According to wikipedia, Busch Gardens Los Angeles was in business from 1964 through 1979. Another source at Westworld.com, says the park operated from 1966 to 1986. I never went to the park in any case. If it closed in 1979, then I would have been too young to remember anyway, but if it did close in 1986, I could have remembered it if I would have gone. The park was not like the other Busch Garden theme parks. It was a modest park; mainly a bird sanctuary, and a couple of rides. They did look fun though. But the highlight of the park seems to have been the monorail tour of the brewery. This monorail, known as the Skyrail, offered an amazing view of the place, and gave visitors a very neat experience. When I was young, and viewed the old guidebooks my father had of the park, I knew that the place was no more, but I kept this little amount of hope that they kept the skyrail tour. I mean, if there is still a brewery there, then why wouldn't they keep the skyrail? But I was soon disappointed because it is gone as well.
look above, it's the Skyrail! The simple design is so classic. Busch Gardens Tampa's old monorails looked just like this one, but were much larger.
This appears to be the load/unload station. Check out the brewery in the background. It is like Wonka's chocolate factory, and people in the 1970's all had the golden ticket.Visit the Busch Gardens Tampa website here.
Tags: Busch Gardens Los Angeles Monorail
1 comment:
Great stuff, thanks for sharing. For me, the Skyrail was an anomaly shrouded in mystery as it lay frozen on its tracks during the early '80s. I saw it every time we ventured into the valley on the 405.
I'm still trying to find an official story as to why the Skyrail was shut down. My parents recall a story that someone had fallen to their death while on the tour, inside the brewery, but I've found no archived article regarding this. The search continues. You can keep up on my blog post.
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