Berry Metal is a steel and iron company based in PA. They merged with Pullman in 1968. Most of the chairs are branded as Pullman Berry.
As a side note, the chair listed as Gremlin was branded as a Pullman Berry chair, not a Berry Metal chair. It was also named Hong Kong, not Gremlin. Other notes for the spreadsheet are that Banshee was installed in 1962, Lower T-Bar was installed in 1953, Peabody was installed in 1962, and Zoomer was installed in 1962.
I believe that the lift was named after the Gremlin trail which it served. A lot of lifts were only recently given names based on the names of trails or areas which they served, including defunct ones. I thought I read somewhere that the lift was so unreliable that it was nicknamed “Hong Kong”.
The lift was originally the New Peabody Chair and because it was so unreliable in its early years, the joke was that it had been made in Hong Kong (that being the notional source all of poor-quality products in the mid-1970s), so everyone called it the Hong Kong lift. Eventually Cannon made the name official, and I could have sworn they changed it to Gremlin at some point in the 80s, but it’s shown as Hong Kong on every trail map I’ve found up to its last year. I have a very faint recollection that the name change never made it onto the map.
Pullman-Berry (1971-1972): In the last years of Pullman, the company sold one of its divisions to Berry Metal of Pittsburgh, PA. The owner knew Hunziker and got him on board together with Otto Weber. They started designing lifts that likely were a mixture of BACO’s, Hunziker’s and Staedeli’s design. The lifts were made in Harmony, PA. After Hunziker’s accident, a former co-worker of Hunziker stepped in to finish the remaining contracts and Pullman-Berry decided to stop selling lifts. Even though the decision was already made, likely two more lifts were sold in 1972 that had a different design, e.g. for the bullwheel.
Yes, the original tram was the first. I believe it was built in 1938. The current tram began operations for the 1979-80 season. Here’s a few lines from NewEnglandSkiHistory.com:
In early 1935, legislation surfaced to start construction of an aerial tramway on Cannon Mountain with appeals to the Federal government for funding.
In June of 1937, Governor Francis Murphy signed a bill for a $250,000 tramway project. That August, a $246,975 contract was awarded to American Steel & Wire Company. Work began soon thereafter, with the Civilian Conservation Corps assisting with related facility developments.
While the new lift was to debut in May of 1938, weather related delays pushed the official opening back to June 28th (members of the press were given rides on June 20th).
Where did the two upper t-bar lifts at Cannon go? Were they salvaged and installed at another mountain, or mothballed?Does anyone have a t-bar from Cannon they would consider selling?
With all the focus on replacing the tram, I hope that other lifts don’t get neglected. Both Cannonball and Zoomer were down for extended periods this season.
Given that the tram only operates on weekends, it seems as though the need to resurrect a T-bar on that side so one can ski those trails near the tram midweek….
Cannonball was down only because the grips needed replacing and the new ones got hung up in customs, which, along with other reasons, meant that they were received more than six months after they were ordered. They were installed soon after they arrived, making the carriers glint in the sun in the mornings, which looks cool from the upper portion of Peabody Express. Zoomer, though, did indeed have a major mechanical problem: the gearbox bearings wore out and, rumor has it, caused too much friction for the motor to handle, leading to blown fuses on that fateful Saturday. It may have complicated logistics (and the racing program), but it meant that the Tram was running its old schedule again, which was nice, especially for Ski Museum visits in the middle of the day. Hiking back to Zoomie from there is rather tiring.
Also, Cannonball (CBQ)’s old grips were in poor shape. Three of them were so bad that the chairs hanging from them could not be used until the grips were replaced.
The Zoomer and Peabody doubles now operate as the two SkyGliders at the Iowa State Fair. Only the towers, bullwheels, and some other assorted components are original.
Hong Kong, on the other hand, was used to build the SkyGlider at the Clay County State Fair, also in Iowa. It wasn’t very profitable, though, and now it resides with the rest of Hong Kong (aside from the terminal masts and some of the chairs, which were used to build other SkyGliders) in the parts yard of SkyTrans Mfg.
Lift Blog 
Anyone know what happened to that 1938 tram?
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It was removed in 1981 after running parallel with the Tram II for a few years. The two cabins remain in different locations throughout the state.
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Peabody and Zoomer were roebling double chairs.
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Who was Berry Metal Corp. ? Are they related to Pullman Berry?
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I believe it is Pullman Berry. Little is known about them.
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Berry Metal is a steel and iron company based in PA. They merged with Pullman in 1968. Most of the chairs are branded as Pullman Berry.
As a side note, the chair listed as Gremlin was branded as a Pullman Berry chair, not a Berry Metal chair. It was also named Hong Kong, not Gremlin. Other notes for the spreadsheet are that Banshee was installed in 1962, Lower T-Bar was installed in 1953, Peabody was installed in 1962, and Zoomer was installed in 1962.
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I believe that the lift was named after the Gremlin trail which it served. A lot of lifts were only recently given names based on the names of trails or areas which they served, including defunct ones. I thought I read somewhere that the lift was so unreliable that it was nicknamed “Hong Kong”.
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No it was called Hong Kong. See this map: https://skimap.org/data/347/260/1284384152.jpg
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The lift was originally the New Peabody Chair and because it was so unreliable in its early years, the joke was that it had been made in Hong Kong (that being the notional source all of poor-quality products in the mid-1970s), so everyone called it the Hong Kong lift. Eventually Cannon made the name official, and I could have sworn they changed it to Gremlin at some point in the 80s, but it’s shown as Hong Kong on every trail map I’ve found up to its last year. I have a very faint recollection that the name change never made it onto the map.
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Info about pullman berry and Paul Hunziker
Pullman-Berry (1971-1972): In the last years of Pullman, the company sold one of its divisions to Berry Metal of Pittsburgh, PA. The owner knew Hunziker and got him on board together with Otto Weber. They started designing lifts that likely were a mixture of BACO’s, Hunziker’s and Staedeli’s design. The lifts were made in Harmony, PA. After Hunziker’s accident, a former co-worker of Hunziker stepped in to finish the remaining contracts and Pullman-Berry decided to stop selling lifts. Even though the decision was already made, likely two more lifts were sold in 1972 that had a different design, e.g. for the bullwheel.
Taken from here
http://www.skilifts.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=11167
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What happened to the New Peabody/Hong Kong/Gremlin Chair, the Middle T-Bar, and the Zoomer and Peabody doubles?
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Hong Kong was built in 1972. Maybe it was one of those last two?
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The Mittersill T-bars were installed in 1946 and 1959.
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The lower T-bar now resides at Titcomb Maine as #2 T-bar
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Was this the first tram in the us? For a ski resort?
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Yes, the original tram was the first. I believe it was built in 1938. The current tram began operations for the 1979-80 season. Here’s a few lines from NewEnglandSkiHistory.com:
In early 1935, legislation surfaced to start construction of an aerial tramway on Cannon Mountain with appeals to the Federal government for funding.
In June of 1937, Governor Francis Murphy signed a bill for a $250,000 tramway project. That August, a $246,975 contract was awarded to American Steel & Wire Company. Work began soon thereafter, with the Civilian Conservation Corps assisting with related facility developments.
While the new lift was to debut in May of 1938, weather related delays pushed the official opening back to June 28th (members of the press were given rides on June 20th).
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Tom, to add to what you have wrote, Alec Bright brought up the idea in 1933 after skiing in Europe, where there had been trams, funiculars, and rack/cog railways (which brings up the question: Why didn’t Henry Teague open the Cog Railway to skiers in the 1930s? Logistics and the unplowed access road, perhaps?) for decades (examples: https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tph25-du-predigtstuhl-bleichert-6797.html, https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-funi-44-stans-kalti-bell-467.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneeberg_Railway_(cog_railway)). This was the same reason that the first rope tow in the USA (https://www.nelsap.org/vt/woodstockhill.html) opened in 1934.
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Where did the two upper t-bar lifts at Cannon go? Were they salvaged and installed at another mountain, or mothballed?Does anyone have a t-bar from Cannon they would consider selling?
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With all the focus on replacing the tram, I hope that other lifts don’t get neglected. Both Cannonball and Zoomer were down for extended periods this season.
Given that the tram only operates on weekends, it seems as though the need to resurrect a T-bar on that side so one can ski those trails near the tram midweek….
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Cannonball was down only because the grips needed replacing and the new ones got hung up in customs, which, along with other reasons, meant that they were received more than six months after they were ordered. They were installed soon after they arrived, making the carriers glint in the sun in the mornings, which looks cool from the upper portion of Peabody Express. Zoomer, though, did indeed have a major mechanical problem: the gearbox bearings wore out and, rumor has it, caused too much friction for the motor to handle, leading to blown fuses on that fateful Saturday. It may have complicated logistics (and the racing program), but it meant that the Tram was running its old schedule again, which was nice, especially for Ski Museum visits in the middle of the day. Hiking back to Zoomie from there is rather tiring.
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Also, Cannonball (CBQ)’s old grips were in poor shape. Three of them were so bad that the chairs hanging from them could not be used until the grips were replaced.
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The Zoomer and Peabody doubles now operate as the two SkyGliders at the Iowa State Fair. Only the towers, bullwheels, and some other assorted components are original.
Hong Kong, on the other hand, was used to build the SkyGlider at the Clay County State Fair, also in Iowa. It wasn’t very profitable, though, and now it resides with the rest of Hong Kong (aside from the terminal masts and some of the chairs, which were used to build other SkyGliders) in the parts yard of SkyTrans Mfg.
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What became of the Banshee T-Bar after it was removed?
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