Will's favorite ride

When you saw the subject line of this post, you probably assumed the subject was going to be coasters.

Right?

That's a reasonable assumption, but truth be told there's another ride from Will's childhood that is right there at the top.

Pump cars.



See them there, in the middle of the photo?

This is the Pleasureland ride section of Santa Claus Land. (Yes, we're working on our pictorial history book again today.) The pump cars are also featured in the Vintage Footage of Santa Claus Land, which you'll find on our streaming video page.

When asked by reporters over the years, Will and his four siblings are unanimous in their delirious memories of the pump cars.

They were the best.

The reason why they were the best, though, explains why they're no longer here.

"You could pump really hard, build up some speed, and then crash off the track when you came to a curve. It was great!"

I won't credit that quote to a particular Koch. I believe I've heard all three of the male siblings say it.

When preparing the above photo for this post, I emailed a piece of it to Will. My question was regarding whether the pump cars were individual cars, or connected, as it looks here:



Will's reply: Yes, they are the pump cars. They are individual units. However, if the person in front is going too slow...…