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| Statistics | |||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Selfbuild | ||||||||||||
| Designer / calculations | Anton Pieck | ||||||||||||
| Cabins | 21 | ||||||||||||
| Animatronics | 1 | ||||||||||||
Kinderspoor was a self-built Track Ride located at Efteling in Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, The Netherlands. It operated from 1954 to 1999.
History
Kinderspoor opened in 1954 and was the first tracked attraction in the park. It was designed by Dutch painter Anton Pieck.
In 1988, the road next to the park was built. This meant that the park had to give up some space, so a part of Kinderspoor had to be demolished. In 1991, a large backstage area next to Kinderspoor was built, this meant that the attraction had to be rerouted again, now being just a shell of its former self. Finally in 1999, due to low ridership, the ride was removed. A spiritual successor to the ride was built on the other side of the park, bearing the same name, Kinderspoor.
Design
The ride used small pedal-driven cars. One car seats two children. Adults are only allowed to ride if they are accompanying a child. Children under 1.2 meters must be accompanied by an adult.
The ride had 14 cars, all named after birds:
- Arend (Eagle)
- Gans (Goose)
- Gier (Vulture)
- Koekoek (Cuckoo)
- Lijster (Thrush)
- Mees (Tit)
- Meeuw (Gull)
- Mus (Sparrow)
- Pelikaan (Pelican)
- Reiger (Heron)
- Uil (Owl)
- Valk (Falcon)
- Zwaan (Swan)
- Zwaluw (Swallow)
- Eend (Duck)
- Kip (Chicken)
- Kraai (Crow)
- Merel (Blackbird)
- Pauw (Peacock)
- Specht (Woodpecker)
- Sperwer (Sparrow)
The trains in bold were reused on the new Kinderspoor
Theme
The ride is themed to typical Dutch attributes, all build in the style of Anton Pieck.
The attraction featured a windmill, barn, castle ruin and a railroad-crossing. The crossing featured an animatronic railway worker which was later reused within the new Kinderspoor.
Location
The ride was located in the "Marerijk" area of the park, roughly translating to "Story Realm".
Etymology
Kinderspoor is Dutch for "Child Railway".
The attraction also gets called Traptreintjes which translates to "Pedal Trains".