![]() “It’s still a thrill to ride it,” she said. Lisa Mitchell of Arizona remembers riding Colossus on her 16th birthday 32 years ago. Colossus is a unique roller coaster, dedicated to surprising and delighting riders until the very last moment 1 Day Ticket. “It’s one of the best of the wooden coasters.” Just when you think the ride is over, there’s still time for one more heartline roll to complete the set of ten and secure the 2002 roller coaster record. Other wood coasters in Southern California include GhostRider at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park and Giant Dipper at Belmont Park in San Diego.įor many roller coaster fans, the thrill of riding Colossus is heightened by the peeling paint and the slight shake of the wooden frame as the ride vehicle rumbles along the tracks.Ĭraig Akin, 42, made a special trip to Six Flags from his home in Sacramento to ride Colossus before it closes. opened 22 steel roller coasters and only four new wooden coasters, according to the Roller Coaster Database.Ĭolossus and the smaller and newer Apocalypse are the only two wood coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain, among 17 steel coasters. During planning and construction, Colossus was known as Project Odyssey. The music for the ride and surrounding area was composed by Ian Habgood. The ride's rough theme is the ruins of a recently unearthed Atlantean civilization. Steel coasters are much more expensive to build - up to $25 million each - but can reach faster speeds and execute sharper banks and upside-down turns, while needing much less maintenance, experts say. The ride is formed of a vertical loop, a cobra roll, two corkscrews and five heartline rolls. Colossus was built for $7 million in 1978, using more than 1.2 million feet of pressure-treated Douglas fir and long leaf yellow pine. Maintenance costs vary, depending on the construction material and exposure to the elements. Roller coaster enthusiasts have long debated the merits of wood versus steel coasters.Ī new wooden coaster can cost about one-tenth the price of a similar-size steel coaster but requires expensive maintenance, particularly on the flat steel strips that create the track, industry experts say. Garcia declined to say whether her company has been hired to overhaul Colossus. Rocky Mountain has installed new steel tracks on five coasters, helped build seven new coasters and repaired an additional 10 coasters. “We can have the coaster come back to life and have a new exciting ride for the park to market.” “We can take an existing coaster, rehab it and retrofit it, making the track more exciting,” said Amy Garcia, a spokeswoman for the company. It now has nearly 90 workers in three facilities. The company, which has a patent for a reinforced steel track that can be installed on existing wood tracks, began in 2001 with about 15 employees. Jump On and Ride Agro - (Hold X + Running, TRIANGLE, R1 while in air) You can actually mount Agro while he is running past you at full speed. Rocky Mountain Construction, an Idaho company that repairs and builds wood coasters, has been riding this trend. “The big trend is bringing old coasters back to what they once were,” said Adam House, a design engineer at Pennsylvania-based Great Coasters International Inc. companies that specialize in renovating wood coasters are reporting thriving business. ![]() while only 35 have been removed, according to Roller Coaster Database, an online database assembled by coaster enthusiast Duane Marden. Since 1990, at least 81 wooden coasters have been built in the U.S. in the last half-century, construction of wooden coasters continues. Although construction of steel roller coasters has surpassed that of wooden coasters in the U.S. The heyday of wood coasters ended in the 1940s and ‘50s with the surging popularity of speedy, sleek and easily maintained steel coasters. “Wooden coasters have an appeal because of the sense of nostalgia they create.” “There is always a love for the wooden coaster because it’s the real deal,” said Tim Baldwin, editor of the quarterly Roller Coaster magazine, published by American Coaster Enthusiasts. It was due to be replaced by a new ride called "Twisted Colossus,'' a combined wood and steel structure.Ĭolossus was the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster when it opened, at 125 feet tall and 62 mph maximum speed.Whatever happens to Colossus, wooden coasters aren’t dead yet. The wooden coaster ride was opened in 1978 and was closed just last month after 36 years in operation. There was no immediate word on what caused the blaze. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the fire just after 1:30 p.m., at the amusement park located next to Interstate 5 in Santa Clarita north of Los Angeles. Pieces of the track and wooden structure could be seen falling away as firefighters struggled to reach the fire with the water stream from their hoses. Local TV news stations aired helicopter video showing fire burning at a high point on the giant amusement ride. The park was closed at the time, and no injuries were reported. ![]() LOS ANGELES – A fire collapsed part of the Colossus roller coaster ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park Monday before firefighters extinguished the blaze.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |