5 April 2017 Return to Fundidora Park

We decided to make an after work visit to Fundidora Park. The park is much less crowded on a week night than a weekend so we could explore more and enjoy a perfect spriing evening. We were near the entrance when we noted the equipment displayed was manufactured in Youngstown, Ohio.

One my last visit I missed the location of the old roundtable. I've never seen an old rountable location in the US converted to a park setting like this, but it fit the industrial theme of the park perfectly.

An old General Electric switcher from the steel plant sits on display at the park. The was the first location where we spotted a young girl having photos taken to celebrate her 15th birthday or quinceañera. To me it seemed really odd to get someone dressed in a formal gown and have her pose on an old diesel switcher or at the base of the old steel mill equipment, but we waited for them to finish shooting pictures here and continued to run into the group as they moved through the park.

All Dressed Up

On our previous visit, the weekend line to ride the incline was too long for us to wait. This evening the lines were short and we we able to ride the same ride taken by raw materials when this was a working operation. The incline served blast furnace 3.

Looking down through the car on the way up

It is a long way down.

The equipment is amazingly preserved. There are a number of items of equipment dating from the early 70's. They may be some of the last improvements at the site which went bankrupt in 1986.

This valve was built in December 1974.

The views from the cat walks are great.

We made a walk through the zoo neighboring the park and stopped by the ride area just outside the zoo. The rolling cage, which was here on my last visit, is still in place, but not in use this evening. It seemed the zip line may have been replaced by a high-wire, tethered bike ride over the water below. Most of the returning riders looked terrified when their loop ride was over.

We started a sunset walk along the water. It was about two miles to the crossing point and then back. The walkway was crowded with families and couples out for the evening.