Scott's Coaster Closet

I've found it disheartening that many of today's coaster/park enthusiasts care little for the amusement industry's history, opting instead for the next mega-hyper-whatever. But the response we've gotten over the Attic/Closet/Shoebox/etc. threads has been rather refreshing.

This is why I'm so happy you guys have been posting your collections.

I've often found that it would seem that the "younger generation" coaster enthusaists don't care about the history, but in reality I think I've found that they actually do care very much.

Just look at all the "defunct coasters" that have been re-created in all the Roller Coaster Tycoon games and No Limits. Many of these are done by 15 and 16 year olds!

One of the things I really wanted to encouage in TPR members was to post "retro" or "classic" photos.

At the end of the day, I don't think many people care how old your photos or articles are as long as they are interesting!

Thanks again guys.

--Robb

I am pretty sure that Arrow scrapped the idea in the late 70's. Big bend was taken out in 78 so my guess would be that the plug was pulled sometime around then. I think that was also the time when they closed up the Mountain View plant and moved the whole operation to Utah.

As Eric said, Sarajevo Bobsled opened in 1984 at Magic Mountain the exact same ride also opened that year at Six Flags Great Adventure and Opryland (Screamin Delta Demon).

As a teen I was on the opening crew of Sarajevo Bobsled at SFMM and I can tell you that you are not the only one that is not a fan of the ride. Most of the GP hated it too (but they loved our ride outfits). When they got off of it most were really disapointed. "That's it????" "That Sucked!!" & "Well, that wasn't worth the wait" were common GP comments.

It is no wonder that ride only lasted 2 years at the park.

I am pretty sure that Arrow scrapped the idea in the late 70's. Big bend was taken out in 78 so my guess would be that the plug was pulled sometime around then. I think that was also the time when they closed up the Mountain View plant and moved the whole operation to Utah.

 

As Eric said, Sarajevo Bobsled opened in 1984 at Magic Mountain the exact same ride also opened that year at Six Flags Great Adventure and Opryland (Screamin Delta Demon).

 

As a teen I was on the opening crew of Sarajevo Bobsled at SFMM and I can tell you that you are not the only one that is not a fan of the ride. Most of the GP hated it too (but they loved our ride outfits). When they got off of it most were really disapointed. "That's it????" "That Sucked!!" & "Well, that wasn't worth the wait" were common GP comments.

 

It is no wonder that ride only lasted 2 years at the park.

Intamin approached the ride with the max-capacity mindset, which SF demanded. Unfortunately, that meant HUGE, heavy vehicles and that ugly steel trough. The Flying Turns was never meant to handle thousands per hour, but SF refused to accept that. Sad.

Shane, I'd love to see those opening crew outfits ...

I'm loving this thread more and more everyday! It's sad to see some of Arrow's creation never become a reality.

I found a video of Arrow's Suspened Coaster with a corkscrew!

The first video has a POV of the ride with the corkscrew. And a working model of the prototype with the corkscrew.

-Tatum

I'm loving this thread more and more everyday! It's sad to see some of Arrow's creation never become a reality.

 

I found a video of Arrow's Suspened Coaster with a corkscrew!

 

The first video has a POV of the ride with the corkscrew. And a working model of the prototype with the corkscrew.

 

 

-Tatum

That's a cool old clip. Notice that the corkscrew has been removed from the working prototype, and that area is now freshly painted white track. I expect Arrow did not want anyone to see footage of the vehicle whipping (or not) through the corkscrew. I'd love to have that model so I could expand the circuit.

It looks to me like they had two completely different prototypes of the suspended coaster. The track layout and track design is completely different in the pictures from the track in the video.

Those pictures are awesome! I had never even heard that Arrow had messed around with a Flying Turns style ride.

 

There's something to be said for how cool it was to actually *build* little prototypes instead of just using computers.

 

Mike

 

Arrow did a lot of "experimenting." including a (tubular) take on the Virginia Reel. I interviewed Ron Toomer last year and learned A LOT about Arrow's early endeavors ...

 

-S

^you interviewed him recently!? Do you have the interview!? I'd love to see that! I really want to ask him about the criticisms of his rides being rough and tearing themselves apart. I mean, some are gone. And the whole shoulder bar hitting you while entering the corkscrew - was that NOT an issue anyone ever brought up? It was on all their rides, seems like a little tweeking could have resulted in a better ride.

I've always wondered whatever happened to Ron Toomer. No doubt he retired, but nothing's been said about him.

Also, I wonder how Karl Bacon and Ed Morgan (Arrow's founders) are doing---if they're still with us.

Eric

I just found a whole bunch of SFNO and Jazzland stuff! Does that count as Retro? I might post it on here!

-Tatum

^ That would be interesting stuff! Please do share!

Eric

I've always wondered whatever happened to Ron Toomer. No doubt he retired, but nothing's been said about him.

After speaking at Cedar Point at an event to celebrate Magnum XL-200's 10th anniversary (and sporting a slightly different style of eyeglasses), Mr. Toomer has been MIA.

There have been rumored sightings, but nothing concrete.

 

Shane, I'd love to see those opening crew outfits ...

Well here they are.

And while digging in my photo shoebox that is in my attic closet I also came across these momentos from that opening year of Sarejevo Bobsled.

I also came across a bunch of stuff from my days of working at the parks, that will have to be a whole other post over in the attic one day.

and here is a little souvenir from the Bobsled panel

and here is my old park ID. I look so young back then.

and here is the button that they made us where that year. "We care about you" was the big campaign back then. It was needed coming off of several years of bad guest comments. I think most of those comments stemmed from the Great Adventure park.

and here is my name tag

and here is me and my girls modeling the sexy outfits...HOT in an alpine kind of way.

Well here is the sexy ride....

 

Shane, I'd love to see those opening crew outfits ...

 

Well here they are.

 

And while digging in my photo shoebox that is in my attic closet I also came across these momentos from that opening year of Sarejevo Bobsled.

 

I also came across a bunch of stuff from my days of working at the parks, that will have to be a whole other post over in the attic one day.

Wow, those were cool in a "Sound of Music" kind of way.

I've always wondered whatever happened to Ron Toomer. No doubt he retired, but nothing's been said about him.

 

After speaking at Cedar Point at an event to celebrate Magnum XL-200's 10th anniversary (and sporting a slightly different style of eyeglasses), Mr. Toomer has been MIA.

 

There have been rumored sightings, but nothing concrete.

He's not MIA; he's just enjoying retirement out of the public eye. I spoke with Ron less than a year ago at his home and he was fine. We talked about a lot of things including a book he'd like to do on his many years with Arrow. We discussed me helping him with that when the time came, so we'll see what happens. I think it would be a fascinating read.

-S

^ Absolutely. I'd buy a copy of that book.

I know that people make fun of Toomer for his use of bent wire for coaster designs, but personally, I think that was a good way to visualize the various inversion elements.

My only gripe with any of Arrow's designs is the fact that the guide wheels weren't spring loaded to assure constant contact with the rails. Because of that, Arrow coasters tend to be rather bumpy and some don't age well.

Eric

I'm loving this thread more and more everyday! It's sad to see some of Arrow's creation never become a reality.

 

I found a video of Arrow's Suspened Coaster with a corkscrew!

 

The first video has a POV of the ride with the corkscrew. And a working model of the prototype with the corkscrew.

 

-Tatum

You would have thought that Arrow would have been able to tell from that prototype that the swinging on flat curves will kill the suspension systems very quickly. Not only a maintenance nightmare, but looks like it would have really hurt. Almost looks like being thrown against a wall as you went around the turn. I'm betting they rushed the first installation to get the recognition and product out without really doing much testing.

If memory serves me right, there were a lot of amusement companies competing for parks business back in the early 80's so if you had something new and cool, you wanted the exposure as fast as you could. And without the internet, you had to rely on pictures and newspapers for word to get out about your product and how it was received.

I can remember my one ride on The Bat at KI and it was really painful. But, in the end, Arrow did get it right after while.

Man, I wish I could have ridden the Bat. Legendary.

Sarajevo Bobsleds wound up at SFGam, and even in the fifth grade, I remember being underwhelmed. I also remember seeing the track entombed in the parking lot for a while afterwards.

Those uniforms are awesome, though!

I'm loving this thread more and more everyday! It's sad to see some of Arrow's creation never become a reality.

 

I found a video of Arrow's Suspened Coaster with a corkscrew!

 

The first video has a POV of the ride with the corkscrew. And a working model of the prototype with the corkscrew.

 

-Tatum

 

You would have thought that Arrow would have been able to tell from that prototype that the swinging on flat curves will kill the suspension systems very quickly. Not only a maintenance nightmare, but looks like it would have really hurt. Almost looks like being thrown against a wall as you went around the turn. I'm betting they rushed the first installation to get the recognition and product out without really doing much testing.

 

If memory serves me right, there were a lot of amusement companies competing for parks business back in the early 80's so if you had something new and cool, you wanted the exposure as fast as you could. And without the internet, you had to rely on pictures and newspapers for word to get out about your product and how it was received.

 

I can remember my one ride on The Bat at KI and it was really painful. But, in the end, Arrow did get it right after while.

The Bat was an awesome ride. It could be downright scary if your first ride happened to be at night. I always tried to arrange such a treat for my virgin Bat friends

And yes, had they banked the track on the turns, the Bat might still be with us today. That was its main flaw. Did they learn nothing from AlpenFlug?

If I had a time machine ...

Actually SFMM's Bobsleds ended up at SFoT.

SFGAd's Bobsleds went to SFGAm and then to Great Escape.

Opryland's went to a field in Indiana to rust

Cedar Points bobsleds are now a Disaster.

The only Intamin Bobsled still in it's original location is the one at De Eftling. (and I guess you could count Cedar Points too)

The Bat was an awesome ride. It could be downright scary if your first ride happened to be at night. I always tried to arrange such a treat for my virgin Bat friends

 

And yes, had they banked the track on the turns, the Bat might still be with us today. That was its main flaw. Did they learn nothing from AlpenFlug?

 

If I had a time machine ...

I think what everyone seems to fail to notice or mention is that non-banked track made that ride much wilder than its offspring. If the Bat was banked, it would surely still be here, but it wouldn't have been the same ride.

Because of the suspension systems on the cars (i.e. all those shocks) banking would force the cars to anticipate the turn, making it much more tame, which is what you have today.

Can I post my Jazzland/SFNO stuff in this thread?

I like those uniforms! The Bobsleds look really fun!

-Tatum

The Bat was an awesome ride. It could be downright scary if your first ride happened to be at night. I always tried to arrange such a treat for my virgin Bat friends

 

And yes, had they banked the track on the turns, the Bat might still be with us today. That was its main flaw. Did they learn nothing from AlpenFlug?

 

If I had a time machine ...

 

I think what everyone seems to fail to notice or mention is that non-banked track made that ride much wilder than its offspring. If the Bat was banked, it would surely still be here, but it wouldn't have been the same ride.

 

Because of the suspension systems on the cars (i.e. all those shocks) banking would force the cars to anticipate the turn, making it much more tame, which is what you have today.

The forces were so great on the Bat that the KI maint. crew had to replace those shocks quite often. I often imagine what might've happened had Arrow replaced that flat track with a few banked sections. Instead of Vortex we'd have something truly impressive: The Bat!

^ are you saying the Vortex is not impressive???

I am surprised that Arrow even considered a corkscrew on the suspended coaster design.

The first thing I think of is what would happen in a stall scenario.

Doesn't seem plausible from the get-go.

^ are you saying the Vortex is not impressive???

I didn't say Vortex wasn't impressive. OK, maybe I did, but... The ride just doesn't float my boat. Those corkscrews suspended in the air ... WTF? They could've inserted another good, deep drop right there ... but NO! Let's brake the train and then flip people over in the most uncomfortable manner possible. Boring. No thanks. Where's Bat II - The Revenge ?

I'm just sayin' ...