Shane's Amusement Attic

[linearinduction]

No prob. Google Earth pic below. Search "Arrow Dynamics" in Utah and it'll take you to Clearfield where this pic is.

That Google Map is Hilariously Wrong! It's best to ask a local where Arrow was located, after all, some of us have visited the plant when it was Operational. Arrow Dynamics Manufacturing Facility was Located in the Freeport Center in Building H-12. In the Google Map, Bldg H-12 is located in the bottom left of the photo. The Building is now Owned by Lifetime and is a Backyards Inc. Store.

 

I'm not sure if many people know that in the 80s and 90s Arrow actually Contracted out the Manufacturing of their Steel Roller Coaster Track and Support Column Components to Fabriweld, which was located next door to Arrow at the Freeport Center in Building G-11. Fabriweld also did a lot of work for Vekoma as well, including the Manufacturing of Deja Vu at SFMM. I'm not sure if the others were Manufactured by Fabriweld or Not. Fabriweld also did work for S&S Power in the 90s before Intermountain Lift in Springfield, Utah, took over the manufacturing until 2003.

 

- Sid

[montezooma]

Coming up next Arrow is bought out by Huss....

[ebl]

^ Honestly, Shane, I've quite enjoyed it. Perhaps I've not conveyed that well enough in any of my posts.

 

Eric

[montezooma]

In 1981 Huss, European makers of flat rides, had the opportunity to buy Arrow Development. The two companies merged and formed Arrow Huss. Here is their ride catalog. With the two companies merged they had quite an extensive product line.

 

A couple of rides are mentioned in the Arrow Huss History that never saw the light of day...the Space Chase and the Virginia Reel. I think they had an actual test section of track for the Virginia Reel. Unfortunately the Space Chase never made it further than the drawing board...it actually looks like it would have been a really cool ride.

[montezooma]

I came across a few more ads for Universal Studios and Marineland, a park that was located in Palos Verdes. For awhile it was owned by Hanna Barbera. It later closed.

 

Also there are two flyers for "Mormon" night at Disneyland. Boy can you imagine the chaos that might have ensued had they scheduled gay night and mormon night on the same date??? lol

I had to throw this one in just for laughs. You can't get more "1970's" than this!

[ebl]

I actually did Baja Reef at Marineland once. It was an...interesting concept. Put on a pre-sterilized swim suit, grab your snorkel, and jump in!

 

Eric

[UniversalGSHo22]

MORMON NIGHT YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! LDS Standards LOL! WOW!! That must have been a BLAST!!!

That was probably the early days of Nights of Joy.....

Those are amazing! THank you so much for sharing them!!!

[ebl]

I'll say it again, I like the track plans. But that's because I have a thing for maps and seeing how things are laid out from above.

 

Thanks for keeping the good stuff coming, Shane!

 

Eric

[ebl]

I just noticed...it's 10th Annual Mormon Night in 1978, and it's 13th Annual Mormon Night just two years later. Did I miss something? How did that work?

 

Eric

[RIP Psyclone]

Ah, Marineland. It was in my town. I remember visiting it as a kid. The skytower (an Intamin, maybe?) stood for many years after the park closed.

 

And Battlestar Galactica! I remember thinking it was the coolest thing I had ever seen as a 6 year old.

[DenDen]

Wow! The Arrow-Huss segment was quite educational. Was always a huge Huss fan. I NEVER KNEW Arrow-Huss made a stand-up coaster. Wonder if it was any better than the TOGOs. (Which I actually liked!)

 

Thanks Shane, BEST. THREAD. EVAR!

[RIP Psyclone]

^I know stand up trains were put on an Arrow corkscrew, but were removed after one season. Beyond that, I don't think Arrow ever made a stand up coaster.

[Billy]

has anybody ever ridden the " UFO " ? that thing looks sweet!

[montezooma]

I just noticed...it's 10th Annual Mormon Night in 1978, and it's 13th Annual Mormon Night just two years later. Did I miss something? How did that work?

 

Eric

 

How funny that it skipped like that, I guess they didn't keep real good records back then. I think it is even funnier that they actually had "Mormon" nights, I think Knott's did they same thing back then, boy the 70's was a fun decade, especially if you were mormon...lol

 

Eric, I had completely forgotten about Baja Reef at Marineland, the year that we visited Marineland I really wanted to do it, but when my mom found out about the bathing suit situation, she wouldn't let us do it.

[mightypotato]

has anybody ever ridden the " UFO " ? that thing looks sweet!

 

I'm pretty sure they have one of those at PCW. Its essentially like your standard Round-Up.

[montezooma]

Does anyone know if Marineland was bought by Hanna Barbera (which would have been Taft at the time) or were the characters just licensed to the park?

[Guy T. Koepp]

That is wild. I remember going to Marineland as a child. Later on in life, long after they closed. I worked on a few TV shows, as well a film that used it's decaying buildings as a set. It's sad. I loved that place as a child.

[montezooma]

Hey Guy T. Koepp and EBL-

 

We all grew up around the same time and it sounds like in the same area...do either of you remember a place called "Japanese Village"? I remember going there as a kid, but that is about all I remember. I think it was somewhere near Knott's.

[coasterjunkie91350]

Oh god i do miss the gondolas that went thru the matterhorn i went on them on my first trip to disneyland at age 5. Im sad my neice wont be able to ride them this coming monday we are taking her as a early 6th bday present.

[montezooma]

^I know stand up trains were put on an Arrow corkscrew, but were removed after one season. Beyond that, I don't think Arrow ever made a stand up coaster.

 

The stand up trains were put on the Screamroller (EXT) at Worlds of Fun and also on the River King Mine Train at Six Flags over Mid-America. I believe a rider passed out and was thrown from one of those rides. The stand up vehicles were then removed from both rides and Arrow never made another attempt at the stand up genre.

[ebl]

^ Yes, a woman was killed on Rail Blazer, the retrofit standup coaster at Six Flags St. Louis. I don't know what happened, exactly, but it was on that ride.

 

Eric

[knottslover77]

I'm amazed you have all of this, thanks.

 

--Jay

[TheRapidsNerd]

^ Yes, a woman was killed on Rail Blazer, the retrofit standup coaster at Six Flags St. Louis. I don't know what happened, exactly, but it was on that ride.

 

Weirdly, my first park was Six Flags St Louis, 1 week after this happened! Also a Togo stand-up train fan. Loved KI King Cobra and KD Shockwave for years (except for the recent paintjob on shock).

 

The EXT trains put too much force on the tracks and had to be removed. ACE now owns the trains and keeps them in storage to eventually put them in the planned coaster museum.

 

EXT is one of a few I've built in RCT3 for fun. Thanks to Shane, I was also able to build the Pipeline Prototype test track, and the Corkscrew Prototype. His info is a BIG help.

[Homer]

Interesting stuff from Arrow-Huss,

 

What intrigues me is the Space Race coaster, which looks like Arrow's take on the Bobsled coaster. Too bad that never went around.

 

Also, the Magic Room ride seems interesting. Is it basically a predecessor to the Vekoma Mad House (Houdini's Great Escape, Hex)?

[montezooma]

Here are a couple from two parks on the others side of the country. They don't date back to the 70's but still are fun.

 

Of course WaterMania is no longer around and if you notice, Cypress Gardens is a Anheuser Busch Theme Park.