Jim O'Brien

I worked the Moby Dick ride, after working several other attractions such as the nightshift ground crew and the farm (and the Strange [slanty?] Shanty),and several others, then and served as foreman for two or three summers. I believe they were 1963 and '64,and perhaps '65, and I worked with such characters as Dick Luca, Steve Shulman, Tim Root, Rick Cannon, and a tall gentleman from Winchester whose name escapes me, among others. I got my start on Moby when the crew greased the railroad tracks, causing the train to slide back from the trestle all the way to the station. Good gag, but the perps were covered with fryolater grease, and all got the sack. Dick Luca "escaped" because it was his day off and he was not around. We had great rivalries with the pirates, exciting cruises at night, Moby coming up under one of the boats (proving it was not on a track!), finding a sunken boat in the slip one morning (Walter was ecstatic!), to mention but a few of the memories. Whenever I visit another park and ride a boat, that spiel comes back to me as well. Our night spiel had a few peculiar variations from the day version, and that one returns to my mind as well.

Jim O'Brien obien@mindspring.com