Then And Now: The Great Train Robbery

Many locals still fondly remember the Pleasure Island amusement park that existed in the 1960s on the present-day Edgewater Office Park in Wakefield, near Reedy Meadow. 

This postcard recalls one of the well-known attractions at Pleasure Island at the time – a “train robbery” where masked bandits would rob the train as the tourists looked on, presumably interacting a bit with the robbers as well. One thing that comes to mind when looking at the image – the robbers look like they just rode out of the 1870s, while the train conductors look more like they could have come straight from punching tickets at North Station that same day. And then the tourists are all about five feet away, just for good measure.

The simulated gunshots from this and other park attractions were a fairly regular source of complaints from neighbors, notes this past article about the park. About twice a year, Bob McLaughlin of the Friends of Pleasure Island leads a tour of the site. Whether or not the white whale still lurks beneath the old lagoon, future generations will have to determine. 

Back in the present – something tells me this act would generate one or two complaints if it was played out at some current amusement park. But, you never know.