Deaths on the roller coaster

[Guest]

I also remember a childhood friend, (Harvey Lamb) who as an employee of the park, had lost his life one Sunday morn while taking a test ride on the coaster. I remember sitting on my porch over The Thing Shop and noticing that the usuall morning test runs of the coaster seemed to have stopped. It was just a few minutes later that the fire engines from Maple Ave sped on up First View Ave. I knew by the way the engines went by that something serious had happened. It didn't take long for the news of Harvey's death to reach First View. It really did not suprise me that Harvey had died, he had escaped death several times while growin up in OV. If I remember correctly, he was not properly secured in the last seat of the coaster and was bucked out of the car. Sad times!

If memory serves me correctly, there were one or two deaths during the 2nd World War from service men falling to their deaths from the roller coaster. Think they were sailors who were drunk.

[George Hackworth]

I do not recall Harvey Lamb. I also grew up in Ocean View Park. ( see (“The Original Fun House”). I worked at “Spill The Milk” Concession, My Mother was ticket lady at “ The Old Mill Stream”. My brother worked at the “Leap Da Dip” ( local name for “The Roller Coaster”). Bob Hogan,( My brother married his sister) worked on the “Salt and Pepper Shaker”. As I remember there was a state law that all rides had to be tested before being opened to the public. So this group and other employees would often take these test rides before the park opened. I seem to remember that there were more than two sailors who lost their lives on the Leap da Dip during WW ll. And before the war it was almost a yearly occurrence. I personally watched one incident unfold. . I was on a break and on my way to “Just Made Ice-cream stand “just outside the park
I was taking a short cut thru the parking loton the west end, when I heard a scream and looked up to see a sailor flying off the coaster on the bottom curve. He landed on the top of a car and bounce onto one or two more car roofs before landing on the ground. I was about the third person there and the sailor was conscious but his talk showed that he was really drunk. I remember hin saying “ who the h-ll pushed me”. I don’t know how many broken bones he had but I have often thought that if he had been sober he would have been killed.

[George Hackworth]

P:S: I forgot to mention that you were not strapped in to the coaster but a bar came down over your legs and locked in place. On the bar were hand holds. There were no shoulder straps. If a person really tried they could bypass the safety bar and be able to stand up. Needles to say most deaths, in my opinion, occurred from this. But: to show bravery ? and be a real daredevil ?, you always saw lots of passengers hold their arms over their head during the ride. All deaths, As I remember, happened at the upper and lower cures at the west end. These curves threw you to one side and if you were drunk your body made no adjustment to the centrifical force.

[kimthoms]

Boy, I got plenty of them....yes, I remember the bar...I remember seeing people hold their hands up and to me it was one scary ride. It was rather rough. If I close my eyes I can still feel what it felt like to be jerked from side to side in that old car. " Those were the days my friend, I thought they would never end."

[rkpuma]

As I remember, happened at the upper and lower curves at the west end --Mr. Hackworth.

..."The West End" had the biggest jolt of all!

[rkpuma]

It is such a shame that our children and their children will never experience Ocean View.

We moved this post by kimthoms to the proper thread, for proper perspective to the topic... okay? --RK

[OVKat]

I seem to remember my Mom telling me that a young girl was beheaded riding the roller coaster (early to mid 60's maybe?). Probably not true, but this was her reasoning for forbidding all 5 of us kids from ever riding it. Did that stop us? Ummmm.....yes. Yes it did, Mom. Honest.

Hey....remember how bad the wood would creak and shake as you climbed that big turn at the top? What a bone shakers that coaster was! Or so I've heard.

[bunky]

So where did you grow up in OV. Whats your maiden name? 5 of you kids, I'm bound to know one. But then again I graduated from Granby in 69 and joined the AF and didnt move back to the Spit til 90 but I kept in touch. I'm a Thompson and have twin sisters, the Thompson Twins, Belinda and Lucinda who will be 45 this yr. I'm 55.

[OVKat]

Hey Bunky! I actually grew up in Camellia Acres (Roosevelt Rat!), but all of us kids hung out in OV. My maiden name was Carlson (Lake Taylor 81), the next youngest sister to me was Jane Carlson (Norview 71), then Donna Gordon (Norview), Ann Gordon (grew up in NH), and my brother Wayne Gordon (Norview 65 or 66 maybe). Sadly, my brother passed away 2 years ago from liver failure.

It's kind of funny.....I've seen several names on this board that are just burned in my memory, yet I can't quite place where I know them from. And some, like Mr. Chincillo and Mr. Davenport, I'll never forget as long as I live....they are simply iconic figures of my childhood.

So.....where in the area did YOU grow up?

[bunky]

Heyyyyy, we could never knock over all those damned HEAVY silver milk bottles!!! Man the memories. Cant ya just smell the cotton candy, candy covered apples (stuck to your teeth biggg time) and roasted peanuts?? I used to like to stand near the "Guess Your Weight/Age" concession to check out the pretty girls. And oh how I loved those 5 cent pinball machines in the archade and when no one was looking, I'd pop a nickle or two in the "peep" shows!!! Why I think thats how I first met RK. She was in one of those peep shows!! hahahahhaaha. Only kidding. RK is my back neighbor on the Spit (when I am not living in Germany. This is my second time (9 yrs now with one yr 2001-2002)) here.

Does anyone of you kids of the park remember WAYYYY back when one of the silver cars from that ride that used to be past the Monkey House (I think). Was a big tower and silver cars that had seats at each end of each car, suspended on long chains and it just went in circles. A car broke off and landed on the beach killing either a girl on the beach or a girl in the car. After that accident they never reopened that ride.

Easter Sundays!!! The first day the park opened with the Easter Parade/best dressed Easter outfit. To us Willoughby'ites that day meant the First Day of Summer and our first day to go in the bay even if it was stilll cold out.

Gawd I could go on an on.

Anyone want to list all the OV "hoods" like Ray Vann (short good looking teen) who jumped up around the neck of some brut called Moose and beat him in the nose with a pop top from a beer or soda can?? There were lots of toughs we called hoods (just plain bad asses) and sweados (hoods that were greecers like Layton Robertson or Robinson).

[Gladys Over]

You just recalled a favorite bar-trick: I can guess your age, height & weight-- I remember the ov carny-dude pulling that on me when I was maybe eleven, like it was yesteray.

He'd ask you to stand and turn around. I got pretty good at it [making good-looking guys turn around] and figure I was next in line his job. You got a good look once-over at your victim, and pretty often won a beer.

I'd qualify, your age within a year either way, your height within an inch either way, and your weight withing 5lbs either way. It was hugely successful thanks to that dude at the corner, just before you entered the arcade area.

Funny how we all rake open stuff after reading here. No Karnac stuff; you just honed a handy new skill.

Gladja' posted! heh, heh, heh (salivating over all the times it went well) in fact, it never failed.

[badboy11904]

did you know a tommy thompson and his 2 sisters who worked at richs hamburger joint on little creek road? they lived in the delmar trailer park.u know i remember helping push people out of the sand at oscars ....gezze we werent all bad {or were we lol}
later homey

[Gladys Over]

Where was the Rich's on little crk rd? Burger Chef was where the Wendy's is today. Rings a bell, help me out.

Glady8r

[badboy11904]

it was across from k mart back then but a tornado hit it and a trailer park on shoredrive so it closed down i guess. there was a massage parlor there before they built richs.

[rkpuma]

across from k mart...

The only Little Creek Rd K-Mart we can recall, is the existing one on Tidewater Dr & Li'l Creek which will eventually make way for the new Wal*Mart when kmart's lease is up. The property adjoining, is currently Little Creek Service Center which opened in February 1980 (plans to move the center's police/community operations to Wards Corner were announced in the article about the new Wal*Mart).

Giant Open Air, et al. ( for more, see http://www.rkpuma.com/ov/nickel20.htm )

Point is, we recall when discount stores first came to that particular area, with a (in those days, a huge discount store) which was called Atlantic Mills. Later the store became Miller's, still a discount store but a bit more "modern". Men's slacks & Ladies dresses were $4 or $5; LPs for $2 mono & $3 stereo-- LPs? For youngsters wandering here, that's 33 rpm vinyl albums, as opposed to 45 rpm singles. We recall our parents' 78 rpms... but they were pre-vinyl. As usual, I digress.

GEX, Zayre's and JM Field's followed in "Tidewater". We also remember Korvette's (was that just DC, or here too?), Woolco's (from Woolworth's) and Robert Hall Village, which was on the other side of the multi-plex theater where Atlantic Mills started out. RH Village later became a grocery store. Someone help us with that name, please --across from Southern Shopping Center.

I really went off topic here ( but we both did, since this topic is Roller Coaster deaths)... but you said Rich's across from K-Mart, did you mean it was on Little Creek or Tidewater Drive?