This Halloween season, the Folsom Ghost Train will take guests on trips through a haunted cemetery filled with a fully animatronic cast of motorized ghosts and ghouls.

The design of the ride is similar to that of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion.

Guests might even share the ride with the creator, Larry Scholl, who started the Ghost Train after a 20-year career in animation, including working for Disney.

“The other guests don’t know it’s me,” Scholl said, “but I love to listen to their conversations, their excitement. It’s the best way to see honest reactions.” 

Scholl said the ride always evokes a few big screams, but called it “fun scary and family-friendly.”

“The Ghost Train averages around 2,500 patrons each year,” event promoter Jonathon Morken said in an e-mail. He and Scholl met in 2006 and shared a passion “for old horror films and audio animatronics.”

“I think it’s beautiful to look at. It’s not done just to scare people—it’s a mood piece,” Scholl said.

Scholl said children are his favorite audience.

“Kids believe it. You can see when they’re smiling, when it’s working. They’re transfixed,” Scholl said.

Every character is animatronic, and there are no live actors. Scholl respectfully refers to his creations as “cast members,” and said his favorite character is a dancing ghost that is “the cheapest effect, yet still gets a lot of attention.”

“It’s not the budget that creates the magic,” Scholl said.

With no live actors, the crew behind the scenes works hard to keep the ride moving smoothly. Scott Berge, the lead engineer, and Scott Frasier, the lighting and effects designer, help Scholl to the extent that he said the event would be impossible without them.

“There are usually no more than five people working behind the scenes,” said Scholl.

Another notorious cast member is the Devil Dog, a 7-foot-tall beast that Scholl said is what most people talk about after the ride.

Scholl started his animatronic hobby in his own backyard 10 years ago and met Terry Gold, owner of the Folsom Valley Railway, who asked him to bring his show to Folsom.

“The first year was a pleasant surprise. It was a hit. Crude, of course, but it started as a love,” Scholl said. “Now it’s out of control and expensive, and we need a huge moving van to carry everything.”

Despite the lack of investor support, despite some of the animatronics faltering on opening night, and despite a shoestring budget, Scholl said, “I love it so much that no matter the frustration, I just keep going.”

The Ghost Train is located at the City Lions Park on Stafford Way in Folsom and runs from 7-9 p.m. from Oct. 22 through Oct. 31.

Tickets are $8.

Photos from Jonathon Morken