix of culture,

fashion, and vice.

>> Yeah, [ __ ] That's why I'm wearing

Disney ears. Mickey ears. You could also

you could also argue that this is kind

of like Renaissance fairs like that kind

of thing, you know.

>> Now, during the day, the gardens

resembled casual, albeit like more

fantastical types of social experiences

one might find at a fair.

>> Okay, that's fun.

>> But the real thrills came later in the

day when the parks began their quote

dark walks. These would be led by masked

performers whose identities, gender, and

perhaps even intentions were unknown to

patrons. You had me up until intentions.

You had me until intentions. One thing

about me is I want to know a

motherfucker's intention. This is so

interesting. So these dark walks were

tours that began in like well-lit areas

of the park and eventually made their

way into the deliberately unlit areas of

the garden.

>> This is [ __ ] up. And as the light

began to fade, the whimsical and

colorful garden gave way to more

hedonistic activities.

>> [ __ ] what?

>> As sex workers would emerge to offer

their services in dark corners of the

garden.

>> Okay, that's a fun intention.

>> So that all right with that historian

Jonathan Conland said there wasn't

necessarily a clear division between

light walks and dark walks. It was a

question of how far you were prepared to

go.

>> Oh, okay. All of this is so like just

it's so fascinating to me that it like a

dark walk sounds so terrifying.

>> It does. But then sexy people come out.

>> Yeah. So the real purpose of the

pleasure garden and its whimsical tone

remain the same as modern-day parks like

that the tone of everything especially

during the day. Rather than simply

offering an opportunity for hedonistic

pleasure, the garden's true purpose was

to break down these like rigid social

and class barriers of the day that were

honestly like dictating public life at

the time

>> and give the people of London a place to

play, engage in fantasy together

>> without the stigmas of the outside world

kind of bogging them down.

>> It was a place to vibe. And the result,

or at least the result that was

intended, was increased social cohesion

that minimized conflict,

>> which is nice. Everybody got together,

enjoy some [ __ ] together that doesn't

hurt anybody.

>> A more contemporary example of these

these opportunities for like blowing off

steam are things like professional

sports,

>> a shared act interest and activity that

kind of transcends

what would be like pretty restrictive

social constructs like race and class. M

like it's these all kind of when you

really look at them that way, you're

like these are much more like tightly

>> uh held together and like woven together

than you would think just on the

outside.

>> Agreed.

>> Now eventually the explicit hedenism of

the pleasure gardens gave way to the

more commercially oriented boardwalks in

places like Coney Island, New York, and

Santa Barbara, California.

>> Beginning in the late 1800s, places like

Coney Island offered games,

performances, and what were then known

as freak shows. Mhm. in which real and

manufactured medical anomalies were put

on display for entertainment and

amusement.

>> I've seen AHS.

>> Yeah, exactly. By the end of the decade,

the mechanical and technological

inventions that were unveiled at the

1893 World's Fair in Chicago, where

HHolmes was busy.

>> HH Homes

>> um they had begun to make their way onto

the boardwalks and small amusement parks

around the world. These me mechanized

rides quickly replace the animal shows

with carousels, ferris wheels, and

roller coasters. And that's when the

amusement park thrill rides were born.

Let's [ __ ] go. So, by the early 20th

century, entrepreneurs in North America

and Europe started building parks around

the mechanical rides that drew from the

boardwalks and pleasure gardens of the

past, including vendors, fantasy

inspired landscapes, and even mascots.

In the early 1940s, Indiana businessman

Louis uh Louie Cotch uh developed 260

acres of land in Santa Claus, Indiana

into Santa Claus land.

>> Fun. Then that was the nation's first

theme park.

>> Wait, that's actually iconic.

>> Isn't that crazy?

>> Santa Claus?

>> Yeah, I'm obsessed. Opening in 1946,

Santa Claus Land offered a quote dreamy

alpine village with a toy shop, rides

designed just for children, and daily

appearances from [ __ ] Santa himself,

y'all.

>> Let's go. That sounds fun.

>> Yeah. Santa Claus Land would go on to

inspire other entrepreneurs to develop

their own properties, including Walt

Disney,

>> whose own Disneyland opened in 1955,

modeled in part by Santa Claus Land.

>> I didn't know that. Unfortunately, an

increase in popularity meant an increase

in patrons. And with each new person

that arrived and each new day that

passed, the more likely it became that

something could go wrong. Yeah, of

course.

>> Cuz we're not just going to talk about

how great amusement parks are and how

they became a thing. No, it's called

morbid.

>> So, although the rides were generally

considered safe,

>> I can't at like 1940s, 1950s, I'm like,

uhoh.

>> When I generally they're considered

safe. Imagine you get on the ride and

like you ask and they're like, "Yeah,

generally generally it feels like this

might be safe.

>> I'm not going to go on this."

>> Yeah. When it comes to something like

amusement park safety, the likelihood of

an accident is a matter of probability

to be quite honest.

>> In simple terms, each time a ferris

wheel was put into motion, the worn the

more worn the mechanics became.

Therefore, the more times a person rode

a ferris wheel wheel, the more safely

the more likely it was that they were

going to experience a problem. The more

safe rides equal we're we're creeping

up.

>> We're counting down until disaster here.

>> So the horrible way to think about that.

>> It really is.

>> I want to be the person that goes on the

ride like two times after the bad thing.

>> Yeah, there you go.

>> I'm sorry.

>> Wow. I'm sorry.

>> So that fact was further complicated by

the fact that in the case of early

amusement parks, rides were typically

permitted and expected by the same

people who gave out licenses for the

other park vendors. That's to say that

these individuals rarely understood how

the rides worked, much less whether they

were safe.

>> That's really awesome.

>> So, that led to some problems.

>> Yeah, I bet.

>> In 1911, on the River Beach boardwalk,

just a few miles outside of Boston,

manufacturer Fred Pierce built an early

wooden coaster named the Derby Racer.

See me? I don't [ __ ] with wooden

coasters.

>> And remember, this is before like the

Santa Claus land of 1940, whatever.

>> Yeah. Among the largest roller coasters

of the day, the Derby Racer was a

standard twotrack coaster where two

passenger cars would quote unquote race

one another side by side.

>> Mhm.

>> Within just a couple months of being

built, the Derby Racer experienced its

first accident or that's when PFC Arthur

Lamar, a sailor on the battleship New

Jersey, was thrown from one of the

coaster cars, quote, traveling at a

speed equaling that of a fast express

train.

>> Oh, [ __ ] Although the specifics of how

exactly Lamar was thrown from the car,

his body hit the structural beams of the

coaster with quote terrific force,

fracturing his skull, breaking his arm

and causing severe internal injuries.

>> Yeah,

>> he was rushed to Frost Hospital in

nearby Chelsea. And while he did survive

the accident, he was left with lifelong

problems as a result.

>> A fractured skull will [ __ ] you right

up.

>> Just a month later, another accident

occurred on the derby racing. bad

probabilities

>> when Oscar Young, the assistant manager

of the ride, was thrown from one of the

cars. At the time, Young had been

accompanying a group of young women on

the ride. And according to a press

report, at one point, the group quote

were making so much noise and moving

about so actively that Young feared for

their safety. As they approached a sharp

curve in the track, he turned around to

remind the young women of the safety

protocols. But just as he turned, the

car lurched slightly to the side and he

was thrown from the ride head first.

>> Oh [ __ ]

>> Understandably, the party of young women

quote became panicstricken and two of

the passengers had to be physically

prevented from jumping out of the car in

terror.

>> According to the press, quote, "The wild

screams of the passengers during the

rest of the ride cuz they had to finish

the ride."

>> Yeah.

>> To the terminal were heard for half a

mile and caused intense excitement among

the throngs on the beach. Oh, that's

horrifying.

>> Once the cars came to a stop, attendants

were able to reach Oscar and move his

body to the office terminal where he was

attended by a local doctor until an

ambulance was able to get there an hour

later.

>> Jesus Christ.

>> Young was taken to Frost Hospital where

they determined both legs were broken,

one so badly it had to be amputated

immediately.

>> Oh my god.

>> And he'd suffered severe internal

injuries as well as cuts and lacerations

and bruises to his abdomen.

Unfortunately, it does appear that he

didn't survive his injuries. Oh, that's

so sad.

>> In the two months

>> were both of your legs broken and one so

badly that it needed to be amputated.

>> That's nuts.

>> In the two months that it had been in

operation, there had been multiple

problems with the derby racer. That

should have warranted some

investigation, including the death of

Oscar Young, the injuries to Lamar and

other passengers, one of which who broke

an arm a week before Young's accident.

>> So, it was more than just that. Yeah,

those were just the two most egregious,

but the River Board of Selectmen voted

to shut down the coaster for just 2

weeks before giving them the go-ahad to

reopen it after the coaster was

examined.

>> Did they fix anything?

>> Two weeks. They were like, "Seems good

to me."

>> I'm like, "I don't know. I think you

should put some mechanisms in place to

like make it so people stop flying off."

Whatever repairs were made to the the

derby racer do appear to have made it a

little safer for riders, but a decade

later, the rid's operators found

themselves in trouble again.

>> Hey, a decade is pretty solid.

>> Yeah, but I guess so. After two

passengers were injured on the Derby

Racer on the afternoon of September

10th, 1922, 25-year-old Frank Francis

and his friend Joseph Jason,

>> FF and JJ.

>> FF and JJ.

>> Obsessed.

>> And like last name Francis, last name

Jason. Like what a weird thing to

happen.

>> That is weird. Like two first names,

last names.

>> They visited the River Beach Boardwalk

and Francis decided he wanted to start

their day at the beach with a ride on

the derby coaster, but his friend opted

to watch from the platform.

>> Oh [ __ ] The ride was well underway when

for reasons unknown, it came to a

lurching halt and Francis and the

passenger where that he was sharing the

car with were thrown from the ride and

fell about 6 feet to the ground below.

Fortunately, the young woman with that

Frank was riding with was largely

unheard. Frank himself though sustained

severe lacerations to one side of his

body and serious internal injuries.

>> So, he survived his injuries, but less

than a year later, 23-year-old Alice

Bluelin and her boyfriend Leland Back

were thrown from the Derby racer pretty

much under similar circumstances. Alice

suffered a fractured skull and back was

badly cut and bruised, but otherwise was

okay. In the years that followed that,

the operators installed a leather

harness to each car as well as a safety

bar that riders could grab hold of.

>> I'm sorry, what was there before?

Nothing. They're like, "Hey, I think a

bar could like push people, you know,

like keep them in there." Also, a

leather harness. They're like, "What do

you guys think about a seat belt?" like

Jesus.

>> Then again, it's like people were just

like plopping newborns in the back of

their seat at their

>> seriously. Well, also I mean this was

what like around like the early to mid

1900s.

>> This is like Well, this is in the late

20s.

>> Yeah. That's nuts.

>> Yeah.

>> Um these safety measures like definitely

lowered the risk level, but not

entirely. In late May 1929, 27year-old

JN Clark was thrown from his car when

the leather belt quote seemed to slide

through his hands. and he was thrown

from the car and suffered se severe cuts

all over his body. So the seat belt was

just like nah.

>> It didn't do a lot. The accident in 1929

resulted in a lawsuit that made its way

to the state supreme court in 1935.

>> Surprised it took that long for a

lawsuit.

>> Yeah. And the court ruled against the

ride operators, Ocean View Amusements,

who were required to pay a big penalty.

>> Yeah, I would think.

>> The next year the Derby racer was shut

down for good and a new coaster was

built on the site in 1937.

>> Really? I feel like even building a new

coaster on that site is a bad omen. I

feel

>> so all of the accidents on the Derby

racer and coasters like it just

highlighted the fact that if nothing

else, additional safety measures were

necessary to ensure that riders lived

through the ride.

>> Yes. Important.

>> That said, 20 years after the first

death on the Derby racer, another

accident occurred that called into

question the safety of roller coasters

altogether.

the afternoon of July 24th, 1930. It was

like any other summer day at Omaha's

Krug Park. All afternoon, tons of

patrons lined up, one after another, to

ride the park's most popular attraction,

which was, of course, a large wooden

roller coaster called the Big Dipper.

>> Not the wooden roller coasters.

>> Called the Big Dipper. Like many

coasters around the country, the Big

Dipper was routinely inspected by a city

inspector who was more accustomed to

inspecting buildings than amusement park

rides.

>> A little different. and he deemed it

safe for public use. Looks good to me.

>> All righty.

>> He said, "I don't know. It's not a

building." He said, "I guess it's fine.

>> I don't know. It's standing."

>> He said, "Maybe you could live in it if

it was stationary. I guess maybe maybe

you could."

>> Despite that approval, however, just

weeks earlier, one park worker predicted

there would be quote a terrible accident

on the coaster any day.

>> Oh, parker. and he said it was due to

its constant use but lack of regular

maintenance. He was like, "This is just

gonna happen. I just wait for it."

>> Like common sense.

>> A little past 7:30 that night, 23 people

boarded the train on Big Dipper,

separated into four connected cars. As

the train of cars began climbing the

first 75 ft hill, the group of teenagers

braced themselves for the anticipated

rapid descent of the hill. Yeah.

Unfortunately, none of them noticed the

bolt sitting on the track several feet

ahead of them. As the car began its

rapid descents down the track, the first

car hit the bolt, tearing loose the

brake shoe and lifting the car off the

rail, sending it through the guard rail

and over the side of the coaster.

>> Holy [ __ ]

>> For several seconds, the first car in

the train hung over the edge of the

coaster, threatening to fall any second.

Oh my god. So, 17-year-old Walter Basis

said, "I could see it happening before

our car left the rails. That was the

worst part of all. We knew we were going

to be killed or badly injured, and all

we could do was sit there helplessly,

trusting in God.

>> I can't even think about that."

>> The first car plunged over the edge,

slowly dragging the other others with

it, plunging 30 feet to the ground

below. "Holy God,"

>> Walter Basis recalled, "I was unable to

move for a moment. So were the others."

Seconds passed by in dead silence. Then

somebody screamed and it seemed to

awaken everybody to their danger. With

just seconds to go before being dragged

over the edge, several of the passengers

desperately tried to free themselves

from the seats, but being panicked and

having no time to act, there was not a

lot any of them could do. According to

16-year-old Antisanis,

who was in one of the rear cars, they

said, "As the first car went over,

people in the second uh the other three

screamed and muttered short prayers

while tugging desperately at their

safety belts."

>> This is so scary.

>> The first car hit the ground just

seconds after it went over the edge with

all the passengers still strapped into

the wooden seats. Now, what's very in

and Dave found this, the first car was

dubbed Fred

>> and it was named after the former park

manager friend Ingresol who killed

himself a few years earlier.

>> Oh god.

>> And this car went plunging over the

side.

>> Yeah, that's haunting.

>> Isn't that just like haunting?

>> Yeah, that is absolutely.

>> Now, since all the cars were connected,

the second, third, and fourth cars fell

in quick succession. Fortunately, the

cars landed in a U formation with the

first and fourth cars landing on the

tracks and the second and third hitting

the ground. Had they landed on top of

one another, it would have been far more

devastating than it already was, which

was devastating.

>> Yeah.

>> Omaha firefighter Bren Meister was at

the park that day and could see the rail

infrastructure crumble as the train went

over the edge. He told a reporter, "The

cars dropped straight down on the east

side of the structure. Some of them

overturned and landed top down with the

passengers imprisoned by safety belts

and unable to throw themselves free. To

make matters worse, the weight of the

cars hanging over the edge before they

fell caused the scaffolding in the part

of the coaster to tilt slightly.

>> Oh my god.

>> So, ride operator Eugene Lewis said, "I

heard wood splintering and saw the first

car going over the east. I jumped for

the switch and shut the power off. I

thought the other three cars would hold

the first track car on the track.

Unfortunately, when the cars went over,

a considerable amount of debris from the

crumbling track followed, landing on the

victims below. Now, with the power

switched off, the second train car,

which was a ways behind the one that

went over, was stopped s entirely, and

rescuers were able to reach the

passengers and get them all to safety.

Other park workers in the area jumped

into action with several running to call

for emergency services and way more

climbing or tearing down the fencing to

get to the victims,

>> which is like a moment of humanity that

I'm glad is in here.

>> That's rare to see.

>> The four passengers in the first car

received the worst of the injuries,

>> of course. Yeah. As the first to hit the

ground in a car that was overturned, CH

Stout, Ruth Frell, Tony Politica, and

Glattis Lund Green were all pinned under

the car and trapped by rubble. Although

two managed to survive the initial fall,

they died later that afternoon from

their injuries. The others were luckier

and managed to survive with terrible

injuries. Tony's 16-year-old sister,

Mary, who was sitting in the car behind

her brother, sustained a fractured skull

and was scalped. Oh my god. [ __ ]

Because her head hit a piece of

scaffolding on the way down. Oh my god.

I don't think I'm ever riding a roller

coaster again.

>> Yeah.

>> To be scalped by a roller coaster crash

>> Yeah.

>> is unthinkable.

>> That's happened a few times.

>> Don't you dare.

>> That happened recently. What?

>> Yeah.

>> In fact, hold on. I'm gonna look.

>> She's doing cautionary tales.

>> Yeah, it was in 2016. She was 11 years

old.

>> Oh, where?

>> King's Crown in Omaha, Nebraska.

Also happened in the UK in 2025.

18-year-old woman in a fun house ride.

>> Oh my god.

>> Yeah.

>> I feel like I'm going to throw up.

>> 2021, too. It happened. So many people

scalped by posters.

>> Yeah.

And and this is just this is, you know,

I'm not trying to tell anybody what to

do.

>> Yes, she is.

>> Um because again, like these, you know,

they get checked and this it's a thrill

ride is a thrill ride. It's a thrill

ride because you're out of control. It's

just the way

>> you're supposed to be thrilled.

>> You are absolutely supposed to be safe

>> and thrilled. But you know, this would

not thrill me.

>> This would not thrill me. And again,

this is the early days of of thrill

rides.

>> You better you better keep it there,

sister.

>> And obviously I've given you some modern

uh examples of this, but

>> but like this, I'm sorry. She's sorry.

>> She's sorry. She's sorry.

>> It's like I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Um so

that's terrible. Walter Bazis, who we

quoted before, suffered a broken collar

bone.

>> Oh, that's so painful. In addition to

severe cuts and bruises to his face,

14-year-old Robert Lindström, who was

visiting the park with his family that

day and riding in the third car,

suffered a broken arm and surgeons had

to amputate one of his fingers because

the crush injuries were too impossible

to repair.

>> Wow.

>> Other passengers managed to escape with

relatively minor injuries. Like when

you're considering considering Walter

Bazis' brother, 20-year-old Andrew, for

example, had superficial cuts and

bruises and a severe sunburn from laying

trapped beneath the debris for an

extended period of time while rescuers

tended to the most hurt people.

>> You get through all of that and you get

severe burns. That's horrific.

>> Even some who weren't on the ride that

afternoon were not free of the harm of

this tragic event. Upon seeing the cars

go over the edge and plummet to the

ground below, a 27year-old woman fainted

and subsequently went into shock.

>> Oh wow.

>> She was taken to the hospital along with

the other victims and released several

hours later. Um similarly, sisters Leona

and Mary Brundy, 12 and 10 years old,

survived the accident with minor

injuries. But later that night, it was

determined that the accident had been so

psychologically traumatizing that both

girls needed to be taken back to the

hospital for treatment.

>> Absolutely. That's a Yeah,

>> you can picture this in your head, but

you can't imagine seeing this in person

and what that would do to your brain

because you're not supposed to see

people in real life

>> in like these insanely violent

situations

>> and just seeing you can you can picture

it in your head, but it wouldn't be what

you would actually. You know what I

mean? Like

>> you you can't conceive of disaster in

that way.

>> Yeah. It's like seeing like you think

you could see it like you're like, "Oh,

I've seen Final Destination. I've seen

weird [ __ ] like that happen." But it's a

totally different thing.

>> Yeah.

>> Within two hours of the accident, it was

as though nothing had happened. Were it

not for the mountain of debris and

wreckage, one would assumed it was just

another night at the park. Just kept on

moving.

>> They didn't shut down the park.

>> Nope. According to one reporter, once

the firefighters and ambulance were

gone, quote, "The concessionaries

hawkked their wares. Sightseers took

themselves to other rides and the

orchestra struck up.

>> It's like the Titanic.

>> Yeah.

>> Hello.

>> It was only after Omaha safety

commissioner John Hopkins arrived a

little before 11:00 p.m. that the park

shut down for the night.

>> Are you kidding me? Just

>> nuts. How could you just be like, "Well,

guess I'm going to go on the Tilta World

now." Like, what are you?

>> Like, what the [ __ ]

>> People just died. Upon viewing the scene

at the park, several of the rid's usual

attendants were baffled as to what the

[ __ ] could have caused this accident. As

Jean Lewis, who was a Big Dipper

operator, said, "As far as I know, it's

still as sound as a dollar.

>> I don't think it is because there's a

big crumbling mess where it was."

>> I have one foolproof way to tell that

your ride is not operating as sound as a

dollar.

>> When it crumbles to the ground.

>> Yeah. And a girl when somebody gets

scalp. Like, are you That's [ __ ]

joking. That'll tell you it's not

running tiptop.

>> Wow.

>> It was only after the debris had been

cleared and the structure formally

evaluated that they realized a bolt had

come loose in the structure and fallen

onto the tracks, which to me that's the

scariest part about this because how

innocuous.

>> That's so innocuous.

>> Yeah,

>> that could just happen.

>> Yeah, easily scares because a bolt is so

small.

>> It's just human.

>> Like that's just human [ __ ]

>> I know.

>> Like we can only tighten a bolt so much.

I know they use like machines to do that

now, but it's like I don't know. Error

happens. That just freaks me out.

>> Well, especially like in this is just my

opinion. Especially with a wooden

coaster.

>> Oh, especially there's there's too much

at risk there.

>> And I know like that's just like that

I'm always terrified of these kind of

things because like as like I'm sure

that like there's a a small subsection

of listeners who are like Elena's the

most paranoid person ever. How annoying.

I I know. Sometimes it pays to be

paranoid.

>> Sometimes it pays to be paranoid. I'm

probably I'll still go on some rides,

but like I'm

>> You're going to keep the Keep your eyes

open. You're going to keep your eyes

open. That's the thing. I'm not I'm not

advocating for people to like just stop

living their lives and stop doing these

fun things because this [ __ ] can happen.

>> Just be informed.

>> Just be informed of it.

>> That's all. So you're a little more

aware. Maybe a little more be knowledge

is indeed power. Maybe don't do the

wooden ones.

>> Yeah. And it's like if you want I just

think you need to be be careful and you

just got to again have the knowledge

going in so you can be better prepared

>> and listen to the safety protocols.

>> Enjoy your thrill rides. I I mean maybe

if it's really going to affect how you

go about an amusement park ride, this

isn't the episode for you. But

>> just know that nobody's advocating for

no amusement parks or rides here.

>> Just make sure you're informed.

advocating for that.

>> It's like hearing about a plane crash.

Like it's not that you shouldn't get on

a plane ever again. It's just like

you're informed now of what can happen.

>> The statistics.

>> Exactly. But I just wanted to be clear

about that that I'm not being like,

"See, I told you that abuse parks are

dumb."

>> Like this is just, you know, a little

little subsection of it.

>> Yeah.

>> Um so yeah, they they noticed the bolt.

Um, had the entire structure been firm

and sound, the guardrail probably could

have withstood the impact in fact and

kept the car from going over the edge.

But when it was inspected after the

accident, safety inspectors found that

quote, "For 20 ft, the left rail was

splintered and torn away. Part of the

guardrail was so rotted it could be

crumbled in their fingers." See, I feel

like you guys could have figured that

out before this happened.

>> Absolutely, they should have.

>> I feel like you should probably just

check it every night. Human error.

>> Yeah. Um, now at a press conference the

next day, John Hopkins told reporters,

"After this accident, I wouldn't permit

another roller coaster to be built of

steel. If a loose nut can throw the

whole tracks off course, we're not going

to have any more roller coasters."

>> Well, he was wrong.

>> He said that he he's me.

>> Well, he was wrong.

>> He's like, "You know what? [ __ ] this."

>> He's like, "One time, no more."

>> Yeah. You know what? No. In fact,

Hopkins and Omaha Mayor Richard Metaf

responded to the entire tragedy by

swearing they would introduce city

ordinances banning all roller coasters

in Omaha.

>> Wow.

>> Which like I get why they went that

hard. Absolutely. That was tragic.

>> Yeah. And it those teenagers. A girl got

scalped.

>> It affected so many people and so many

people too who weren't even on the ride.

It's like you know. So within days of

the accident, several lawsuits had been

filed against the park by those

lawsuiting for days.

>> In one case, 20-year-old Andrew Hullman

sued for $20,000 while while 18year-old

Joseph Zywick sued for $10,000. Several

more suits were after that, and

ultimately the park's $35,000 insurance

policy was split up between many of the

survivors.

>> Damn. Two of the largest payouts went to

14-year-old Helen Kazagi, $7,000, who

lost an eye in the accident.

>> No, don't you dare.

>> And Mary Politica, $4,800, whose

injuries were significant.

>> Right.

>> Tragically, Mary's payout was lost

entirely just a few years later when the

bank went under as a result of the Great

Depression.

>> Oh, that is such [ __ ]

>> Now, after the accident, the Big Dipper

was torn down entirely. And thanks to

the ordinances put in place by Hopkins

and Mayor Metaf, nothing was built at

its place. The owners of Krug Park spent

years trying to get the ban lifted so

they could rebuild their most popular

attraction because it's all about that

money [ __ ] They don't care about human

beings.

>> Yeah. But luckily they were unsuccessful

cuz it's like Yeah. It's all about money

[ __ ] and they don't care about human

beings. Like that's their attitude. But

it's like you're going to lose all your

money because your insurance, no

insurance, especially after your

insurance payout was completely maxed

out. No [ __ ] insurance company is

going to be like, "Yeah, let's do that

again.

>> Let's give it another shot."

>> Guys, the park did struggle

significantly in the years after that

and had an unusual run of bad luck that

included a massive fire and an armed

robbery as well.

>> Oh jeez.

>> Finally, after the 1939 summer session,

Krug Park closed for good.

>> Yeah, sounds like that's probably good.

As the years passed, government

officials, insurance companies, and park

owners started taking the health and

safety of patrons just a little more

seriously.

>> Hey, that's nice.

>> Uh they would put in place better safety

measures. They just wanted to lower that

risk.

>> Yeah.

>> You know, that said, it was impossible

to remove the risk entirely. And that's

the problem.

>> And it was only a matter of time before

another disaster did occur

>> probability. And in a rather dark

coincidence, when the next major roller

coaster catastrophe did finally happen,

it was on a coaster called the Big

Dipper.

>> Shut up.

>> So maybe don't go on a coaster called

the Big Dipper.

>> Guys, you heard it here first.

>> Yeah. On the morning of May 30th, 1972,

Liz Hey Grieve arrived at the Funf Fair,

an amusement park in London's Battery

District, uh to they were celebrating

her 15th birthday. More than any other

rides, Liz wanted to ride the Big

Dipper. It was a large wooden roller

coaster that was built at the park 20

years earlier. The coaster was the main

attraction at the park and one of the

biggest thrill rides in London. And

although she'd ridden the coaster that

day, she wanted to ride it again.

>> Okay. Liz and her friend Allison

Cmerford waited in line for the Big

Dipper. And when their turn came, they

climbed into one of the cars near the

back and buckled their seat belts. As

the train reached the first steep

incline, Liz could hear the familiar

sound of the struts clicking loudly

below the car as the rope pulled the

train up the hill. We've all heard that.

>> When they got to the top of the hill,

the riders prepared themselves for that

thrilling plunge. But then the train

started to roll backwards. At first, Liz

and Allison thought the ride's operator

was just messing around, trying to add a

little extra thrill.

>> But when she saw the other people on the

ride start to panic, Liz realized

something was wrong.

>> Oh god. In reality, the train only took

a few seconds to hurdle back to the

bottom of the hill at high speed, Liz

recalled. But it felt like a long time,

and I had this logical thought process

that we're just going to swing up the

hill behind us and back again and

eventually come to a stop. By the time I

thought all that, we'd crashed through

the bottom of it and we're buried in

debris.

>> Oh my god.

>> Because it makes sense her thinking.

Yeah.

>> Well, we're just going to go down and

then we're going to swing back up and

it's going to be like a metronome and

eventually like a pendulum eventually.

were going to just kind of stop,

>> right?

>> Nope. It crashed directly through the

bottom.

>> Way too going way too fast.

>> They were going way too fast.

>> Another passenger, Carolyn Adams,

remembered the moment the car started

going in the opposite direction. She

said, "As soon as we started shooting

backwards, everything went into slow

motion. I turned around and saw the

brake man desperately trying to put the

brake on, but it wasn't working. Imagine

seeing the man trying to pull the

brake." No.

>> Carolyn wasn't the only one who noticed

the panic in that man's face.

13-year-old Susan Smith said, "I thought

at first he was just trying to frighten

us. Then it was his face. It was white

and terrified." Oh, that poor guy, too.

Just trying his car shot back down the

hill at an unreasonable speed. And when

it hit the first turn in the track, the

first car shot straight through the

guard rail and hung over the edge about

50 ft above the ground.

>> Holy [ __ ] Caroline's car was relatively

undamaged, though they were in a very

precarious position on an unstable part

of the track. The girl next to her was

screaming and trying to get out of the

car, and when she leaned on the wooden

barrier, it collapsed.

>> Oh, [ __ ]

>> Carolyn said, "I tried to grab for her,

but I saw her fall to the ground in

front of me 50 ft in the air.

>> God."

>> Carolyn tried to calm everyone down and

explained that they needed to be very

still, and she would get out of the car

and walk down the tracks to get help.

Bad [ __ ] alert. So Carolyn tried to

calm everyone down and explained that

they needed to be very still and she

would get out of the car and walk down

the tracks to get help which like

>> always a woman

>> bad [ __ ] who's like on her woman saving

the day.

>> She said, "Everyone shut up. We need to

calm down.

>> I got this."

>> She carefully climbed out of the car and

slowly made her way to the edge of the

tracks to find the safest route down.

But as she started walking, she realized

the tracks were slick with blood. Oh,

[ __ ] This is awful. Liz Hay Grieve and

Allison Cmerford had been in the car

that went over the edge and eventually

plummeted to the tracks below, which

were still 30 feet off the ground.

Miraculously, Allison was unharmed, and

when she managed to pull herself out

from under some of the debris, she

started moving the larger pieces off the

car in an effort to free Liz. When she

finally removed all the debris, Liz was

in tremendous pain from a broken arm and

dislocated shoulder. Oh god. But she

managed to get to her feet. They made

their way to the small walkway beside

the tracks, intending to walk down. But

as soon as Allison stepped onto the

walkway, the boards beneath her feet

cracked and she fell 30 ft down below.

Despite her severe injuries, Liz was

determined to reach her friend and

started climbing down the scaffolding

>> with a dislocated shoulder and broken

arm.

>> She said there was chaos, lots of

screaming. Parents had been watching

their children on the ride, so they were

obviously panicking. After a few

minutes, I could hear sirens. When she

finally reached the ground, Liz intended

to get to Allison, but before she could

get there, two adults grabbed her,

trying to help her.

>> And she said, "They got hold of me, one

on each side, and said, "We're taking

you to first aid." They sort of frog

marched me away from her.

>> Oh. When Liz finally managed to find

Allison, she'd been moved away from the

wreckage and laid out on a grassy area

with several other injured riders.

Allison was unconscious, but was the one

of the first to be taken to the

hospital. In the days after that, she

seemed to be improving, but a couple of

weeks later, her condition took a turn

and she succumbed and died. Oh.

>> Allison Cmerford was one of five

children who died as a result of the

accident. The others were 14-year-old

David Sate, 8-year-old Shirley Nash,

13-year-old Thomas Harmer, and

12-year-old uh Deborah Robertson, and 13

others who suffered non-fatal injuries.

>> Wow.

>> Like tragic.

>> I just can't get past the the track

being

>> slick with blood.

>> From the perspective of those watching

the accident from the ground, the scene

was a [ __ ] nightmare. When the train

first hit the first curve in the tracks,

it seemed like everything exploded.

People said some of the riders were like

thrown from the cars and landed

somewhere on the structure. Others

remained strapped into the car or were

buried under debris. Shirley Nash's

father, David, said, "I watched the

carriage climb up to the first rise and

then it just fell back and rolled down,

throwing the children out."

>> Oh. Oh, God. That sentence alone.

>> Yeah. In the months that followed, an

investigation determined the accident

was initially caused by a break in the

rope that pulled the cars. But that that

was just the first link in like a chain

of problems that led to this tragedy.

After the rope broke, the emergency

brake to stop the train failed.

>> Yeah.

>> As the train moved, it picked up speed,

causing the last car to jump the track

when it hit the curve in the track. When

structural engineer Carl Carlton Boswell

examined the structure of the Big

Dipper, he identified dozens of

walkways, handrails, and parts of the

track that were unsafe, including the

walkway that gave out under Allison

Cmerford's feet.

>> Wow.

>> So, that could have been fixed.

>> Yeah.

>> The following year, ride manager and the

engineer were put on trial for criminal

negligence and manslaughter, among other

charges relating to the injuries,

>> as they should be. During his opening

statements, prosecuting attorney Henry

Pawnhill, Pawn Hall, excuse me, pointed

to the many structural problems and

defects with the ride, telling the jury

the Big Dipper was quote, "quite

literally a death trap."

>> Yeah, it sounds like it.

>> Pointing to Allison's death, Pawn Hill

emphasized the fact that this was wasn't

simply a tragic accident, but a matter

of ongoing negligence that created an

unsafe environment in myriad ways.

Despite the evidence and compelling

testimony, the jury determined there was

not sufficient proof to support the

charges and the two men were cleared.

>> That's shocking.

>> That's [ __ ] The Big Dipper was

quickly reopened.

>> Are you joking?

>> With a more modern metal coaster, but

the accident and the trial that followed

had done a lot of damage to the

representation of the operators and the

ride itself. And the ride closed

permanently in the fall of 1974.

>> Yeah, that ride should have never been

reopened. Thinking back on the accident,

Liz Hay Grieve told a reporter, "I

always think about Allison and about the

randomness of how it's one person and

not another, and that's just horrible.

It's really easy to take life for

granted, but it's a bit of a nudge in

the ribs every so often that says it's

not like this for everyone."

>> Wow. Isn't that like

>> poetic? I was going to say I just

warmed.

>> I think that's a good quote to end on.

Yeah, that's that was powerful

>> cuz although all of this is very tragic,

I think that is a very um

>> that's a really good way of looking at

it.

>> Yeah, it's a reminder like that life is

literally so fragile. If it's not one

person, it's the other and you can't

tell which one is going to have that

kind of experience and where tragedy is

going to hit.

>> And it's a good little little nudge in

the ribs.

>> That's a real [ __ ] message,

especially right now.

>> Yeah, it really is. But all of these

things, I mean, luckily these rides were

torn down, other things were built in

their place. Sometimes not even rides.

So

>> sometimes people, it's nice that

sometimes people got payouts.

>> Yeah.

>> Not a lot, but

>> And that it showed like a lot of people

came running to these tragedies and like

to help victims.

>> It highlighted humanity in a in a

horrible way and in a nice way.

>> It really did,

>> which is usually what we do here.

>> It highlighted both for sure because the

ones that were like And then the park

just kept operating as nothing happened.

>> Yeah, that's nuts.

>> I'm like, really, guys? Uh but yeah, so

we'll we'll be punctuating every once in

a while. We'll do one of these episodes.

Um you know,

>> every now and again.

>> Every now and then.

>> Spooky road. Spooky lighouses.

>> Yeah, which we we need to do one of

those. We haven't done one of those in a

while.

>> Let me tell you, honey, I'm craving a

spooky road in particular.

>> I am craving spooky anything. I live

every day spooky, but I'm ready for

fall. And I know I know it's not even

March.

>> I know.

>> But you know me.

>> I know

>> you guys know me. I know you

>> you get it. You know it's in my heart.

>> I get it. But uh

>> you got a fun fact for us, please.

>> I do have a fun fact.

>> Hit me up. Is it fun? Your face is

weird.

>> No, it's a fun fact. It's uh these are

two groupings of animals that I think is

really funny what they're named.

>> Tell me.

>> A group of pandas is called an

embarrassment.

>> Oh, that's not embarrassing. And a group

of pugs is a grumble.

>> A grumble. Oh, I want a grumble.

>> Just a grumble of pugs.

>> I want a grumble of pugs up in my house.

>> I love that a lot.

>> I got a grumble in this house.

>> One funny thing that this is just like a

funny little like anecdote that I have

that I have to say cuz you guys will get

it. Um, you know, like what a big fan I

am of like Pin Head and Hellraiser.

>> Yeah.

>> Movies. uh like a like last summer or

whenever it was. I got to like have

lunch with Doug Bradley and his wife

Steph who I absolutely [ __ ] adore.

>> I know.

>> And we had lunch in Salem. It was great.

And they're so easy to hang out with.

Like it was a real dream come true

moment.

>> I've only met them on Zoom, but they're

so kind.

>> A real pinch me moment. and Steph got up

to go to the bathroom and I was just

sitting with Doug and at the And I was

just like for a moment I got like a

super like moment of like I'm just

sitting here with Doug Brad like what do

I talk to him about even though like

Steph makes it so easy to talk with

anybody.

>> Yeah.

>> And so as soon as she left he just

started naming he was like did you know

that groups this group of animals is

called this?

>> I love that.

>> And this group of animals is called

this. And immediately I was like oh

we're good. We're good. Like it was

immediately like, "Oh, you said I I'll

survive this.

>> You are one of us.

>> Not only will I survive this, I will

thrive in this.

>> I will thrive in this." Like it was it

was such a good moment. I was like, "Of

course." Like that that's amazing.

>> He said, "Tell me all of that Doug

Bradley and his wife are are [ __ ]

peaches." Cuz she came I think Steph

came back and we just kept naming

animals.

>> She just comes back from the table like

>> And this group of animals

>> and this I think I think he said a group

of of owls is called a parliament. Oh,

love that. Is that what it is? I'll

check it. Group of owls called

>> I wish they were just called

>> Parliament. I wish they were just called

the who just that would be funny,

>> right? But yeah, that was my little uh

like little side

story with that

>> love.

>> And to let you know that Doug Bradley

and his wife Steph are really top-notch.

>> She really just gave you many fun facts

in our fun fact segment.

>> I really did.

>> How am I going to top that next episode?

>> That's a that's a that's two fun facts

for the price of one.

>> The funnest facts. And again,

go to amusement parks, have your fun.

>> Yeah. Just look at the tracks.

>> Just be aware.

>> That's all.

>> Hey, and you know what else? Keep

listening. We hope you do. We hope you

keep listening.

>> And we hope you

>> keep it weird, but not so weird as um

not so weird that if you change the

wording of the ending of our show that

we've been doing for like 8 years, even

slightly, I fall apart at the scenes and

cannot respond.

>> I saw that. The slightest change.

>> I thought I said I [ __ ] up.

>> I said miss just over here.

>> Slightest change.