Trolley
Cable and winch system is under the "dog house".
This is the only resort which has an electric trolley going
down to the lake and dock. This trolley offers two major advantages to guests. First, it
eliminates the need for a dock-side parking lot. Secondly it eliminates the need to leave
a vehicle lakeside.
Dock parking lots, and the roads leading down to them,
require maintenance. Moreover, when lake water levels rise each year, parking lots are
often flooded rendering them useless to guests. When water levels recede the parking lot
will need more maintenance and cleanup. But with the trolley it does not matter how high
the water gets, or how long it stays high because the trolley takes guests right to the
dock. No parking lot is needed.
During periods of low water many docks on the lake end up
sitting in the bottom mud. But again, due to the deep water where this dock sits, and
because of the trolley, low water is not a problem.
The carriage rides on heavy steel rails set on a hardwood
frame.
The trolley is also a very convenient feature which guest
enjoy when one or two people want to return to shore, but the others wish to stay out on
the lake. This happens frequently, and if there was no trolley, someone would have to go
ashore, drive the returning party up to the resort, then drive back down to the dock
before returning to the lake. Everyone else must wait in the boat while this taxi service
is provided. If this same party later wishes to return to the boat, which frequently
happens, then once again someone must drive back up to the resort, pick them up, and drive
them down to the dock. But with the trolley, guests who wish to return to shore are simply
dropped off at the dock. They then take the trolley back up to the resort thereby
eliminating the need for someone to drive them. When they want to return to the boat, they
simply take the trolley back down and meet the boat at an agreed upon time at the dock
swim deck, and off they go. No waiting, no driving. This is a convenience that many guests
enjoy about the trolley.
High water stop in foreground, low water stop below has the
green post
The trolley has a redundant safety system. It has backup
cables and braking systems which make it impossible for the trolley to "run
away". The winch and cable system is the same type used in skyscraper elevators. The
trolley is inspected annually by State elevator inspection experts. In the many
years the trolley has been in use, which has been in excess of 40 years, there has never
been any injuries.
Trolley stops are visible above the dock. High water stop is
just barely visible
at edge of tree line. Low water stop is clearly visible on shoreline. Photo taken
during an extreme low water condition. It is not unusual for the water line to rise
up into the tree line. |
Grounds 1
>>> |
