Like their Luna Park and White City cousins , a typical Electric Park featured a shoot-the-chutes and lagoon , a roller coaster ( usually a figure eight or a mountain railway ) , a midway , a Ferris wheel , games , and a pavilion . Most also had miniature railroads . Many cities had two ( or all three ) of the Electric Park/Luna Park/White City triumvirate in their vicinity ... with each trying to outdo the others with new attractions , with many incorporating an exhibit simulating the Johnstown Flood of 1889 . The competition was fierce , often driving the electric parks out of business with increasing costs of equipment upgrades , upkeep , and insurance . More than a few succumbed to fire . As a result , most were out of business by 1917 , the year the United States entered World War I. By the time troops returned to the U.S. ( in 1919 ) , almost all the Electric Parks were gone
Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
Electric Park