Hersheypark has had 5 different Turnpike rides over the years. This article is about the third Turnpike ride simply called Turnpike.
With the popularity of the Kiddie Turnpike at the time, Hersheypark installed an adult version of a Turnpike ride. It was the first installation of such a ride 15 years, a successor to the Custer Car Ride.
The return of the popularity of the Turnpike ride at Hersheypark and other parks was largely thanks to Disneyland. Disneyland had installed an Arrow turnpike ride, which was very popular with its customers. This led other parks to install Turnpike rides again, and eventually Hersheypark followed suit.
Streco Turnpike Ride
Hersheypark’s Turnpike cars were manufactured by Streifthau Manufacturing Company of Middletown, Ohio. The cars they manufactured were known as Streco Turnpike Cruisers.
Streifthau installed their first Turnpike ride at LeSourdsville Lake in their hometown of Middletown, Ohio, in 1956. According to their brochure, the ride grossed between $35,000 and $40,000. This occurred in each of its first four seasons operating at LeSourdsville Lake. The capacity of the ride averaged between 200,000 and 23,000 persons per season.
By 1959, approximately 9 parks had installed the Streco Turnpike ride. A partial list includes:
- Coney Island, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
- Paragon Park, Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts
- Willow Grove Park, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
- Camden Park, Huntington, West Virginia
Turnpike at Hersheypark
Turnpike was constructed in the winter and spring of 1960 in the hollow area of the park. The station was constructed across Spring Creek from the Carrousel. The station was designed to look like a toll booth to increase realism in the ride.
The course crossed Spring Creek twice. It included a short tunnel and a large turnaround not too far from Park Avenue. This was a deliberate choice by Streifthau because their Turnpike rides normally featured overpasses. The rails for the car were on the outside of the vehicle. This resulted in the cars frequently being damaged.
When the renovations at Hersheypark were proposed by R. Duell and Associates, one of the rides planned to be replaced was Turnpike. The turnpike track would have been developed into a double turnpike that shared a station. One course would have utilized most of the original track. The other course would have gone further down the creek towards where sooperdooperLooper is today. This concept was ultimately decided against.
The plan for a double turnpike was then switched to a location on the hill.
In 1972, Hersheypark experienced flooding from Hurricane Agnes, which caused a bit of damage to the Turnpike. Several cars were sunk or swept away by the flooding. Fortunately, it was only those several – the ride was able to resume operating after the flood. Many people believed that the Turnpike was closed after the flood of 1972. However, this has been shown to be false.
Closing the Turnpike
The Turnpike operated in the 1973 season. It was intended to be replaced by that double turnpike now devised as the Twin Turnpike in 1974. However, economic issues from the oil crisis and cost overruns in the renovations caused Hersheypark to postpone installing the Twin Turnpike and the Kissing Tower.
There are some signs that Hersheypark planned to run the Turnpike in 1974. A truncated version of the ride can be seen on the 1974 map of the park from the rack brochure.
However, the 1974 souvenir map does not have Turnpike on it. Images from 1974 show people walking across one of the former Turnpike bridges. This gives confirmation that the Turnpike was no longer in the park in 1974.
The turnpike bridges were converted into pedestrian walking bridges when Turnpike was removed. The two bridges remained in the park until the end of the 2003 season when Storm Runner was built. The path on that side of the creek was closed off because part of Storm Runner’s course was built there. You can see the tunnel in the park by looking past the Tea Cups ride currently in The Hollow.
The Turnpike station was used as a covered pavilion into the 1980s. It was removed sometime in the middle of the decade.
To read more on the other Turnpike rides, click below.
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When my brother and I were young this was the best ride turnpike 1965
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