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BERTRAND ISLAND AMUSEMENT PARK, NJ - Wildcat roller coaster
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2008
- Lake Hopatcong, NJ was home to two great amusement parks during the early 1900's. There was Nolan's Point on one end of the lake, and Bertrand Island Park which lay on a small peninsula not far away. You can enjoy the scenes of the Wildcat coaster that are excerpts from Tim Young's "PTC Coaster & Parks" video and from Laura & Martin Kane's "Greetings From Bertrand Island" video. Along with some of my personal photos and of course, an audio mix to set the feeling. Let's GO!!
I remember getting out of the car, and the first thing you would hear is the click click click, and the inevitable screams that came after. The french fry stand, that served these great greasy fries in a cone shaped cup, the last one at the bottom always drenched in ketchup. My Dad would give me 3 bucks, and you could barely spend it all in one evening.
I grew up on Lake Hopatcong and was Miss Hopatcong 1984. This coaster was my first coaster ride with my father and I will always remember nickle night and all the fun times I had with friends and family at Bertrand's Island. I am so happy someone took the time to post this video, When I watched this video I cried, laughed and was happy all at the same time. This coaster meant so so much to me and will always be in my heart.
If you really want to cry,..watch the Bertrand island video ..Times of our Lives ...even better ...oh and join the groups ..I WENT TO BERTRANDS ISLAND ...and also ,.. I WORKED AND PLAYED AT BERTRANDS ISLAND ..i worked there in 74 ` :(
I went to Roxbury High School and graduated in 1987 and I would NOT brag about being Miss Hopatcong
@@USMCSDI I bet she looked better in a swim suit than you did...
@@pulsarlights2825 I would hope so ya liberal mutt! She wears a bikini.... just like you do
@@USMCSDI So everyone that calls you out on your bullshit is a "Liberal Mutt" ? Flexing that high IQ from NJ public schools...lol
Tear down condos and shopping malls......build roller coasters and amusement parks!
Agreed
I live in Hopatcong in 1983 & we loved to go to Bertrands Island!!! Great memories
OMG!! I was the operator of the Wildcat Coaster from 1979 through 1982. Unlike today's coasters, there was usually only one ride operator running the coaster. There were no seat belts or restraining. Just a metal bar attached to the seat in front of you. Needless to say, you hung on. The brave would stand up out of their seats going down the first hill (80 ft. drop). You could ride the Wildcat as many times as you liked with pay one price for the park of only $2.99 in the summer of 1979.
We hitched rides to B.I. from Hopatcong Heights every summer evening as teenagers in the mid 70s, looking for good times and mostly city girls on vacation in the country. I pulled my mate Raymond back into the roller coaster car after he stood up, and was in the the process of being shot out into space. Good times!
Got into the Viila with an older friend's draft card (I was 14-15 years old) to see Peter Frampton (Frampton's Camel) after he left Humble Pie and just before Frampton Comes Alive rocketed him to stardom. The Villa electricity kept failing on stage, and the crowd was restless, to the point of throwing bottles, if memory serves. I'm sure Peter was glad to get out of there.
As a kid in the 50's used to go to Lake Hopatcong with my dad and he would rent a boat and put his 5 HP outboard on it. We fished the lake and would motor over to watch the roller coaster from the lake. Great memories.
it was my favorite roller coaster at first till was breathtaking. There's double downs were insane. It was an airtime machine. I truly loved that Coaster.
Having ridden most of the wood coasters in America since 1980, Bertrand's Wildcat is one of the best out & back coasters I've been on. Such a wild ride with two double dips, and both worked. The beautiful, original open-front PTC trains in the first part of this video were sitting in a field next to Wildcat when we went. They'd replaced them with 1940s era PTC "bullet-nose" "grab-ring" trains. What a great coaster, along with the amazing Boomerang, both of which I have extensive video of.
Very erie. We lived on Bertrand's Island from 1964-1976 and my mom worked at this park. I used to go there all the time when I was a kid.
gone but not forgotten...and we still miss bertrands...
This was torn down right after we moved to Hopatcong. I remember seeing the abandoned roller coaster. Such a shame to loose it. Theres nothing like it in the area.
I remember nickel night. Loved this place as a kid. Wish it were still there instead of condos. Reading through the comments I was reminded of another favorite ride...the Lost River. Such good times.
I was very fortunate to go to Bertrand Island & ride Wildcat many times in 82. We also rode what to this day I say is the most incredible non-coaster ride I have ever been on, the Boomerang! I have awesome video of me & my travelling companions riding Boomerang and POV of the awesome Wildcat. Bertrand Island was an extremely special place and it's so sad that of approximately 20 traditional amusement parks we visited on our 82 coast to coast trip, most, like Bertrand Island, are gone.
I know it's been a decade since you commented this, but if you see my reply, what other parks did you go to? Just curious.
We used to come up from Morristown on nickel nights....what a great time it always was until toward the end....
I lived on King Street in Morristown. My grand father lived on a path in the woods and we went there and of course played on Betrand Island. A long time ago. Around 1956. I live in Camp Hill now.
lots of memories of the roller coaster in late 40's and 50's. I had a friend who regularly changes seats, front to back during the ride
This park was so much fun growing up in the 70's. I worked there the summers during high school, 77 to 81. Dime pitch, clown water gun balloon. On breaks we would go grab a slice of pizza and just walk around having fun, go on some of the rides, like the roller coaster and the lost river.
I miss those days...
i loved that rickety ass roller coaster ...so many good memories 10 cent night;;ok maybe 20 cents a ride on Thursday nights ,,,lost river,,,bumper cars wow
Boomerang was great too
RIP Bertrand Island.....Thanks for the memories.....
thank u 4 th ride - i rode it hundreds of x's & fantasize whenever i wish - what a memory - those were th days
I was there the night the coaster caught on fire. I will never forget the experience. We came to the park by boat and ran back to the boat as fast as we could run after the fire started. We watched the coaster burn from the water and saw the fire department fighting the fire. I think it was August 1970.
I was there the night of the fire, along with my aunt, grandmother and two older cousins. I was a 5 year old at the time of that fire, and I vividly remember the top of the roller coaster in flames as my cousin and I looked at it from the parking lot below.
Funny, but that long ago event and memory as a young kid is what drew me to find this YT site and your comment. Thank you.
I remember this place when I was a kid. Lots of great memories. To bad all the historical jewels are slowly but surely disapearing.
still not sure how we lived through this. No seat belts, just the bar across your lap. I remember coming off that seat a few times! Those were the days, my friend!
Wow those double downs look insane, esp the first one with the twist before the turnaround. That coaster is pretty compact but looks like it packed a hell of a punch. Great video swamp and thanks for your work!
spent my summers there in the 60's for the whole decade- this was our families "big night out" every year before we left to go back to the big city- many memories!
such memories!! My mother went here growing up and she took me all through my childhood.All through the 70's and right up yo when it closed..Such a bummer...Remember the boomerang??
We lived accross the cove from Bertrand Island. From my bedroom window I could see the top of the roller coaster and all summer long we could hear the faint screams of the riders. Great stuff here.
Thanks for sharing.
I loved this place!
My dad used to work on the bumping cars, tilt whirl, and scrambler. We would spend summers there.
One of my favorite rides!
So you're dad knew Gus Shiavo..
the boomerang...the lost river...the funhouse...the boat ride around the lake...the rocket ride...you name it...i rode them all...and played the midway ...besides...thanks...
fantastic. thanks. felt like i was on it again. i rode it about 5,000 times, mostly nickel nite. i luved that place. extremely fond memories.
I rode that old wooden coaster many, many times
I lived in Hopatcong from '71-'79, (12-20 yrs.old) and used to hitchhike over to "The Island" on Summer weekends...Some good memories!
Looks like it was a very cool out & back coaster. So sad to see them all disappear!
Thanx, swampfoxer...you're the best!!!
Hi 😋. So Love this Video!!!!!!I remember Wondering if I wouldSurrive this Rickety Coaster!!!!Was Glad all the times I rode itI'm still here 😘. Thanks so MuchFor this moment in time 💜
I remember "nickle& dime night" in the 70's
Thanks for posting. One day in the early 80's I got to rides for one ticket. When the coaster came in the first time the ride operator said all off. I told him I had two rides for one and he said not now cause they have to fix the track. Needless to say I didn't take that 2nd ride! That coaster sat for years in a vacant lot. Should have grabbed it.
Thanks for the video. I remember Nickel Nights in the 60's with fond memories.
Oh thank you so very much for this video. It sure brings back memories from my teenage years. I have some old video from here that I really should transfer & put it up.
Swampfoxer,
You have the BEST coaster videos on the whole of YT. Each one of the classic video's such as this Wildcat footage takes you back to that time and place. They are quite amazing and I have to say "many thanks" for sharing them with other coaster fanatics such as myself. My ultimate video request would be to have a video of either of Revere Beach's coasters, the Cyclone or the old Lightning! Since I never saw the Cyclone running, just standing, it would be great.
Thanks, Rob/Boston
Nostalgia. Simpler times, happier times. Mrs. Mitchell had it right, no one listened. "They pave paradise and put up a parking lot". Spent many nights there.
The "Do Not Stand Up" sign. No restraint system at all on this baby! Just hang on!
Spent most of my life at the lake and always went to nickle night. Had great friends started on vacation in east shore estates then lived in spring through the fall in the jefferson house then eventually purchased a lake front home on nolans point in 1968 2 family with boathouse 28k in those days. Loved lake Hopatcong
We used to drive up on sat nites after clubing in ny, buddy of ours owns a house on the lake,go boating on sunday,and bertrands on sun nite,summer of 79
I think eleven was the total--people who stood up and got thrown out to their deaths.... Nearly lost Tim Beams that way one night. Loved those Bumper Cars and The Boomerang! Great rides!
Another nice vid, as always. You wouldn't happen to have any vids of the long gone Riverview Beach Park in Pennsville, NJ would you? I believe their woodie was called the Humming Bird.
That was the first roller coaster I ever went on.
Same for me.
My first kiss...Bertrand Island Nickel Night -
That brings back nice memories.
on another note ...the original merry-go-round from bertrands left before the park closed...it wound up at circus world in florida...where i got a ride on it...and now it sits dismantled somewhere in michigan
yeah such memories hahaha i love to ride on a vintage rollercoaster
Sweet! Lived in Hopatcong during the 70s and spent many nights there
I lived there the hole time the park was open, I was also when of the last ones to ride it . me and my dad sat in the second car from the front. all I can remember is that BIG hill and climbing up. i though the car would come off the tracks. in wich it did a few times. that use to send some one on the ride before they ran the ride every moring . thanks for the video
And don't forget Nickel night! and the lost river ride.
i was there the last several years...business had fallen off..and the property was worth more than continuing operating...there are pictures of the park on the net after it closed...you just have to look...
i was at the park many times...the last few years the crowds just were not there...and the place closed...as far sa the roller coaster fire...if i remember right it was near the motors that powered the coaster...i dont remember the airplane crash though
i rode the Bertrands island roller coaster so many times...but heres the trick...to show you had balls you had to stand up and slap the board on the top of the first uphill ramp...been there done that...
I am pretty sure the park closed due to a culmination of factors, like rising liability insurance, and the serious beating they took when Six Flags opened in NJ.
One day I rode the coaster there. It was 2 rides for the price of one. When the coaster came in to the station the first time, the guy said everybody out. I said where's my free ride and he said not now that they had to fix the track. I said no way. Guys were climbing up the track with 2x4 lumber and nails. The Boomerang was the best and very dangerous ride.
I rode this coaster in (I think) 1979. The ride was fast and fun. The cars appeared to be original jumbo seater cars. The pictures in the carousel building showed a 3 car train but there were only 2 cars in the train when I rode it. There was one strange thing about the train that was on the transfer track. Those two cars on that train were upholstered with black upholstering on the inside and outside the cars. I asked about that and the operator said that there had been a fire on the roller coaster and the cars were damaged but still usable so they upholstered the inside of the train as well as the outside. He stated to look in the carousel building and there were pictures of the fire on the walls. He was correct. The fire started while the train was on the lift and the folks in the cars had to crawl down the steep side of the hill while the fire crept up the chain lift. The burnt part of the coaster was rebuilt but the trains became two cars instead of three. The cars had fixed bars which was good since it allowed the riders a way to escape the fire as it was approaching the stuck train.. I wonder if anybody saved the pictures on the wall of the old carousel building.
Worked there 81& 82, how about taking the first test run of the day standing up and backwards the whole run..... we were sick kids....
It is a shame it had to close.
You can see the last images of the coaster in the 1985 film The Purple Rose of Cairo.
@popsnacks2 When Action Park, (now Mountain Creek) opened, the people just didnt go to BI. It Was sad. The condos took years to be built after the park was torn down.
It's houses now... because.
still my favorite coaster. it cost a dime /ride and when over, you could give the attendant a dime and stay on.
I did that one
Great film footage! Anyone have a clip featuring the Lost River or the Haunted House?
OMG OMG OMG!! I love it!! Where on earth did you find this footage!!? I have a vid montage up you might be interested in seeing.
The 1925 opening is referencing the coaster, not the park.
Remember it well. Especially when the roller coaster crashed through the bottom of the curve, killing people. Late 1970's. Only in "Joisey".
I think the fire was in 1970. Also a small plane crashed into the coaster in 1973.
All the fun things have disappeared
i remember the last day it was open. was there on a class trip. great place. now condos??? dumb!!
why did it close
The park was opened in 1912 not 1925.
to put it all into prospective the coaster was built in 1925 as was the dam at the Hop St park..and Bradys bridge
what happen to it?
When they tore down the roller coaster I went over and got a 4 X 4 from the first hill. I cut it up into four pieces and gave it to friends I knew would appreciate it. I still have my piece. It's still that ugly green they painted it during the last few years.
My apologies.
It was an island, but the guy that built the amusement park also built a road out to the island and built a WOODEN roller coaster, which caught fire in the 50's.
Actually it was in 1970 when that fire occurred. About 2 years before we moved from the city to Mt Arlington.
I hate this! How could they take that away, to put some stupid condos on that wonderful place? I will never go near that lake, or Hopatcong St Park again!! Or recommend it to any friends.
They were the good old days-and the condos ruined it. They can't build over my memories.
It happened to many old fashioned amusement parks. Playland at the Beach in San Francisco met the same fate. Demolished in 1972 for condos. And ugly condos at that!!!
If I were loaded like Trump, instead of golf courses, I would be PRESERVING AMERICANA for future generations to enjoy! I just don't understand how the pyramids can survive and a simple amusement park can't last 100 yrs?!
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot (ugly condos)
I grew up in the area and my parents actually met there in the 50's. it was also my first coaster ride.