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The three most northernly-located coasters in the world - the only ones above 64°N latitude - are all Big Apple/Wacky Worm layouts. They are (not making these names up, I swear): 1. Mato Mainio at Vauhtipuisto in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland; 2. Kålmasken at Lycksele Djurpark in Brännbergsvägen, Sweden 3. Caterpillar at Fun Yard in Arkhangelsk, Russia. The most southernly-located coaster in the world is also the oldest continuously-operated coaster in the world: Scenic Railway at Luna Park in Melbourne, Australia.

Great pictures and report! Both of these parks I really want to visit, and cannot wait to see the rest. Being both a coaster and vintage Volkswagen nerd, I can tell a little about that red and tan Beetle in the museum. It is a European-only "Standard" model (as opposed to the worldwide available "Deluxe"). Because that version had no body trim and simpler features, it is hard to tell the exact year from that picture. It's certainly older than 1958, making it a super collectible one! Very, very cool. I wonder it's connection to the park's history.

So they're investigating the possibility of opening the water park next year. I'm not even kidding. "But wait! Order in the next ten minutes and get a second can free! (Just pay separate S&H)"

I would have to go with the Arrow Corkscrews, if they count. They're usually 48" limit right?

^The gauge does indeed look too narrow, though. Perhaps the cross-ties are not the actual final pieces. Robotic cutting of flat sheet steel is pretty straightforward. RMC already does this with a CNC plasma torch on a 40' water table. Making robotic welding cost-effective requires enormous scale, so I'd suspect that Topper, I-Box, FreeSpin and T-Rex tracks are all hand welded while mounted in jigs.

I noticed Adventureland was open last Wednesday, which I thought was odd, so I drove down hoping for light crowds and lots of Turbulence rides. It was my first visit to the park. Unfortunately, I failed to realize schools were out for the day, so the park was quite busy. Traffic, however, was not bad at all. Neither the Ferris Wheel nor dark ride were open to single riders. The log flume was closed until mid-afternoon, and the family coaster had too long of a line to be worth the wait. Otherwise, I got in all the adult rides. Their Huss Frisbee runs a long, intense program. Actually, all the flats had very generous cycles. Turbulence is a blast. I enjoyed it so much more than anticipated. The first drop and the first hill afterwards are especially awesome, but the whole course really keeps you smiling. It didn't even feel "too short" even though it is actually over quite quickly. I'm at Adventureland! A nice little nook to relax and recharge (your phone and yourself). Really nice scale Eiffel was a drive-thru for the Antique Cars. Turbulence signs #1 & #2 Turbulence signs #3 & #4. track detail This was the best element on the ride. You don't get anything like this on a Maurer or Gerstlauer spinner, both of which this ride outclasses. It looks to me like Huss intended those boobies to be fully on display. Cool flume vehicles. According to the train conductor, this opened up later in the afternoon, but I had to get on the road by then. There are a few spots of very nice landscaping. Pretty footer facades and safety caps for the bolts. I got in two rides, as the wait was over 40min by 1:00. Back row was my preference. Unusual bolts and nuts look more like rebar than standard threads. Nerd shot. It is apparently designed such that evenly loaded cars spin the most. Cannot confirm or deny this. I think the round cars looks really neat going through the course. Like huge M&M's on a coaster lol. Arcade was immaculate. Crowds were out in force, weather was absolutely perfect, low 80's. I always try to grab a ride on any park's train. Tons of funny statues and details along the route, making for a very entertaining ride. Their "Dinosaurs Alive"... I did not. Pepper and tomato plants were growing. No picking the veggies! Va-roooom. You could get up close and very personal with the track in one section. Family coaster looked like it was worth a spin, but not with the line onto the midway. This was pulling into the park as I left. My main objective for the day was actually to pick up some new furniture from Ikea Paramus, where I spotted this awesome clock display. I <3 IKEA.

The outside wheels were likely chosen to simplify the construction of the box. Inside wheels would require a more complex cross section like that on the right side, below. I doubt many other factors came into play as both designs have good, ahem... "track" records. 8 surfaces on left, 12 surfaces on right

It sounds like you may be thinking of "Revolution" or "Revolution 1" by The Beatles. They're two versions of the same lyrics.

Most of Yom Kippur was on Wednesday so some schools may have been out of session.

^Being one stop on a multi-park trip, I wouldn't even say I had "bad time" there - it basically served as comical interlude between a few very nice parks. It was worth the stop just for Mind Warp which was great. Now if I'd made a day trip (even as a local) and tried committing a whole day to enjoying the place with friends, then I'd be pretty bummed. What shocked me more than anything was the clientele. Waldameer and Seabreeze had some of the friendliest, most respectful crowds I've seen. Smack in between them at MFI were some of the most consistently classless, vulgar, inconsiderate guests you could imagine. This, coming from a Six Flags regular. I don't understand the resistance to sending sparsely populated trains either, but I'm finding it a pretty common philosophy at the smaller, independent parks. Maybe there are worries about trains valleying, to which I would be completely sympathetic. ^^I'd forgotten about the assigned seats on Silver Comet, something that usually bothers me. For my second ride, when there was a small queue built up, I actually ended up assigned to the front seat. My first time having such luck.

With Martin's locked into the GPS, I was off to Grand Island, arriving about fifteen minutes before the 11:30 park opening. Figured this would be plenty early to get into the park pretty quickly and easily. And indeed, there were just seven people (groups) ahead of me in the ticket line. Fifty-five minutes later, I was in the park. The young lady buying tickets in directly front of me was trying to pull up a $5-off coupon on her smartphone. She was getting no cell/data service, and instead of just giving her the discount, the guy behind the counter leaned back and watched her struggle for several minutes. Finally she gave up trying and asked if she could get the discount without showing the coupon. After being refused, she began peppering the employee with bursts of impressive vitriol and profanity. It was going to be a good day. So now onto the front gate, where another attendant would check your ticket and stamp your hand. Of course another guest, directly in front of me, gives her some kind of ticket she is unfamiliar with. So after an extensive consultation with her neighboring employee (also stopping that line), she comes back and proceeds to tear a barcode out of the center of this lady's piece of paper. Without creasing it. A quarter of an inch at a time. I counted: She spent over a minute dissecting this lady's ticket, giving her back something that looked roughly like a dog chew toy, well-used. Once in, if you had a bag and were feeling honorable, you could stand in an angry mob with no queue markers or control, waiting for bags to get checked, a sign for all of which appeared nowhere. Or you could just walk around to the right with your bag and no would notice at all. I stood in the mob. People were cutting. People were yelling. People were confused and accused. It was an all-around ugly scene. With all faith in humanity completely crushed, I was finally in the park. Things didn't improve much from there. The spinning Wild Mouse might be the ker-chunk-iest coaster out there. Just incredibly unpleasant. My ride on their star flyer was quite nerve-rattling, starting with confronting the most brazenly obnoxious line-cutting child I have ever come across. I'm sure we've all experienced some "twisting" type action on star flyers, especially in unevenly loaded seats. Yeah, well... that started happening ... then got worse, and worse, and worse... until I was spun around 360degress with the chains all twisted together above me. Then I untwisted the other way and spent the whole ride spinning around like a rubber band model airplane propeller. Let's go to the pics for the rest of the story. I waited ten minutes for this to happen. That's how much I was enjoying Martin's Fantasy Island. I headed first to Silver Comet and found a virtually empty station. "Are you running?" I ask one of the stylishly-outfitted ops. "Oh yes, just waiting for a few more folks," she says as I spy one couple in the front row. "The owner would KILL me if I ran the ride with three people in it," she finally clarified. The way she enunciated "kill"... I'm not so sure she was speaking figuratively. The queue is as well shaded as the rest of the rides area. Like the morning after some extra-spicy texmex? This was the best ride in the park, and quite intense. You really get whipped around once the seats start spinning. I just wish there was a little more room for putting hands up. An ersatz carshow was a clever use for the presumably non-operational units. The ride was non-single-rider, which makes sense, except the line was like six people long. Then again, most of the cars were not on the track. Once the train was about half full, we could finally ride. "I'm actually in a really good mood today," the same op says to her co-worker as they do seatbelt checks. Once to the back, step two of this intense loading procedure was initiated. "Okay everyone, HANDS UP! DO NOT TOUCH YOUR LAPBAR, we will close it for you. I reapeat, DO NOT TOUCH YOUR LAP BAR. We will be coming around to put it down." What does the girl directly in front of me do? Yeah.... Said operator was no longer in her good mood. And the first train of the day was not yet even out. So how was the ride? It was OK, but way under expectation. I feel like this coaster can't really "decide" if it wants to be an out-n-back or a twister. Which in and of itself is not a bad thing, but in this case resulted in too many tightly configured but uninspired turnarounds. The canoe ride was actually quite picturesque. I did not partake. This show was painfully bad. Probably why the 26oz jumbo beers were sold directly next to the seating area. The costumed child at stage left was not actually part of the show, but I applauded his enthusiasm. More parks need fun building designs like this. I really did like the Hawaiian-style outfits the ride operators all had. That has nothing to do with this picture. So I decided to take a train ride. If the passengers looks bored, it's because we've already been waiting about ten minutes, and would wait another ten until every. single. seat. on the train was filled. Finally we got going. Then we stopped and the conductor fiddled with the train for a few minutes. This cycle repeated itself. Eventually the train would go no more, and we were all politely asked to leave. Sorry for the anticlimactic "evac" Creepy &*#% yo. Let's move on! Next up! Duffs & Seabreeze.

It looks like something Six Flags commissioned in a desperate attempt to find more surfaces to sell ads on. In all seriousness, I like it. Been wondering for a couple years when someone would introduce a monocoque track design.

Neat! It may seem odd, but that Miler coaster instantly went on my bucket list when I first learned of it. It's like they took their kiddie coaster design and just decided to make it ... oh I dunno... five times taller ... with no changes to the track or vehicle systems. Which just looks so wonderfully messed up. Never again did they build anything even 60% as tall as this, I believe.

Apologies for the intermission. Currently 32-hrs deep in a marathon CAD session fueled only by coffee, Haribo, and ...uh..one other thing. The joy of new product development. Haven't forgotten this TR and moar will be on the way.

Would I want the option to ride without it? Sure I would, of course. But this does not diminish the potential. Wearing a VR set on a coaster could be an incredibly surreal, fresh, enjoyable experience. Parks could also achieve attractive experiences for a wider range of a guests, respective to the investment. In other words, a $few-million family size coaster with a $million VR system appended could suddenly become a genuine draw for the mom/dad and older bro/sis, instead of just a space to "do something together as a family" with the younger bro/sis. The opportunity to create a new ride experience with a few behind-the-scenes mouse clicks has tremendous implications. Not just for guests, but for the industry itself and its relationship to creative digital content. The easy scalability means big-budget content could be licensed to smaller parks that don't have the resources for Disney-level physical themeing. Related: how you can go see a $200-million movie for ten-odd bucks, just down the road, any day you like. I do wonder if your average naysayer has even experienced a state-of-the-art VR headset in the last year or so. The purist POV is close-minded and short-sighted.

FTFY Very nicely done!

This report has some truly stunning photos! The Parachute Tower was originally build for the 1939 Worlds Fair and was purchased by Steeplechase Park afterwards. It stayed lit during WWII blackouts as a beacon for boats and planes, and is now on the National Register of Historical Places. It's the only remaining piece of Tilyou's Steeplechase. The city investigated the possibility of reopening it as a ride about 15 years ago but deemed it prohibitively expensive. So they settled on some restorative steel work, a repaint, and a lighting package (which was then massively upgraded for summer 2013 as seen above).

Sheetz just needed some more outdoor seating; there was just one fully occupied picnic table. The bagelwich was creative, perfectly prepared, and delicious. It really was the perfect visit at Waldameer weather- and crowd-wise. Definitely one of the cooler stops in both temperature and, uh... awesomeness. That would be awesome to see! Work has kept me very busy the last few days but I'll get the next park pictures up soon. Getting to, and getting checked into my hotel turned into something of an adventure. But I was up early the next morning and ready to visit Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum. Right at 10:00am. For opening. On a Sunday. Or not. #&@%!!! While I was taking pictures, two other parties arrived, having made the same mistake. One guy said, "Well then, I guess the website was wrong." The website was not wrong, we both just messed up. Anywho, I snapped a few pics and moved on the to the local Tim Hortons for coffee and muffins. This was my second Tim Horton's and my first without the rude Quebec attitude. If you like black coffee, sweet breakfasts, English-speaker-friendly staff, I highly recommend visiting a Buffalo-area Tim Horton's. Here's Herschell from behind the gates. Stay tuned for my first ever ride evac at Martin's Fantasy Island (a park, which was ... how do you say... pretty crappy, and fulfilling from a comedic sense). You're welcome. I'll have to stop back for another time around. My first sign that something is not right here. Ooh look, stuff. RCDB does not have an entry, but I wonder if KTP ever hosted a kiddie coaster? Neither admissions nor snacks were staffed today Not even a rotating operator. In all seriousness, they do run this park for limited hours, and I did know this area would be closed during my visit. This guy should have double-checked his plans.

Was hoping for a cloudier morning to keep the crowds away today but it was indeed quite packed. Ka, 'Jaro, Nitro, BTR, Superman, Skull Mtn all looked to be 60-90min waits whenever I checked (a couple of those were before noon, too). Toro crew was absolutely devouring the line. From the churro stand where the line was, though the five switchbacks, into the station, and onto a train in TWELVE minutes! Of the ~10 dispatches I saw throughout the day, they only stacked trains once, and for about 10sec. They were running around like some kind of Cedar Fair operators or something. Stopped at Bowcraft on my way home for the Crossbow credit, as it appears to be listed for sale.

Good to see a few people are enjoying! ^LOL It's great to hear Conneaut had some busy days this year. I'm always pulling for them, but do fear the worst. As the sun began to set, I headed back to the car to leave my camera & phone to enjoy a bagless evening ride session, especially with the log flume in mind. But upon re-entering the park, I was stunned how beautifully decorated and lit it was, and was compelled to go back to the car so I could get a few shots. This is the main difference I'm finding in my experiences between big corporate parks and small, typically family-owned, parks. The former somehow tend to lose something as night falls while the latter just come alive and really display their character. An incredible amount of work has gone into the fine details of lighting at Waldameer and it's absolutely my favorite night-time park. The Music Express did indeed run a fast, fun cycle and was great way to get back into the action and mood. Afterwards it was straight to Ravine Flyer for my go on its famous night rides. This was definitely one of my most memorable coaster rides ever, and I'm sure it was running very fast, still well over 80 degrees out. Night-time absolutely magnifies the out-of-control sense. There is no letting up, but it's also a very comfortable ride. I'm still working out where I'll rank it, it'll be up there. By 8pm there was only a station wait and the crowds continued to die down as the night went on, so it was very marathon-able. I also took the chance to reride X-Scream with the view towards the park, and the Skyride, for some neat views of this beautiful place. Finally closing time came and I sadly had to leave Waldameer behind. I will certainly be back. The flume did escape me, a situation I resolved to fix at Seabreeze. My last decision for the night was whether to double back for the night event at Conneaut, which would mean getting into my hotel in NY around 4am in front of a very busy, long day. Completely torn. I'd twice tried calling my upcoming Motel 6 to let them know of my already late arrival and could never get an answer at the desk. Finally I decided: if I could get an answer at the hotel and confirm I'd still have access to a room at 4am, I'd go. Otherwise, I didn't want to risk being stranded. After 5min of calling, calling back, letting the phone ring dozens of time, I finally gave up. I still regret missing out, even though I probably would have ended up with no room for the night. Next Up: Herschell Museum & Martin's Fantasy Island Trippy! Big wheel and Comet showing off their looks. HA! Fiiiinally got the "pride" tower! When a Maurer Spinner looks this striking, you're doing it right. Quintessential RFII. Snuck in one more Very photogenic wheel. Ka-booooom. If I get one good picture per trip I'm happy, and this one's does it. Even though Waldameer itself wouldn't be doing fireworks until the night after my visit, I still got a taste. The tower lighting program was totally mesmerizing. I watched it for a good five minutes, and while patterns would show up again, there was no sense of a loop repetition. The patriotic theme would show up quite often, and last awhile. It would also put a rainbow up for just a couple seconds, and I kept trying to get a picture but would miss by a split second each time, like three times in a row haha.

I forgot about my breakfast before CLP. Sheetz is a chain gas station/convenience store/sandwich shop common in PA, especially the western part. Big Sheetz fan here, I actually prefer them to Wawa (runs and hides). Walker Breakfast Ranger!! It was really delicious! (Look at that list, how could it not be?) How about a quick ride count for Conneaut? Tumble Bug - x2 Blue Streak - x9 Devil's Den - x1 Witch's Stew - x1 Flying Scooters - x1 Paratrooper - x1 (this 'trooper runs really great, very fast, by the way!) Bessemer Train - x1 I bid adieu to CLP around 3pm and headed north to Erie, getting into town a bit before 4:00. First stop was Sandbar Drafthouse which is just down the road from the park. Had a BLT and some sort of regional crafty IPA. Both were fine but not exceptional, and the service was a little slower than I'd hoped. Definitely a good stop to relax after a visit, though. Within half an hour of getting through the gates, I was absolutely in love with Waldameer ... and it just kept getting better from there. The atmosphere was second-to-none here. It had a warm, community feel with respectful guests. It fell into a sweet spot size-wise, not a tiny park where you're bored after a few rides, and not an overwhelming maze of endless filler activities. The layout is simple and smart; you always know where you are and anything you wish to find is a snap. It's clean and appropriately, but not oppressively, monitored by security. And finally - the attention to detail was outstanding. No, it's not mind-blowingly themed like Disney or Phantsialand. But the flowers, landscaping, bronze statues, impeccably maintained signage is consistently topnotch any direction you look and gives the feel of a classic, passionately maintained park that is a center of strong pride for the community. Take away the knowledge of ride manufacture dates, and an evening at Waldameer has a truly timeless feel to it. They way they integrate rides with one another, like how RVIII is nestled adorably right under the big wheel, is next-level among parks of this scale. Now, cleanliness and statues, nice details and park layouts, are all well and good, but of course the rides really have to deliver as well. And here, well...they do. I started with a quick spin on Comet, their junior woodie. It sits smack in the middle of the park, and the level of care bestowed upon it reflects that. This 60+ yr old PTC/Schmeck machine looks like it just opened this year - absolutely immaculate. There are a couple sub-40' woodies I prefer, but it's still a ton of fun. The curved loading station is very cool, and how the ride is mounted to the station roof, also a neat design. It was a simple walk over to the far side of the park for Steel Dragon (a Maurer Spinner) and X-Scream (a Larson/ARM tower). Each were great, as expected. I did just did the lake view side of the tower for now. Next up I spied Spider, an octopus, a mesmerizing flat ride. The mechanical linkage that drives the motion is really cool to watch, and I'd never seen one of these rides, so was excited to give it a go. Loading went pretty slow, and you got one heck of a long cycle, so there was a bit of a wait here. The cars are very neat how they load: They unfold to form the staircase that allows you to step up into them, then fold back up to form your enclosure/restraint. Neat! The ride experience was definitely unique - fun but a bit dizzying. Whacky Shack and Pirates Cove, two 1970's William Tracy dark attractions, were up next and were very much worth the 20 and 10 minute waits. Again, every time I do these dark rides I like them more and more. Without giving them away, some really neat effects here! I managed rides on quite a few other attractions as well. Finally the main event - the primary objective - their pièce de résistance - the magnus opus of the modern Wald am Meer: Ravine Flyer II. It was time. Fifteen minutes later I was seated in the front row. The slow crawl up the beginning of the lift, then speeding up to reveal a majestic view of Lake Erie, the little hold at the apex - awesome! And then the real fun began. This is one wild, out of control ride that is relentlessly smile-inducing through the full course. My second lap was from the backseat, and I preferred that option, and really began entertaining the notion this would break into top-10. My only wish was that it could be a little longer. And yet the best part of a Waldameer visit was still to come. For now let's see some of the daylight views. Spider. It was fun for the first 27 minutes of the ride cycle but then I just kinda wanted to end... The '78 Hopkins Skyride was seeing perfect supply and demand: no queue, all seats filled. (This style has seats that are always fixed on the line and moving during the ride.) Going up or down? Simple and wonderful. Tacky and wonderful. Hopkins went for the "less calculating, more steel" approach to flume construction. There were many, many statues and I was strangely compelled to photograph just about each one I saw. They add a great charm to the atmosphere. "Holy %&^* what did that thing just do to us" Comet's "station footer" This is an evil Disk-O. Now, I like Disk-O's and I've been on quite a few of them but none have ever crushed my manparts like this ride did. I think maybe it spins a little faster than normal? Thus accelerating the "jewels" into Zamperla's wonderful hard plastic saddles with a bigger v-squared for its r, d'oh!! I'm not sure, but no re-rides on this one! Lies! I believe this has actually been a picnic pavilion since the 1920's though? I might be mixed up... Waldameer became even more magical as the hours passed. How many can you count? Still all full! Merry-go-Round roof aka scrunchy guard. Bustling, scenic Waldameer as summer winds down... awesome. The big wheel really anchors the park's skyline even more than RVII due to it's central location and prominence from all angles. Let's go for another ride on RVII! The lines were under 15 minutes all afternoon, and thinned out even more later (to come...) They spelled the club wrong. A beautiful lifthill that still hides how awesome the first drop is. Awwww... Oh, you thought you were done seeing statues? Muahahaha.... "Hey, if it works for coaster track, it should work for the carousel building." -some engineer, a hundred years ago It was whacky and shacky!

I enjoy the rides through either of the systems. Having a little space to get your hands off any handles is the biggest improvement on the newer style, for me.

Glad you enjoyed the pics. Unfortunately I did not make it back to the park for the night event. I'd had every intention to, but a number of factors piled together to make me scrap the plan. In retrospect, I should have just doubled back and gone, and skipped MFI to get some sleep. Hindsight 20/20, as they say. Agreed on the front car rehab. Crazy that the bench popped off during your ride, that must have been interesting. Wonder if that initiated the work? And they were indeed stopping the train with the curved brake only. I doubt that will change anytime soon since they only run the one remaining NAD train. I've heard the Vettel train is actually quite a bit tamer, even with fixed bars only, on account of much less airtime. I've also heard the Century Flyers don't fit the track quite correctly, and that's part of the reason for how jarring the ride is. NAD CF forground, original Vettel background UP NEXT! - Waldameer - daytime

Back from my trip, it was great weekend. All three days were very hot and humid, each hitting 90°F before noon and highs of 94°-96°. These links will activate as the reports are posted: Day I Part I: Conneaut (YOU ARE HERE) Day I Part II: Waldameer Day II Part I: Herschell Day II Part II: Martin's Day II Part III: Seabreeze Day III: NYS Fair With the future of CLP perennially up in the air, and with my great love for Blue Streak, I was resolved to get back to the park this year. Interestingly, this park has a long history of battling through bleak outlooks, all the way back to the 1930's, mirroring many of today's difficulties. Granted, many parks struggled in the 30's, but among those that survived, perhaps none were as unlikely to as CLP. It's been the "park that won't die" for much more than the last ~15 years. In Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania, Jim Futrell writes: The bank then installed new management and made significant investments (including Blue Streak in 1938), allowing for a successful recovery. Fast forward the better part of a century. The park is, naturally, looking very much like it did last year. There is work being done on the coaster - retracking and reroofing of the tunnel. The gift shop was downsized - the Slapchops and Geauga gear were gone, but some nice shirts and hoodies were stocked. All that was missing was someone to sell me one. Devil's Den was back open; I'd missed it because it is used as a haunt during the Halloween season. I'm really starting to dig these classic dark rides. Witches Brew ran slower than I remember, sadly. A volleyball event was using the hotel grounds and the beach was quite busy. The park itself, of course, was not. Blue Streak was down for repairs when I arrived at noon but was running within the hour. The front car was out of service; they may have been rehabbing lap bars because the rest of them were working much smoother than last year. I marathoned for about a half hour, made it on every dispatch, and hit most of the open seats; the trains were generally a bit over half full. Even with the new-looking track sections, the ride seemed even rougher than I remember it last season and you could really see the cars in front of you bouncing up and slamming back into the track repeatedly. The first drop in the back row still delivers some of the fiercest airtime and one of the most intense coaster experiences out there. We'll be heading up the road to Waldameer next - which was incredible - but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Picture time! Upon arrival the parking lot was completely full... of grass, and dirt. There really IS a coaster in this pic! The midway was bustling with its typical crowds. These folks were bumping, setting, and spiking and having an all-around grand time on the lakefront. Nerd shot. And no, I didn't crawl under the Bug to get this, silly. The world really needs more Harry Traver. This is where you fall out if you don't hold on. Dilapidated vibrancy hints an ebullient yore. Did I really just write that? Pretty in a kind of UrbEx way. And Great Adventure fans complain about their tower.... By the way, this was installed by the People's Pittsburgh Trust (bank) in their 1930's redevelopment of the park. There were four more letters on this sign than there were functioning bumper cars. A three-fold improvement from last year. Still wanna ride? Of course you do! Reconstruction of the tunnel roof is underway. Blue Streak has a curved skid brake. How many coasters have this? I can think of at least one other, and it's in PA, too. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? The Fedora-sporting operator was very friendly and didn't waste time getting the train out each lap. I may have bought a shirt ... if anyone had been manning the gift shop. At Conneaut Lake Park, you can do park-like things like rent fluffy bunnies and buy gumballs. Just kidding, you can't really do either of those things. If you don't like pictures of an old woodie nestled deep in the woods, this is probably a good place for you to turn back. Let's finish off with a few more views of the Streak from the Bessemer Train (which finally opened, woohoo!) I'll stop yapping now and just let you enjoy them. Ok, one more thing. Look how the track braces between the bents are nestled within the stack. Is this design unique to Vettel? Last comment, really. The stack was 12 boards tall at the bottom of this hill!!

Blue Streak is just fine! I've ridden it a few dozen times last year and this past weekend and was completely comfortable. They're even rebuilding the roof that collapsed, have recently done some trackwork, and are working on the lead car. Or at least taking it all apart. The train bounces like nothing I've ever seen but the structure is at least several years away from actually collapsing. I kid, it's safe. Here's some pics from last Saturday: Relax, it's just a handrail. There's a lot of layers for backup so we're good here. Fixing the roof. Fixing the train. Look how many pieces of wood they have nailed on there, it's not going anywhere. The thumbnail is so small... trackwork... I think.... Lil sketchy here but hey, all good. It works. This hill is pretty sexy all freshly retracked. The through-the-woods feeling is very real here.