Found this on LinkedIn of all places. Very cool!

https://youtu.be/VM3cMb3uYIM?si=AoauuEcjbQvA8ki9

Absolutely wonderful. Love that dedication. The work is fascinating. The KI&MVRR is the crown jewel of the park, in my opinion.  

32 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

The KI&MVRR is the crown jewel of the park, in my opinion.  

Ironic choice of words since they were manufactured my Crown Metal Products

This is the type of stories the park should be telling especially in the off season. Disney jumps all I’ve stuff like this. Heck, they post when they install a weather vane on the new Tianna attraction because it’s made by a New Orleans blacksmith. 

2 hours ago, beastfan11 said:

Absolutely wonderful. Love that dedication. The work is fascinating. The KI&MVRR is the crown jewel of the park, in my opinion.  

We are very lucky that Kings Island’s railroad is still going strong because people care enough about it. Other parks were not. 

One of the sounds I love hearing at the park is the train chime (whistle), and is probably my favorite.  Right up there with hearing the "Roar of The Beast", wheels of Diamondback, the front entrance water fountains.

I always wished the train was more prominent and circled the entire park.  But I also always loved the secludedness of the ride, especially in the days before the water park.

On 1/11/2024 at 11:19 AM, rlentless said:

One of the sounds I love hearing at the park is the train chime (whistle), and is probably my favorite.  Right up there with hearing the "Roar of The Beast", wheels of Diamondback, the front entrance water fountains.

I always wished the train was more prominent and circled the entire park.  But I also always loved the secludedness of the ride, especially in the days before the water park.

Wonder why - when they had the luxury of a totally new build and were clearly inspired by the Disneyland "hub and spoke" idea with the castle becoming the tower, they didn't copy Disney more and make the train more of a transportation device/feature. It's like they were just recreating a larger version of the Coney experience. 

2 hours ago, brenthodge said:

It's like they were just recreating a larger version of the Coney experience. 

Maybe that was what they were aiming for. 
Remember, Kings Island was conceived as a relocated Coney Island.
Going for a carbon copy of Disneyland would probably have been extremely alarming and disheartening for the residents who loved Coney’s atmosphere.
So, maybe a different, yet familiar experience was the compromise they went with. 
Using the core “hub and spoke” Disney layout as the basis for a new and improved Coney.  
A train encircling the park might have been a step too far. Or maybe it just never crossed their minds.