Scott And Carol Present - Kennywood Coaster Progress

Our third construction tour stop took us to that charming traditional park in West Mifflin PA., to check out the progress of their 2010 Premier coaster.

At this point there is more destruction than construction. As we all know the Turnpike is being removed, but don't worry the park has stated it will return sometime in the future.

While the station is still standing, a lot of has been done. All the rails have already been removed.

This task was more time consuming than the park had planned. It seems the rails were mounted on posts that were sunk over a foot into the ground. Instead of ripping them up, they had to be cut out (very carefully) with a torch.

The Turnpike opened in 1966 and offered drivers & passengers a 4 minute drive through a pleasant shady grove of trees.

Part of the overpass, which riders drove under just after leaving the station, had to be cut out in order to get a crane onto the site.


Here's a couple of views of the road the old cars trekked around. In the early years the cars were gas powered.
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They are now more environmentally friendly, powered by electricity, but don't tell the rides sponsor.

Yellow "ribbons' are tied around the trees that will be saved. And, there are a lot of yellow ribbons in the area.

The coasters course will have trains zipping across the entrance tunnel and headed toward the Grand Prix bumper cars.

While the look of this area will change drastically, the park plans on saving as much greenery in this area as possible, too.

The queue will run along the midway and riders will enter the station near the Grand Prix.

The station will come close to the Grand Prix, but no modifications will be made to the layout. The trains will launch from the Grand Prix area and rocket high above the picnic pavilion.

There are a few of these survey markings along the midway between the Turnpike and the Grand Prix bumper cars.

Hopefully, this new coaster won't cause to many traffic jams or accidents from gawkers driving by. Our thanks to Jeff Filicko for taking time out of his busy day to show us the progress.