Shane's Amusement Attic

[FeelTheFORCE]

Those were my original thoughts, but both of them have track that "threads" the loop, and the coaster in the picture doesn't. Hmm.

[eddie200330]

Just by the straightness of the track leading to the loop I would say it is the Revolution under construction. It is the only coaster I know of with that weird long straight instead of a normal parabolic type drop.

[TheRapidsNerd]

King Cobra, the Schwartzkopf Shuttle, when it was at King's Dominion?

[SeaWhippet]

Well here is something I just dug out of the attic...

 

Can you name this coaster???

 

 

Schwarzkopf's test track at the Bavarian factory. I always wondered if they raised the test vehicle up by crane each time ...

 

I actually have this pic in a mag ... somewhere in The Closet's dark recesses.

 

-S

[montezooma]

Well here is the answer...

 

 

Yes, it is the Great American Revolution, not at Magic Mountain but at Schwarzkopfs plant in Germany. I thought it was a fascinating picture to see the loop of this great ride without the Valencia Falls behind it or the track threading it. It is the Revolution "naked".

 

So many years ago they had to actually build the ride elements, support them on wood trusses and do testing to make sure they actually worked. Roller Coasters sure have come a long way.

 

Here are some more pictures and an article about Shwarzkopf. Sorry about the corner piece missing, theses things happen.

 

 

 

[coastercrazed49]

Cool Article Shane.

Its really impressive that now that was advanced technology, now the loop is something you see common on most coasters.

Great Stuff Shane.

[Kennyweird]

Very interesting, Shane.

 

It's very weird to look back in time and see people going nuts over a simple vertical loop, but I guess in the future coaster enthusiasts will look back and think it's weird that we went nuts over a 120 mph launch.

[coasterking2981]

So is SFMM's Revolution a clone or was it moved there from Germany?

 

Wow, roller coaster really have come a long way. The loop and the corkscrew were all the rage back then. Now we got Immelman's, Cobra Rolls/Boomerangs, heartline twists- pretty much any inversion one can name there at at least 10 to 20 or more coasters out there that have it.

 

Nice pictures and article btw.

[DRACHEN_FIRE_FAN-BOY]

holy crap! that is probably the single most amazing thing ever!

 

wow, goooood find Shane, just WOW!

[montezooma]

"To design a coaster", he says, "you just have to think of a pretzel..."

 

Just think, we owe the thrill of todays upside down coasters to pretzels and coat hangers.

[packfanlv]

So is SFMM's Revolution a clone or was it moved there from Germany?

 

Wow, roller coaster really have come a long way. The loop and the corkscrew were all the rage back then. Now we got Immelman's, Cobra Rolls/Boomerangs, heartline twists- pretty much any inversion one can name there at at least 10 to 20 or more coasters out there that have it.

 

Nice pictures and article btw.

 

I am pretty sure it was moved from Germany.

[RCoasterny]

What magazine was this article from? All we know it's on page 73 in the August 1980 issue... Popular Mechanics? There might be a microfiche or a digitized PDF document out there on the internet.

[montezooma]

So is SFMM's Revolution a clone or was it moved there from Germany?

 

Wow, roller coaster really have come a long way. The loop and the corkscrew were all the rage back then. Now we got Immelman's, Cobra Rolls/Boomerangs, heartline twists- pretty much any inversion one can name there at at least 10 to 20 or more coasters out there that have it.

 

Nice pictures and article btw.

 

I am pretty sure it was moved from Germany.

 

The Loop portion of the ride was set up in the Germany plant and all testing was done there. It was then disassembled and transported to Magic Mountain and constructed there.

[montezooma]

What magazine was this article from? All we know it's on page 73 in the August 1980 issue... Popular Mechanics? There might be a microfiche or a digitized PDF document out there on the internet.

 

Sorry, but I am not sure what magazine this article came from. I just have the page that was ripped out and not the magazine.

[thrillgeek]

That's so cool to see. I'm very fascinated with findings like these. I love old school coaster photos!

[coasterking2981]

So is SFMM's Revolution a clone or was it moved there from Germany?

 

Wow, roller coaster really have come a long way. The loop and the corkscrew were all the rage back then. Now we got Immelman's, Cobra Rolls/Boomerangs, heartline twists- pretty much any inversion one can name there at at least 10 to 20 or more coasters out there that have it.

 

Nice pictures and article btw.

 

I am pretty sure it was moved from Germany.

 

The Loop portion of the ride was set up in the Germany plant and all testing was done there. It was then disassembled and transported to Magic Mountain and constructed there.

 

Thanks. So is SFMM's Revolution right in its claim about it being the first modern coaster with a successful loop? just curious

[Gordon Freeman]

Funny how you posted this just in time for the rides 32nd birthday!

[DenDen]

Thanks. So is SFMM's Revolution right in its claim about it being the first modern coaster with a successful loop? just curious

 

In North America. I would assume Scwartzkopf being in Germany, they were the 1st in the world, but I'm sure someone will correct me!

[thrillgeek]

^That makes sence to me. It was in Germany at the time right

[coasterking2981]

Thanks. So is SFMM's Revolution right in its claim about it being the first modern coaster with a successful loop? just curious

 

In North America. I would assume Scwartzkopf being in Germany, they were the 1st in the world, but I'm sure someone will correct me!

 

Thanks!

[RIP Psyclone]

Corkscrew (Arrow Dynamics) at Knott's Berry Farm opened in 1975, and was the world's first modern inverting coaster. Revolution opened 5/8/1976 and had the world's first modern vertical loop. However Cedar Point's Corkscrew, also by Arrow Dynamics, has a vertical loop as well, and opened just a week later, 5/15/1976. It's safe to say they were being designed concurrently. In this video the CEO of Arrow claims they built the first looping coaster, which isn't 100% true.

[AllenA07]

So is SFMM's Revolution a clone or was it moved there from Germany?

 

Wow, roller coaster really have come a long way. The loop and the corkscrew were all the rage back then. Now we got Immelman's, Cobra Rolls/Boomerangs, heartline twists- pretty much any inversion one can name there at at least 10 to 20 or more coasters out there that have it.

 

Nice pictures and article btw.

 

The loop was built in Germany for testing. The loop was then moved to Magic Mountain and the rest of the ride was built.

 

Building rides at the factory is something that still goes on. The most recent examples that pop into my head is Hypersonic which ran for several years at the S&S factory, and a small portion of the 4D coaster at the Arrow factory. In a slightly unrelated question, does anybody know if that segment of the 4D coaster at the Arrow plant ended up being part of X, or is it still there?

[ebl]

^ From what I remember in the video of its testing, the 4-D test track had a couple of bunny hops---which the actual ride doesn't---so I'd guess that it stayed at the plant.

 

Eric

[coasterking2981]

So is SFMM's Revolution a clone or was it moved there from Germany?

 

Wow, roller coaster really have come a long way. The loop and the corkscrew were all the rage back then. Now we got Immelman's, Cobra Rolls/Boomerangs, heartline twists- pretty much any inversion one can name there at at least 10 to 20 or more coasters out there that have it.

 

Nice pictures and article btw.

 

The loop was built in Germany for testing. The loop was then moved to Magic Mountain and the rest of the ride was built.

 

Building rides at the factory is something that still goes on. The most recent examples that pop into my head is Hypersonic which ran for several years at the S&S factory, and a small portion of the 4D coaster at the Arrow factory. In a slightly unrelated question, does anybody know if that segment of the 4D coaster at the Arrow plant ended up being part of X, or is it still there?

 

 

 

Thanks. ANd i'm pretty sure the part they used to test X in the Arrow factory is the segment after the lift chain but before the first drop- where the train disengages from the lift hill i think. I dont know, I might be wrong.

[CoasterLuv]

Gotta Love Coaster History!