SeaWhippet

From the day I rode my first Wildcat, I've been a major fan of coasters from Germans Anton Schwarzkopf/Werner Stengel. So, I thought I would share one of my all-time favorite manufacturer brochures, which I picked up at an IAAPA show. While not sure of the exact date of this one, I'm guessing it had to be the mid-to-late 80s since Thriller and Olympia are mentioned. Enjoy -S

Actually, AWorld's Mayan Mindbender is no longer in storage; it's up and almost ready to run at its new home. Check out: www.amusementtoday.com for pics -- there's an auto slide-show about half-way down. I rode it in the dark as Nightmare @ Boblo Island. I look forward to seeing it run outside in the Texas sun. -S

Wow, Shane, that's such a grizzly description. It still puzzles me how the operator would push DISPATCH and not see this girl struggling with her restraint. Sad.

The Comet at Cascade Park, New Castle, PA, was built in 1954 on the site of another woodie, the Gorge/Gorge Dipper. Using some of the structure from the first ride, park manager Paul Vesco reportedly built the ride with equipment obtained from National Amusement Device, including two 4-car Century Flyer trains. I actually got to know Vesco rather well because of my interest in coasters. I recall how my friends and I walked into Cascade on a late summer afternoon in 1981 and found the park completely devoid of patrons. It was sad to see so many classic rides silent. Upon entering the Comet's station, we saw Paul sitting alone on a bench beside the Comet's manual brake handles. He appeared grateful for the company and seemed to take pleasure in giving us our own private ERT. The Comet was buried in the woods to such a degree that photos were difficult unless you walked the track or visited in winter. With the station perched on the edge of a ravine, the trains turned left out of the loading platform and plunged through the tree canopy into the valley. A couple of decent hills were followed by a tour of the rugged, densely forested ravine on the banks of a creek. There were very few other drops to speak of during this section. It was more of a turbulent scenic railway that had no pacing or flow. Riders were required to dodge low-hanging trees, limbs and vines. The highlight was the ride's finale: After the chain lift, the train made a 180-degree right turn and then dove down a VERY steep drop toward the creek. After a shallow, high-G pull-out, the train screamed out of the ravine, into a sharp left turn and finally back the brake run/station. My last ride on the Comet ended prematurely. I remember the train speed seeming slower than normal as we left the lift, made the turn and plunged. At that point, I knew something was not right. Those heavy Century Flyers made it as far as the anti-rollbacks at the top of the last hill ... and stopped. A friend and I were riding in the last seat, which was now hanging over the abyss. Shaking his head with dismay, Paul walked around the brake run, down to where we were stranded and manually released the lap bars so we could climb out. (See the following photos of that empty train hanging over the ravine.) I don't know if the Comet ever ran again, and I feel quite fortunate to have experienced this quirky, one-of-a-kind thriller. -SR

Shane, that's actually Betsy Abrams (from the Weather Channel) doing her 1984 karate moves in the Mbenders front seat!

I never visited this bizarre park, but I always thought it might've succeeded if they had a few thrill rides. I'm sure Arrow could've come up with something. Imagine an updated version of Matterhorn ... !

Oh, yeah, TClone ran PTC four-benchers at first, then went to three-benchers to negotiate the turns better. Then, after a ludicrous lawsuit they put on regular headrests, followed by the foam phone booth things ... and THEN the Morgans. That poor ride had more surgeries and alterations than Michael Jackson's nose. It really was a great ride ... until Six Flags tried to tame it .. and then destroyed it. Sad, sad, sad.

Yeah, I noticed the Coney/Riverside Cyclone comparison as well. That didn't make any sense to me either. It was nice to see the Texas Cyclone with its three-bench PTCs still intact. That was the first year I rode TC. What a ride ... -S

Here is People magazine pick of 1984's Ten Best Roller Coasters. Kings Island's King Kobra is #7. At least they chose the Texas Cyclone (RIP) as #1. Look closely and you might see someone you know in these photos. -S

Back before the Web was commonplace, roller coaster/park research meant going to libraries and historical societies and digging through tons of meaninglessness to find little hidden treasures. In the early '80s, I discovered this article on the infamous Riverview Bobs in a university microfiche collection. Sorry for quality of the images but that was the best their printer could produce. I don't even know what magazine it came from now, but I would love to see these photos in the original. There's mention of Chicago (mag?) on the bottom of page 6, but I don't think every page came from the same mag. If anyone can ID this publication, please let me know. Enjoy! -Scott

I agree, Shane, that shot of the body beneath the Mindbender's loops is awful. I could not get that image out of my mind during my flight from Las Vegas to Edmonton for my first spin on MB after the accident. Despite the train being comprised of three pilot cars with those bloody ratcheting OTSRs, I fully enjoyed the ride. The sheer brilliance of the Schwarzkopf/Stengel design overshadowed everything else. The Mindbender remains one of my all-time fav rides! -S

GCII has rebuilt the back turn (backwards side) of Carowinds' Thunder Road (from the footers to the hand rails). In addition to the Bolder Dash re-track, GCII is also doing a LOT of work on Cheetah at Wild Adventures. Look for wood replacing the steel at several high-G pull-out sections. Hopefully, this will make for a less-punishing ride. -S

This 1987 PopMech article features the horrific SFGAdv Lightnin' Loops and Edmonton Mindbender accidents, plus a nice long article on coaster history/safety. Enjoy! Scott Here is the news cast from the day of the Lightnin' Loops accident. You can hear exactly what happened from the guy sitting next to her.

Robb - I am more than happy to contribute to the Retro cause (thanks, Shane, for kicking it off with his Attic!). I'm just glad there is interest for such things. astroworldfan1 -- My current avatar is a train from Alpenflug, THE first 'modern' suspended coaster that ran for two weeks at Oktoberfest 1975 in Munich. -S

Ok, here's my first entry --- This appeared in the May 1978 issue of "National Geographic World." Note those wonderful speed bumps on 'Turn of the Century' @ Marriott's Great America (CA version). -S

Greetings! Welcome to Season II of Scott's Coaster Closet. I decided to change the name from 'Amusement' to 'Coaster' since most of my posts tend to focus on the nuts and bolts (and manual brakes!) of roller coasters as opposed to the entire park. Everything else is covered by my longtime friend Shane Huish over at Shane's Amusement Attic Season II of of the Closet continues our long, undulating trip down memory lane with various bits and pieces from my seemingly bottomless collection of coaster photos and memorabilia. Every now again I'll toss in info or pics of an old iron ride or other quirky attraction that catches my attention. So, without further delay ... slip under the fixed lap bar and hang on. It's gonna be a bumpy ride! -Scott Season II topics AlpenFlug -- THE very first modern suspended coaster Carowinds' White Lightnin' & Original Thunder Road trains -- Defunct Coaster Potpourri Defunct Coaster Potpourri -- Part II Olde Tyme Coaster Fun – Part I Coney Island Thunderbolt Olde Tyme Coaster Fun – Part II Media TR Carolina Cobra new train Defunct Coaster Bonanza #1 Kings Island's Diamondback hyper Our new Kings Island/Diamondback vid Season I topics Arrow Development (1978 NatGeo mag) Killer Coasters (1987 PopMech mag) Riverview Bobs (1954 Chicago mag?) 10 Best Coasters (1987 People mag) Cascade Park Comet (1981 photos) Anton Schwarzkopf (1980s brochure) Elitch Gardens( Twister & early Wild Cat shots ) Ocean View Rocket (1920s - 78) Mexico City Racer/NAD-IAD letters West View Racing Whippet West View Dips, Kiddie Dips & More Random mini-update: 1977 mag articles, 1980s brochures Rocky Springs Wildcat Marriott's GA,Conneaut, Rocky Glen & more ... Hanson's Park article/pic Arrow Development Flying Turns & Looping Suspended Coaster prototypes 1980 Herschell - Chance TWISTER! 1955-60 Schwarzkopf's Wiener Looping - For Sale and a look back! Virginia's Lakeside Park and Shooting Star Wooden Coaster Manual Braking Systems

Pure, that should have read "after" the drop was raised. I never got a chance to ride the original incarnation, but I hear its violent upward force was equal (at least in that section) to its Mexico City cousin. -S I looked at the pictures and can't find what you're talking about. Is it in this picture?

If you look closely at one of the Colossus pics, you can see the infamous low-profile speed bump (at the bottom of the second drop) before it was raised. Love those IAD trains! -S

Shane, love the latest offerings from your attic! Since our collections mirror each other (for the most part), I had to dig wayyyyy into the far reaches of my own attic to find something I don't think you've seen before. These are NAD brochures I mentioned earlier in this thread. They came to me in 1976 from NAD founder Aurel Vaszin, just before he died. They appear to be MUCH older than that, though. I am guessing they're from the 50s. There's one page I am still trying to find that shows the Mexico City Racer under construction. I'll upload it later. Much like Hitchcock did in his films, Vaszin had the habit of placing himself making cameos in publicty shots. I pointed out one instance. And, BTW, I think YOU are far older than me! Cheers, Scott Anyone know where the 1928 High-Diver was located? Spot Aurel again in this one? Look for Aurel lurking around the Kiddie Wheel! The "3-car" Century Flyer actually has 4 cars. Check out the spinning car. I 'm 99% sure the large wooden coaster on top of page is at Dayton's Frankie's Fun Forest/Forest Park.

Shane, Thanks for posting the IAD material (and all the rest, of course). I agree with your comment about IAD not being the greatest coaster designers, but their predecessor - NAD (National Amusement Device) - did build a few memorable rides that I rode: Camden Big/Lil Dippers; Lincoln Park Comet; Cascade Comet; Rockaways Atom Smasher, etc. Most famous is the Mexico City Racer. Before CCI castrated it, that was a mean machine. Designed with "circles & straight lines," as a good friend and current woodie designer describes the ride's engineering, the Racer had THE most intense and violent airtime of any coaster I had EVER ridden. IAD obviously used the Racer as inspiration for Colossus. Though I was just a wee lad at the time, I enjoyed a nice dialogue (through letters) with NAD's founder, Aurel Vaszin. This was just before his death. He was very proud of National's work and not so happy with the direction IAD was taking his company. If only he had lived a bit longer, he might've sent to me more information on another NAD classic eh was researching, Montana Rusa --- that massive ravine woodie NAD built in Guatemala. Did you have anything on NAD? Perhaps I could scan some of my brochures and you might keep this wonderful thread going. Our collections seem to mirror each other. I have just about everything you've posted so far. Keep up the good work! Scott