Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express • Hacker News Board

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#31

Post by strictnein » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 5:46 PM UTC

deelowe wrote: post #15

Took the family to Dollywood this year and it was by far the best run theme park I've been to. I was amazed at the cleanliness, friendliness of the staff, and how well maintained everything was. The train was really cool too. One of only two times I've been able to see a real coal fired steam engine functioning.

It's a great park with some surprisingly enjoyable rides. Lightning Rod is one of the most intense coasters I've been on. Definitely a little rough at times, but man it does not hold back at all. And it's kind of hidden in the layout of the park, with a lot of the track over the top of a hill.

A visit to the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area and the Smoky Mountains is great trip, especially with kids. Lots of quirky nonsense to enjoy, as well as some beautiful nature.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#32

Post by hinkley » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 5:47 PM UTC

chrisco255 wrote: post #20

Dollywood is great, but unfortunately the article gradually shifts into bashing Tennessee and America for not using enough passenger rail. That train left the station a long time ago. Car ownership is very high, sprawl is very high. We do not have urban cores with the same density or concentration of business districts as European or Asian cities. Most of the time buses make more sense for public transportation in Am…

We condensed redundancies in the 80’s to improve profit margins for rail. Those lines could have supported more cargo and passenger trains but they’re gone now. It’s difficult to add rail through populated areas. And some population centers are big enough that going around them is not feasible. Like you could go around Portland Oregon to add new west coast routes without much high profile eminent domain, but can you still do the same in New England?

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#33

Post by sarchertech » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 5:50 PM UTC

If you’re going to count the Dollywood Express, you’d better count the Tennessee Valley Railroad too haha.

https://www.tvrail.com/

In addition to the longer scenic trips, there is regular 6 mile round trip “Missionary Ridge Local” route that could theoretically be used for commuting.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#34

Post by Spivak » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 5:58 PM UTC

breaker-kind wrote: post #28

chrisco255 wrote: post #20

Dollywood is great, but unfortunately the article gradually shifts into bashing Tennessee and America for not using enough passenger rail. That train left the station a long time ago. Car ownership is very high, sprawl is very high. We do not have urban cores with the same density or concentration of business districts as European or Asian cities. Most of the time buses make more sense for public transportation in Am…

horse ownership is very high,

Sure but cars replaced horse ownership 1-1. The thing that's high is personal transportation. If whatever you propose as an alternative doesn't confer the benefits of personal transportation then adoption is likely to be quite low. Ride services took off even though busses were already there because it was personal transportation for hire.

Even in countries that don't have the structural problems the US has that lead to cars you still see personal transportation, be it vehicles or motorized bikes, thriving and the preferred means of travel.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#35

Post by jancsika » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 5:59 PM UTC

In real life freight trains have the right of way in the U.S.

In other words, the Dollywood Express would be a lot less fun if it spent half the day waiting while trolls unload corndogs from two-person handcars randomly distributed along the track.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#36

Post by rtkwe » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 6:03 PM UTC

jancsika wrote: post #35

In real life freight trains have the right of way in the U.S. In other words, the Dollywood Express would be a lot less fun if it spent half the day waiting while trolls unload corndogs from two-person handcars randomly distributed along the track.

Sadly true even though legally it's supposed to be the opposite. [0] It's just not enforced at all and as a result of that (and freight trains becoming massive monsters that can't even fit on the passing sidings designed for them) Amtrak service sucks.

[0] https://www.amtrak.com/on-time-performance#:~:text=For%20ove...

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#37

Post by tomjakubowski » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 6:06 PM UTC

Spivak wrote: post #34

breaker-kind wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

horse ownership is very high,

Sure but cars replaced horse ownership 1-1. The thing that's high is personal transportation. If whatever you propose as an alternative doesn't confer the benefits of personal transportation then adoption is likely to be quite low. Ride services took off even though busses were already there because it was personal transportation for hire. Even in countries that don't have the structural problems the US has that lead…

It was not a 1-1 replacement. The rate of private horse ownership was not nearly so high back in the day as the rate of private automobile ownership is today. Today in the United States there are 284 million registered vehicles. Almost one car for every person. The American horse population peaked at 25 million in 1920, when the human population was at 102 million.

https://www.howardweinsteinbooks.com/single-post/2017/07/05/...

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#38

Post by throwaway522482 » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 6:10 PM UTC

How funny, my wife and I were literally just talking about Dollywood right before I opened Hacker News.

We live in Sevier County, and Dolly offers $5 tickets to her park to locals this week, which is really quite a charitable thing to do. The discount even applies for taking ~$100 off of a season pass.

Never realized that train got so much usage, but I guess it makes sense. Although you do have to pay attention if you sit near the front as you’ll be slightly covered in soot after the ride.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#39

Post by shortformblog » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 6:19 PM UTC

The irony being, of course, that it is surrounded by an area where it is basically impossible to get by without a car.

My wife and I once left Gatlinburg after a week there and our tire blew out on the way out of town. It was a Sunday morning. Literally our only option to get it replaced that day was a Walmart location 15 miles away. So we had to wait for AAA for an hour and a half to tell us we were stuck using a donut to get there.

There is a trolley system but it is anemic.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#40

Post by richiebful1 » Wed, Jun 11, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

NoblePublius wrote: post #25

“ I love Disney and I love Dolly Parton, but it says something deeply broken about our national priorities when their theme park trains outclass public infrastructure in billion-dollar economies. Be serious.” Europe has lots of train infrastructure because it was very poor after WW2, and its people could afford nothing but train fare. America has lots of car infrastructure because it was very rich after WS2, and its…

Certainly there's an element of personal choice. I currently live in a town of 3,000 in a rural state that was previously served by trains. Once cars became accessible to the masses, that train service was no longer sustainable.

But in actual US metro areas where much of the country lives, land use choices were made to enhance moving cars at the expense of other modes of transport. Urban areas were bulldozed to funnel cars into downtowns from far-flung suburbs. Amsterdam, on the other hand, was once a car-loving city, but has chosen to redevelop streets for transit and active transportation. Personal choice matters, but how much is driven by incentives?