“The Mountain Railway was one of the most exhilarating attractions at White City. It was a permanent attraction there and [was] featured in all the exhibitions at White City from 1908.
“Themed initially to represent the landscape and scenery of Canada and the United States, the railway was over a mile long. The thrill ride carried visitors by electric train up through a series of mountains, bridges and viaducts. On reaching the highest mountain pinnacle, the train cars descended at tremendous speed, through great ‘dips and divides’. The speed of the trains exceeded that of the fastest express trains anywhere in the world.”
See also:
Japan-British Exposition, London, 1910
Flip-Flap, Japan-British Exposition, 1910
Mountain Railway, Japan-British Exhibition, London, 1910.
“Scenic railways became a feature of exhibitions from 1908; they were usually encased in fake mountain-like scenery and were dubbed ‘mountain scenic railways’. One appeared in the Franco-British Exhibition at White City in 1908 … In the following year, John Iles built one for the Golden West Exhibition at Earls Court, and others appeared at the Japan-British Exhibition at White City in 1910 and the Festival of the Empire Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1911.”
– Amusement Park Rides, by Martin Easdown, 2012
“Scenic Railway”, Japan-British Exhibition, London, 1910.
“One hundred and fifty acres of sight-seeing and amusement, forty of them under cover, and available in case of those thunderstorms which happily did not come yesterday, what more could the most enthusiastic ask for? … Here was a veritable world of pleasures in all the dainty setting of green lawns, bright flower beds, and well-kept paths, which the Japanese and English gardeners have conjointly evolved out of last winter’s wastes.
“The giant Flip-Flap, affording splendid views of the metropolis and the exhibition, was a great attraction. To the right of this runs the Mountain Railway, the Canadian toboggan, and close by is the Japanese Village, ‘Fair Japan’.”
– The British Press and the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910, by Hirokichi Mutsu
Mountain Railway, Japan-British Exhibition, London, 1910.