Here we go again... If you've known me long enough, you know that I have attempted many times to recreate the RCT1 classic, Diamond Heights. I've only ever fully shown off 2 versions of the park, neither of them finished, but this is a project that's spanned every game from RCT2 to No Limits. Each and every time I was unable to complete the project. Sticking to a 1:1 recreation is obviously never going to work, so instead of trying to fully recreate the park, I am building a park like I normally would, but keeping the original park as the skeleton to base my design around.
Along with this, recreations tend to get boring after a while. To make it a bit more entertaining for you and for me, I've developed a rather intricate story to built the park off of. Another fun thing I've done is to include some references and easter eggs to the scenarios in RCT1. Some are obvious, but others won't be, so keep an eye out and be sure to read between the lines.
That about does it for my little intro. How about we get to what you're here to view.
___________________________________________________________________________________
From the online journal of Michael Grey.
Diamond Heights is an amusement park located just outside of Indianapolis. It has a rich history with many twists and turns, which is part of the reason I want to document the history of this great park. While most believe that the park came about in the mid-50s, which is true to a certain extent, it actually has roots dating all the way back to 1908 when a park by the name of Evergreen Pleasure Gardens was situated on the property.
It was really quite large for a park of its time, boasting 2 rollercoasters. Pictured above is the Gravity Valley Ride, manufactured in-house by the park. It was one of the only coasters in America to feature a helix when it was built, which could be as early as 1914 from what I’ve found. It also used the terrain of the valley to its advantage, taking riders through a double down and a double up element all without exceeding 20 feet in ground-relative height.
The second coaster was a side-friction coaster, which actually came before the Gravity Valley Ride in 1910. The Dip, as it was known, also used the park’s hilly terrain to provide riders with a unique experience. Unfortunately, I found no photos of the actual ride, but it had a very similar layout to its successor.
Besides that, not much information exists about EPG. The park was shut down in 1920 due to a combination of safety and monetary factors. The property was leveled and put up for sale not too soon afterwards. Later in 1954, a company by the name of Regal Entertainment bought the land and announced their plans to build a park on the property, a homage to the park that stood there before it. This is when the history of Diamond Heights officially started.
The park opened on May 15th, 1956 with guaranteed free entry. Of course, ride tickets cost money as that was the popular business model at the time. It was a huge success being that it was the largest amusement park to open in the Indianapolis area. Just like its predecessor, the park had 2 rollercoasters (A bunch of other flat rides were thrown into the mix as well). Regal Entertainment had PTC replicate the two coasters previously on the property.
Shooting Starr was the only side friction coaster PTC ever built, acting as their sort of experiment to resurrect the ride type. This ride was extremely rough, even compared to other much older coasters of the type. It would eventually be torn down in 1960 because of this. Along with that, PTC abandoned their Side Friction design.
Woodpecker was the second coaster, and Diamond Heights’ star attraction. It stood at least 15 feet higher than the ride it was based from, but due to dangerous G-forces causing stress on the track, the helix that stood on the opposite side of the river had to be removed from the design.
The flat ride lineup the park had was also pretty respectable. A carousel stood just past the north entrance.
The Whip was the only thrill ride that wasn’t a coaster. It stood right on the waterfront in the valley.
The only other ride that I could find clear photos of was the Sky Swing, which was a pretty rare find for a flat ride of this era. Its unique tower stood as one of the landmarks for the park.
This photo was taken right at the north entrance of the park. Woodpecker stands over the midway in the background, the carousel is off to the right, and the Dodgems ride off to the left.
A crude map that I whipped up in Illustrator to show the layout of the park. It is only a fraction of the size compared to what it is today, but I won’t go further than that to keep from spoiling future expansions.
Along with this, recreations tend to get boring after a while. To make it a bit more entertaining for you and for me, I've developed a rather intricate story to built the park off of. Another fun thing I've done is to include some references and easter eggs to the scenarios in RCT1. Some are obvious, but others won't be, so keep an eye out and be sure to read between the lines.
That about does it for my little intro. How about we get to what you're here to view.
___________________________________________________________________________________
From the online journal of Michael Grey.
Diamond Heights, Entry 1
“Basis”
“Basis”
Diamond Heights is an amusement park located just outside of Indianapolis. It has a rich history with many twists and turns, which is part of the reason I want to document the history of this great park. While most believe that the park came about in the mid-50s, which is true to a certain extent, it actually has roots dating all the way back to 1908 when a park by the name of Evergreen Pleasure Gardens was situated on the property.
It was really quite large for a park of its time, boasting 2 rollercoasters. Pictured above is the Gravity Valley Ride, manufactured in-house by the park. It was one of the only coasters in America to feature a helix when it was built, which could be as early as 1914 from what I’ve found. It also used the terrain of the valley to its advantage, taking riders through a double down and a double up element all without exceeding 20 feet in ground-relative height.
The second coaster was a side-friction coaster, which actually came before the Gravity Valley Ride in 1910. The Dip, as it was known, also used the park’s hilly terrain to provide riders with a unique experience. Unfortunately, I found no photos of the actual ride, but it had a very similar layout to its successor.
Besides that, not much information exists about EPG. The park was shut down in 1920 due to a combination of safety and monetary factors. The property was leveled and put up for sale not too soon afterwards. Later in 1954, a company by the name of Regal Entertainment bought the land and announced their plans to build a park on the property, a homage to the park that stood there before it. This is when the history of Diamond Heights officially started.
The park opened on May 15th, 1956 with guaranteed free entry. Of course, ride tickets cost money as that was the popular business model at the time. It was a huge success being that it was the largest amusement park to open in the Indianapolis area. Just like its predecessor, the park had 2 rollercoasters (A bunch of other flat rides were thrown into the mix as well). Regal Entertainment had PTC replicate the two coasters previously on the property.
Shooting Starr was the only side friction coaster PTC ever built, acting as their sort of experiment to resurrect the ride type. This ride was extremely rough, even compared to other much older coasters of the type. It would eventually be torn down in 1960 because of this. Along with that, PTC abandoned their Side Friction design.
Woodpecker was the second coaster, and Diamond Heights’ star attraction. It stood at least 15 feet higher than the ride it was based from, but due to dangerous G-forces causing stress on the track, the helix that stood on the opposite side of the river had to be removed from the design.
The flat ride lineup the park had was also pretty respectable. A carousel stood just past the north entrance.
The Whip was the only thrill ride that wasn’t a coaster. It stood right on the waterfront in the valley.
The only other ride that I could find clear photos of was the Sky Swing, which was a pretty rare find for a flat ride of this era. Its unique tower stood as one of the landmarks for the park.
This photo was taken right at the north entrance of the park. Woodpecker stands over the midway in the background, the carousel is off to the right, and the Dodgems ride off to the left.
A crude map that I whipped up in Illustrator to show the layout of the park. It is only a fraction of the size compared to what it is today, but I won’t go further than that to keep from spoiling future expansions.
Last edited:
