Scenic World

This guide to Scenic World follows a former coal and oil-shale railway that hauled miners down a cliff face into the Jamison Valley in the 1880s, doing double duty as a thrill ride for local families on weekends. It traces how a businessman named Harry Hammon turned the abandoned mine cars into a paying attraction after the colliery closed in 1945, and the rivalry that later broke out with a funicular in Switzerland over which railway is steeper. Riders can choose their own tilt for the descent — a detail worth deciding on before you board.