My all-time favorite quote about making creative works is this: "The most important thing is authenticity. If you can fake that, you've got it made."
Ultimately, making convincing theme park attractions is all about crafting something fake that feels authentic. If that fake authenticity sells the illusion, you buy into it and believe - if just for a moment - that you really have stepped into whatever fanciful environment a theme park has built.
With time, experience and the development of new technology, a park can create ever-more convincing new realities or effectively duplicated existing ones. That second goal is what Efteling is looking to achieve with the next generation of its Efteling Steam Trains.
The Dutch theme park announced today that it will convert its steam locomotives from coal to electric, starting this winter. But Efteling will not be transforming its steam train attraction into modern-looking locomotives. Instead, the park will preserve the look of its current locomotives by replacing their coal-fired steam with a new show effect, as electricity delivers the power to propel the trains.
Efteling has hired Alan Keef Ltd of Herefordshire, United Kingdom, for the electrification project. The company, which specializes in narrow-gauge trains, provided the fourth and last locomotive for the Efteling Steam Train Company, Trijntje.
"We are greatly looking forward to putting our many years' of experience and passion to work on this wonderful project at Efteling," Managing Director Patrick Keef said. "It really is a special undertaking, where we can put our extensive experience in electrifying trains to good use. Of course, we will undertake this with a keen awareness of the historical value and uniqueness of the steam trains. And ensuring that whatever we remove is preserved for its historical value."
Efteling has set goals of becoming climate-neutral by 2030 and climate-positive by 2032, neither of which would be possible with an authentic coal-burning steam train ride in the park. So it's time for getting creative.
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Ultimately it will come down to the sound and vibration that the engine creates, not the steam that wafts from its engine. Electric motors do not feel remotely like a steam train from a passenger's perspective, so the challenge here will be to create that sensation and feel for the riders that they are not being pulled by a bunch of electric motors. I've always thought that the propane-powered locomotives have provided the closest facsimile to the real thing, but even those cannot completely replicate an authentic steam train.