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Scott's Coaster Closet


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If I could go back in time and ride any coaster that is now gone, The Rocket would be my #1 choice!!!

 

That speed dip after the first drop looks brutal! I wish I had the chance to ride it. I can't think of anything worse than sitting in the coaster and not being able to ride cause no one else would ride with you...total bummer!!!

 

Those are some great pictures. I believe that when the movie Roller Coaster was filmed the ride got a pretty make over but it it's last days it was pretty delapidated (sp?)

 

That crash scene in Roller Coaster is pretty good! Gruesome but Good!

 

PS- where are the nudie shots from Playboy???

 

 

Yes, Shane, I agree about the Rocket's speed bump after the first drop: it must've been quite intense. You can easily see that in one of the off-ride shots in 'Rollercoaster.'

 

I think they gussied the old girl up for her Hollywood premier, but she was still one mean b**ch according to people I know who rode at the time.

 

That crash scene was WAYYY more gruesome than what made it into the final cut. The producer's (?) wife saw it and asked that it be tamed a bit. I've heard that stunt people were injured in that scene. I'd love to see the Director's Cut ...

 

That one pic is all I have left of the Playboy nudie layout (go figure!!!). If you have others that show the Rocket, please post!

 

-S

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Shane or Scott, ya'll wouldn't have to happen a clip of the Rocket during the scence where its destroyed? That would have been so cool to see that! Yet, we lost a coaster to Hollywood.

 

-Tatum

 

No, I don't have a copy but would love to see it again. As bad as that TV movie was, it contains the very last filmed images of the park in operation. They changed the Rocket's train from three-cars to just two. I often wondered if that was done to reduce stress on the structure, or to make sure the train hits its mark when it 'crashed' ...

 

-S

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^ I have the same question regarding Lightning Loops. Wasn't someone checking restraints?! Didn't ride ops physically pull on them to ensure they were locked? Even if you just walked by and made a visual, wouldn't you notice if a rider didn't have his/her harness pulled down?

 

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.

 

 

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I remember the TV-movie The Death of Ocean View Park. Actually for a TV movie I didn't think it was that bad but not all that great either.

 

Oddly the last time I saw this movie was at my cousin's house on a local station in Virginia Beach back in the 1987. Just down the road pretty much from Ocean View.

 

My cousin who lived in Norfolk at the time they made both Rollercoaster and Death of Ocean View Park, I remember her telling me the park was already on its last legs at the time of Rollercoaster ( Kennywood I believe was the movie peoples first choice but that park turn them down ).

 

By the time Death of Ocean View Park was filmed, she was telling me the park was actually already closed and Playboy ( yes Playboy magazine made this movie for ABC ) actually had to bring in a few rides so they could re-open the park. That explains why there aren't any shots of the rides being destroyed other than the roller coaster and I believe an old parachute tower.

 

Back in the 70s I used to go to Norfolk's Ocean View quite often. Even in its run down state it was still better than what Virginia Beach had at the time. Seaside Park. That park didn't have a coaster but it did have pretty much everything else but Seaside had one problem. They HATED kids !!

 

Buckroe Beach across the water from Norfolk in Hampton at the time, they had a coaster but my parents refused to take us there saying it was in a "bad area" which is kinda of silly considering Ocean View wasn't exactly in the nicest part of town either. By the time I had my license and went to Buckroe ( 1986 ) only the coaster was standing and that was on the verge of being torn down. That coaster was actually smaller than Ocean View's.

 

But going back to Ocean View Park, that park was doomed anyway. The neighborhood ( and most of Norfolk at the time for that matter ) was going down the tubes. Plus I remember my cousin telling me that during the last few years of when Ocean View was in business, many people stopped going to the park because the feared the rides ( and the neighborhood ) were no longer safe. Sometimes I wonder if the people who owned the park regretted having their star attraction being featured in Rollercoaster? Plus I remember at the time hearing about some violent episodes that took place on the beaches near Ocean View too. Add those nearby seedy no-tell motels that existed at the time ( the 1970s ), none of which helped Ocean View Park.

 

At least the park went out with a bang and many people, even those who have no interest in roller coasters, well they still remember Ocean View Park thanks to that movie. unlike so many great parks of the past that have been totally forgotten by so many.

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I remember the TV-movie The Death of Ocean View Park. Actually for a TV movie I didn't think it was that bad but not all that great either.

 

Oddly the last time I saw this movie was at my cousin's house on a local station in Virginia Beach back in the 1987. Just down the road pretty much from Ocean View.

 

Cathy, thanks for sharing. OVP must've been something to see back in its heyday! I still can't believe I stood on the Rocket's platform and never got to ride it. Cherish your memories!

 

-S

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The only "bad" thing about these "closets" and "attics" is when you guys make updates mid-thread. Hard to keep track of the topics of coversation. Hence, my next reply to this otherwise AWESOME trend of coaster history, that's 4 topics prior to this message...(Confused yet, I am, I'm Polish AND blonde!)

 

 

Since when did Colossus run a train backwards? I missed this one!

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I seem to remember that it ran backwards as part of a Halloween promotion. I could be confusing it with another, though.

 

I did ride it backwards once when it ran that way. Quite a lot of fun. I think I liked it more than the forward running train.

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Hey, dont be knocking Colossus.....not too many places left were you can still ride double loop coasters with only lap bars....they seem to be a dying breed....was great to see the original Mister Twister at the # 3 spot, was such an amazingly powerful coaster, and of course, Texas Cyclone(RIP), still holds a special place in my heart!

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The Mexico City Racer (aka La Montana Rusa) is a ride that had intrigued me from the moment I first read about it in Robert Cartmell's New York Times article, "The Ultimate Roller Coaster."

 

I immediately wrote to the builder - National Amusement Device – asking for information. To my surprise (I was a just a wee lad at the time ), NAD founder Aurel Vaszin responded with a letter (see below) and a number of brochures and photos. He also gave me contact info for NAD’s successor – IADI. That letter is included as well.

 

The photos that follow are from Vaszin and my own camera. I was fortunate enough to ride the Racer in 1989, before CCI tamed the ride’s excessive negative-Gs. Sadly, during the same period, they also butchered several of the six (!) beautiful NAD Century Flyer trains. Someone should pay dearly for that crime against history…

 

Enjoy this look back at one of the most impressive racing coasters every built.

 

Cheers!

 

-S

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"Doesn't it use Pyclone's old trains when it runs backwards? Don't they use them becasue the brakes are different if it runs backwards and Pyclones trains are set up like that?" (astroworld1)

 

We're talking about the old PTC trains that Colossus had from 1980 till 1986. They could run those backwards with a slight modification (the usual---turning chain dogs and anti-rollback devices around).

 

I wish I could have ridden the Racer (Montana Rusa) in Mexico City. That sounded like it was quite a ride.

 

Eric

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The Mexico City Racer (aka La Montana Rusa) is a ride that had intrigued me from the moment I first read about it in Robert Cartmell's New York Times article, "The Ultimate Roller Coaster."

 

I immediately wrote to the builder - National Amusement Device – asking for information. To my surprise (I was a just a wee lad at the time ), NAD founder Aurel Vaszin responded with a letter (see below) and a number of brochures and photos. He also gave me contact info for NAD’s successor – IADI. That letter is included as well.

 

The photos that follow are from Vaszin and my own camera. I was fortunate enough to ride the Racer in 1989, before CCI tamed the ride’s excessive negative-Gs. Sadly, during the same period, they also butchered several of the six (!) beautiful NAD Century Flyer trains. Someone should pay dearly for that crime against history…

 

Enjoy this look back at one of the most impressive racing coasters every built.

 

Cheers!

 

-S

That post is pure bliss - your own photos especially. I didn't realize the trains had been altered so much (though opening in 1964, I should've known it had Flyers). I actually prefer the garish colours too, it's almost magical... yes I'm odd.

 

I'm yet to get to Mexico myself and while I know that CCI did some work on the coaster, it doesn't seem too altered from the photos and video I've seen (including one of those "World's Greatest Rollercoaster Thrills in 3D" DVDs). I can see the check brake before the second turnaround, but the profile seems to remain original - the same straight lines and circles as before (oh how I wish coaster profile hadn't become as fluid as it has today - modern profile often gives a dull ride when running slow, but the old geometry always delivers, whatever the weather, literally!). I expect that aside from that brake, the ride would feel pretty much as it would've done on opening. Gotta get there one day!

 

As for it originally having six trains - so did Grand National, infact, I have it on good authority from a PB manager that at one time, Grand National ran EIGHT trains! Ofcourse, there didn't used to be safety blocks - and I'm told that even with six trains, you'd be on your toes as a brakeman to ensure there were no bumps in the station (the huge sprung buffers on old cars were there for that very reason). There did used to be a check brake leading into Canal Turn, similar to Montana Rusa's modern brake, but it was just a slower, set with a winch so wouldn't act as a stop block (same as the brakes before the final dip before they were replaced with magnetic units).

 

Wood coasters are my thing. Vintage wood coasters are even more my thing. RACING vintage wood coasters are TOTALLY my thing and you my friend, have completely made my day! lol

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^ It ran a backwards train for a while until the Morgan trains were introduced.

 

--Robb

 

OK, I'm an idiot. I own a video that shows one train going backwards. Once you mentioned "Morgan", I remembered.

 

Dennis "has gotta dye his hair"

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