A Blast From The Past - Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach

It has been quite awhile since we have posted a Blast, but it seemed like a good time to reprise the column on a limited basis.  From time to time, when our workload allows we will dig up a story on a piece of amusement recent or ancient history.

On November 27th 2007 Indiana Beach announced the addition of the park's sixth roller coaster, Steel Hawg.

 

Construction began in early 2008 on the north side of the park in what had been the preferred parking lot, near the Hoosier Hurricane and Rocky's Rapids Log Flume rides.

Rising 96 feet above ground and featuring a 120 degree first drop, along with two inversions, Steel Hawg was designed and constructed by S & S Worldwide, Inc. of Logan, Utah. The custom designed El Loco model, is the first looping coaster in the parks history.

Steel Hawg was be the first of it's kind in the United States and the first major steel coaster to be constructed in the state of Indiana: Steel Hawg. When digging for the very large footers, only 4-5 feet below the ground the original muck hauled in by the draft horses in 1925 was found, and it had not dried out all these years. A redesign of the rides foundation was require and a deep bed of varying sizes of gravel established a solid base to pour the concrete.

One of the largest ride investments in Indiana Beach's history. Steel Hawg is very distinctive ride with tight turns, 90º banks, inversions, and other one-of-a-kind elements. However, with a height limit of 48 inches, it's also a ride designed for families to enjoy together.

When the ride was announced then park president, Tom Spackman Jr stated, "When we debuted The Hoosier Hurricane in 1994, it was the first new wooden coaster the state had seen in over fifty years. Now, with the Steel Hawg, we'll be able to continue that thrilling tradition and take our guests on an entirely unique ride on the state's first custom steel coaster."

Originally scheduled to open in mid-May, with the park, Steel Hawg encountered a few set backs and eventually opened on July 5th 2008.

 Hope you enjoyed these construction photos from early 2008, Steel Hawg was the last addition to Indiana Beach planned by the Spackman family before the park was sold to Morgan RV Resorts.



A Blast From The Past - Kings Island 1972

Editors note on Thursday June 25th 2009 the first Blast was posted on News Plus Notes, the subject was construction of Kings Island's International Street. So it's appropriate that as the Blast goes on a short hiatus the subject is a brief look at Kings Island in 1972

The construction of Kings Island in Kings Mill Ohio began June 15th 1970, it was meant to replace the landlocked, flood prone Coney Island. In fact most of Old Coney Island's rides were moved to the new park, those that didn't were demolished as Coney was set to close at the end of the 1971 season.

Borrowing a trick from Walt Disney, the windows and doors on the second floor of the International Street shops are built at 3/4 scale. This use of forced perspective fools the eye and saved the park money.

The park's centerpiece then and now is a 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower. The Royal Fountains on International Street, costing more than half a million dollars to build, are two feet deep and hold 500,000 gallons of water.

A contest was held to name the park and Kings Island was chosen, the name recognizes the Kings Mill area while paying homage to Old Coney Island. The park's soft opening on April 29th 1972 was not a huge success, only 4,000 guests showed up due to the inclement weather, it poured all day. The official grand opening,held May 27th and a total of two million guests enjoyed the 150-acre park that first season

A Blast From The Past - A Tribute To Ron Toomer

Arrow Development was formed in 1947 to tackle difficult mechanical engineering tasks. When a nearby community asked the company to build a carousel for a city park, Arrow officially became an amusement park supplier. Arrow was there at the birth of the steel coaster industry, developing and fabricating the tubular steel track for Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds.


Ron Toomer joined Arrow Dynamics in 1965, his first job was working on the water flow for Pirates of the Caribbean. Next up Toomer began his long history of working on roller coasters with the very first mine train, Run-A-Way Mine Train at Six Flags Over Texas.


In the next decade Arrow built nearly a dozen mine trains throughout the US and one in Canada. In 1974, Toomer and a colleague discovered a practical way to turn coaster riders up-side down. Circular loops on coasters had been done before,but Toomer's idea was to build a series of close to the ground corkscrew spirals made with tubular steel track. They built a full-scale prototype to use for testing, but both were a bit worried about putting people on it due to the extreme G forces.


After a bit of research, using an accelerometer to compare the G forces of an old wooden roller coaster to the prototype, the first rider, a company employee took a spin on the prototype and the rest is history. The first corkscrew , the Chicago Loop opened at the now defunct Old Chicago Amusement Park in Bolingbrook, Illinois. The park may only be a fond memory for many, but the coaster is still operating at Canobie Lake Amusement Park in Salem New Hampshire as the Canobie Corkscrew. A number of Corkscrews have been built over the years, including Knott's Berry Farm, Opryland, Worlds of Fun & Geauga Lake.


The success of the corkscrew was followed in 1977 by the giant clothoid loop, which was independently developed by several designers. After that Arrow looping roller coasters popped up all over the place, with each getting loopier than the last. In 1978, Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Loch Ness Monster opened, featuring the world's first interlocking loops. On the non-looping side of the industry, Ron Toomer designed Gemini a twin-tracked racing coaster, Cedar Point's third Arrow ride, which opened in 1978. This coaster originally ran six trains giving it a higher capacity than any other coaster in history.


The suspended coaster was the major innovation of the 1980s. The prototype, the Bat operated at the press conference in 1980 and opened in 1981. Unfortunately, it was short lived, operating sporadically until 1983 and being removed from the park in 1984. After some major re-engineering, nine more suspended coasters opened between 1984and 1993, five of which are still operating today.


After slightly over twenty years of service, Ron Toomer became President of Arrow in 1986 and multi-loopers again became "The Thing" with Arrow leading the charge. In 1987, Vortex at Kings Island opened as the world's 1st coaster with six inversions. And in 1989, Shockwave, the world's first seven inversion coaster, opened at Six Flags Great America.


At the pinnacle of his career, Ron Toomer designed the first roller coaster over 200 feet tall. Dubbed Magnum XL-200, this steel monster opened at Cedar Point on May 6th 1989. Still a crowd favorite today Magnum helped prove the sky's the limit!


Ron Toomer retired from Arrow in 2000, after 35 years of innovative designs that continue to thrill season after season. We first met Mr Toomer in 1999 and had the opportunity to chat with him at Cedar Point's Coastermania, when he was the keynote speaker in 2009. Our conversation was about the state of the industry today and how much technology has impacted the designing of rides. He mentioned how he used to design coasters using #2 wire (not coat hangers as the popular urban legend goes,) He also debunked the fact that he had never ridden a roller coaster. He said even though he suffered from motion sickness, that he had ridden enough to know how the rides should feel. We will miss Mr Toomer's wit and wisdom, he was one of the true pioneers in the roller coaster industry.

A Blast From The Past - Viper At Six Flags Great Adventure

In 1994 Six Flags Great Adventure decided to add new coaster in the spot which was once occupied by their Togo Ultra Twister. Ultra Twister operated from 1986 to 1989, when it was shipped west to Astroworld as part of the Six Flags ride rotation.


Construction began in the fall of 1994 and after several delays, the Togo mega heartline coaster dubbed Viper, finally opened in June of 1995. Standing 89 feet tall and reaching a top speed of 48 miles an hour, the coaster had two inversions; a dive loop after the first drop, and then a heartline roll.


Viper was the world's first roller coaster with a 360-degree heartline roll. Its appearance was unique with Steel rings coiling around the track, encircling most of the track for themeing and providing structural support in the heartline roll.


Viper's three trains resembled a snake, and were colored light green and orange. There were four cars per train, riders were seated two across and each train seated 16 passengers. Initially, lines were long, but soon the rides popularity began to fade, due to the rough restraints and many mechanical problems.


Viper was SBNO (standing but not operating) most of the 1998 season. Financially troubled Togo went out of business which made getting parts almost impossible. Viper sat idle from 1999 to 2001 and was even removed from the park maps and guides during the 2001 season. Six Flags Great Adventure had planned to remove Viper that year, but was unable to find an attraction that would fit the land occupied by Viper.


Viper reopened in 2002 after the train and the train’s restraints were modified. Unfortunately, the modifications were not improvements. The ride was still rough and unreliable. For the 2004 season Viper opened as a one train operation.


The 2004 season would be Viper's last; Six Flags Great Adventure had grown tired of the ride's massive amounts of down time, its high maintenance costs and the fact that Viper's popularity was zilch due to its extremely painful ride. Viper was demolished in June of 2005 along with a few other rides, to make room for the park's huge 2006 project.

Viper was as interesting to ride as it was to watch the train snake the rides course. Unfortuantely, for me, while it was a very unique ride, it was not reridable. The rides replacement has been a huge success, does that station look familiar?

A Blast From The Past - High Roller At Valleyfair!

In 1976 when Valleyfair opened its gates in Shakopee, Minnesota, the park consisted of 20 rides and attractions on 26 acres. In 1978 Cedar Fair acquired Valleyfair and invested millions of dollars in the park. Today it is the largest amusement park in the upper Midwest with eight roller coasters, a waterpark and more than 75 rides and attractions on 90 acres of land.

The oldest coaster in the park, the High Roller opened with the park. Designed by International Amusement Devices, Inc. and built by Rauerhorst Corporation this 2982 foot long L-shaped Out-and-Back woodie is considered a classic. High Roller was styled after the Cyclone that ran at Excelsior Park from May 1925 to September 1973, the park and the coaster were torn down shortly after the end of the 1973 season.

High Roller's rolling stock consists of two three row NAD trains with a single lap bars and individual seat belts. The NAD trains and the unusual fin brakes, they are manually controlled by the big levers as the trains entered the station, helped to make the coaster more unique than most of the coasters built in the 1970s. Throughout the it's early days High Roller offered a thrilling ride, with the return run and the right-angled dog leg being full of airtime.

The High Roller is historically significant in that it was one of the last coasters built by NAD/IAD and it still runs it's original trains, although they been modified over the years. Thirty-five years after the High Roller opened it still offers a fun ride and to me it's a thrill to ride any IAD/NAD coaster!

A Blast From The Past - The Coney Island Thunderbolt

In 1924 George Moran commissioned John Miller to design and build an 86 foot tall wooden roller coaster over the top of part of the Kensington Hotel located in the heart of New York's Coney Island. Some of the support beams for the Thunderbolt were actually driven through the hotel's structure.


The hotel belonged to George Moran and later his son Fred, the family converted it into their home and lived there for more than 40 years, with the coaster rattling their living room with every ride. The building was featured in the 1977 Woody Allen movie, Annie Hall and last occupied by May Timpano, who live there until a fire in the mid 80's.


The Thunderbolt operated from 1925 to 1982, slowly rotting away until November 17th 2000 when one of Coney Island's few remaining monuments was bulldozed at 6AM. It was rumored the demolition was scheduled during the early morning hours, so that a community supporters of the structure were unable to get proposals for the structure's landmark status processed.


It was said the Thunderbolt was demolished because the structure was unsafe, even though it was completely surrounded by a fence. The roller coaster & land were owned by Horace Bullard, in fact he still owns the land and it's for sale. Speculation was Mayor Giuliani ordered the demolition because he and the owners of the Brooklyn Cyclones, whose new stadium was next to the Thunderbolt, thought the coaster was an eyesore. The stadium was to be the beginning of revitalization efforts in Coney and a pet project of Mayor Giuliani.

While the Thunderbolt was way beyond repair after 18 years of neglect, it sad that such a historical piece of Coney Island met such a shady demise. It was the first classic coaster that I saw, in person, in an unrideable state. I was fascinated by it and wished I would have had the opportunity to experience a ride on the Thunderbolt.

A Blast From The Past -Six Flags Great America's American Eagle

The American Eagle located at Marriott's Great America in Gurnee Illinois, opened to the public on May 23rd, 1981, breaking world records and offering white-knuckled rides to thrillseekers of all ages.



The Eagle was like nothing anyone had ever been on before, riders entered the queue through a large tent which had been used for a circus between 1976 and 1980. In 2006, the entrance changed, the tent area became home to the new Wiggle's World (now KIDZOPOLIS) The Eagle now shares an entrance with the Skycoaster.


It's quite a trek back to the station, but the bridge over the train tracks offered an impressive view of the ride.The queue splits as one nears the station and riders must choose between riding the Red train or the Blue train. The ride layout is essentially the same. Upon boarding the train, riders fasten their seat belts and lower their individual lap bar into place.



The trains are dispatched simultaneously and make a 200-degree turn opposite each other. Red & Blue meet up at the bottom and climb the 127 foot lift hill side by side. The trains slowly make their way toward the edge before flying down the first drop at speeds nearing 66 mph.



The trains race over two powerful, little bunny hills before climbing the hill at the far end of the out-and-back layout. The trains travel around a massive 560-degree helix, which circles downward over a small marsh, gradually picking up speed along the way.



The helix circles to the left with the red train, being on the inside of the track, taking the lead. The track separates at the end of the helix, with the blue train dropping low to the ground and diving under the red trains track, which was designed as a "catch-up" for the blue train. Making right 20 degree turns, Red and Blue are again running parallel, but separated by the outbound track. The trains cross again, with Red going under and Blue going over. Red flies over two more bunny hills, while Blue only has one bunny hill.



The trains climb through the massive structure of the lift hill. After being slowed by a set of trim brakes, the trains head in opposite directions, diving into a final 360-degree helix. The blue train helix is a significantly smaller radius, in a final attempt at making up the ground it lost in the big helix. The two trains then emerge and rise into the brake run to determine the winner.


For Thirty years the wooden fortress has dominated the corner of Washington Street and the Tri-State Tollway in Gurnee. Six Flags Great America honored the Eagle's 30th by selling opening weekend tickets on-line for $19.81 to mark the year the coaster was built.



The park also decided to run the Blue train facing backwards.The backward ride is not a first for the Eagle, it ran in reverse in 1991, 1996 and from 2002-2005. This time, the blue cars will run backward until Sept. 17. During Fright Fest the American Eagle has a tenant, "Tiny" the famous 200lb spider can be seen from the Tollway, climbing the turnaround.



Delivering over 45 million thrilling rides during the past thirty years, the American Eagle is still the fastest, longest & tallest racing wooden roller coaster. And, still has the largest drop on a racing wooden roller coaster. Happy Silver Anniversary American Eagle! Thanks again to the Six Flags Great America Public Relations staff for their assistance.