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Shane have fun in Mexico and be sure to pick up some more postcards to share with us por favor.

 

Well you know we will pick up more than postcards and a have a GOOD TIME! It will be Miles & Me, and you know from Japan and Europe...We know how to have a GOOD TIME!

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Scott-

 

We will miss you on our Schwarzkopf trek to Mexico City next weekend. I am so excited to ride the Laser Loop at its new home as well as Dreier Looping. I don't think we will get to Thriller.

 

Do you happen to know its operating schedule????

 

Yeah, I'll miss going with you guys there. Dreier is the ONLY major Schwarzkopf I haven't ridden. Take Lots of vid & pics and give Laser a hug for me. Don't forget that big woodie at the back of the park! Get some fresh vid of it too. I LOVE that ride.

 

As for Thriller, I call into the park now. I just hope it wasn't damaged by last week's hurricane ...

 

-Have fun!=)

 

-Scott

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I just happened upon some older Carowinds material and thought I would toss it out there. First up is Schwarzkopf's White Lightnin', a ride that should NEVER have been removed in the first place. Though it's called the Golden Loop and still runs today in Africa, I wish it had remained at Carowinds. That part of the park has always seemed rather "dead" since it's departure.

 

The second major part of this post is the old Jetstream trains that Thunder Road originally opened with. I always wondered about Carowinds' connection to Riverview and how this deal went down. In any case, these trains were beautiful and incredibly comfortable. They were built in-house by the Riverview staff for the John Allen-designed Jetstream, which operated 1964-67. After several years of running on TRoad, it was determined that the excessive weight was too much for the structure and they were replaced with standard PTC three-benchers. Though I've searched for these trains for years, I was finally told by a longtime maintenance worker that they were buried in a landfill that is now home to the Hurler. I hope this isn't true but removing that ride to find out is sure an enticing thought ...

 

Though Carowinds is getting Geauga Lake's used Boomerang in 2009, I've heard that a second large project will be taking place during the season, and this could mean the end of the Arrow log flume. Perhaps this is the BIG announcement planed for 2010 ...

boat.jpg.898ba5a6aa4e6e08d72af67869632825.jpg

Ah, the good old days -- The Sternwheeler AND a sky ride. This view today reveals BorgHawk, another hand-me-down. ::sigh::

tower.jpg.5dd992317eb018ced3aeed8754cd5d5e.jpg

Sponsored by Eastern Airlines! RIP EA

Troad00.jpg.c66fa3bfa80b0954258bf7757deefbff.jpg

Those cushy seats were like big sofas! 1976

Troad1.jpg.8ba7f26b1990c5b876dc9e4ab472d407.jpg

Grand Opening 1976

Troad3.jpg.2850170703341054d9dbf287f5c82262.jpg

The Lift in 1979

Troad2.jpg.83f6c31839d79be450229454c019584c.jpg

If you look closely, you can see the auto fronts on the trains have been replaced by the big "V" that ran at Riverview.

WL4.jpg.d170252376b5e2776cc2feb6504d4d14.jpg

1979

WL3.jpg.42c5a10161ae74c957eae26eec2db481.jpg

1979

WL2.jpg.08d524169ba2874ead0ffe8f2d272122.jpg

1979

WL1.jpg.870e6fb13a3b0bb059ef262234c653fa.jpg

White Lightnin' postcard

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Ahh, Carowinds. I live about 5 minutes from there so when I was younger I always seemed to have a season pass.

 

Never did experience either those trains or White Lightnin' but my parents always talked about how "pointless of a ride" it was. I would have liked an experience on it but oh well (unless I go to S. Africa)

 

I wouldn't mind seeing the Arrow Flume leave, it is just about as old as the park though and if they are going to remove that, then we better not get some hand-me-down. Our "newest" ride right now is actually The Runaway Reptar Junior Suspended. Its about time Carowinds gets something to call their own and if that involves removing the Flume then I am alright with that. Hell, I'm even alright with the removal of Hurler if that were to ever happen (I hope not but I would rather see that go than others in the park)

 

I always liked the steamer and LOVED Smurf Island. Any pictures of that? PLEASE!

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An old book I read in high school, Funland USA, mentioned that Messerschmidt had designed a suspended coaster, but I had no idea that one had actually been built (the book, as I recall, said the design wasn't safe, or something along those lines).

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Thanks for the great "Alpenflug" pictures. The first one was taken at Oktoberfest in Munich, the only fair the ride ever played.

 

The coaster was so popular that the owner had to call in police to control the crowd of spectators and riders. Of course this was also a sure way to get some free press.

I still remember that "Alpenflug" made huge waves in the news and in the papers.

After all, the manufacturer MBB is/was a hi-tech weapon company with a very unpopular standing in postwar Germany.

 

The coaster was the largest and most amazing (travelling) coaster the world had seen back then and when it was closed down and permanently dismantled due to its faulty fabrication, the publicity got even larger.

 

The whole "Alpenflug" dilemma was certainly not the kind of publicity and image-change the dubious company had hoped for.

 

The other pictures show the ride during construction on the MBB plant near Munich. That explains the unfinished IKEA look of the cars.

 

It´s a pity that there are no more pictures which show the ride in fill swing.

 

According to the Stengel book, every part was manufactured as a double. So the second coaster was actually already existing, but it was never assembled and probably ended up as some bombshell.

 

Speaking of the Stengel book: There are some sketches of Big Bad Wolf from the Schwarzkopf-phase.

They show a train of 4-person cars, which look almost identical to the Arrow-trains. There is a scene which shows the train racing through a "bob"-trough, with the track hidden in the theming.

Then there is another scene in which the train is racing down a snowy hill, while "jumping" over a "bavarian" house, which is half sunken in the snow.

Those sketches indicate that Schwarzkopf and most likely Busch Gardens were not planning to use those huge "Flugbahn" cars, nor the circular track that was originally designed for this attraction.

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Thanks for the great "Alpenflug" pictures. The first one was taken at Oktoberfest in Munich, the only fair the ride ever played.

 

The coaster was so popular that the owner had to call in police to control the crowd of spectators and riders. Of course this was also a sure way to get some free press.

I still remember that "Alpenflug" made huge waves in the news and in the papers.

After all, the manufacturer MBB is/was a hi-tech weapon company with a very unpopular standing in postwar Germany.

 

The coaster was the largest and most amazing (travelling) coaster the world had seen back then and when it was closed down and permanently dismantled due to its faulty fabrication, the publicity got even larger.

 

The whole "Alpenflug" dilemma was certainly not the kind of publicity and image-change the dubious company had hoped for.

 

The other pictures show the ride during construction on the MBB plant near Munich. That explains the unfinished IKEA look of the cars.

 

It´s a pity that there are no more pictures which show the ride in fill swing.

 

According to the Stengel book, every part was manufactured as a double. So the second coaster was actually already existing, but it was never assembled and probably ended up as some bombshell.

 

Speaking of the Stengel book: There are some sketches of Big Bad Wolf from the Schwarzkopf-phase.

They show a train of 4-person cars, which look almost identical to the Arrow-trains. There is a scene which shows the train racing through a "bob"-trough, with the track hidden in the theming.

Then there is another scene in which the train is racing down a snowy hill, while "jumping" over a "bavarian" house, which is half sunken in the snow.

Those sketches indicate that Schwarzkopf and most likely Busch Gardens were not planning to use those huge "Flugbahn" cars, nor the circular track that was originally designed for this attraction.

 

I have the Stengel book. It really is a treasure trove of info. You are right about the sketches showing a ride that looked a lot like the Arrow version that except for the "snow" theme and the bob skids on the vehicles. From what I can gather from interviews with both Stengel and Ron Toomer, the "original" BBW design did indeed call for the single-pipe track and the big 14-seat cars, but for whatever reason the second version Stengel did used the same setup used on the Bat vehicles/track. Stengel also made it very clear that Schwarzkopf had every intention of banking his track on the BBW, unlike what transpired on the Bat and Alpen-Flug.

 

Furthermore, I asked Stengel if he thought a true suspended coaster could be built today and he was very enthusiastic about it. He even said his company had developed additional calculations to make it possible and that he would be quite excited to work on a modern version of the suspended coaster. Now wouldn't THAT be something to see ...

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Great Update Shane.

 

Seeing as you say you interview Mr. Stengel I assume you where the one that wrote the article about Alpenflug in First Drop about a year ago It was a very interesting story, both then and now and I would love to hear more like it Looking forward to the rest!

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^ Well I would love to take credit for that update because it is one of the best I have seen! But Scott is the one with all those great pictures.

 

-Shane

 

PS. I am completely intrigued by this Stengel Book. I am going to try and track down a copy right now, what is the name of it? In the mean time I WOULD LOVE IT if you posted the pictures and sketches Anton did of the Big Bad Wolf.

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Seeing as you say you interview Mr. Stengel I assume you where the one that wrote the article about Alpenflug in First Drop about a year ago It was a very interesting story, both then and now and I would love to hear more like it Looking forward to the rest!

 

Yes, I did the FD story.

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Seeing as you say you interview Mr. Stengel I assume you where the one that wrote the article about Alpenflug in First Drop about a year ago It was a very interesting story, both then and now and I would love to hear more like it Looking forward to the rest!

 

Yes, I did the FD story.

 

Wow, sorry. I got the attic and the closet mixed up a bit there Anyway, I just want to say it was a great feature, and one of my favorites. Keep up the good work

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PS. I am completely intrigued by this Stengel Book. I am going to try and track down a copy right now, what is the name of it? In the mean time I WOULD LOVE IT if you posted the pictures and sketches Anton did of the Big Bad Wolf.

 

It´s called "Roller Coaster - Der Achterbahn-Designer Werner Stengel". Written by Klaus Schützmannsky, it appeared as a sort of "exhibition catalogue" to the Stengel exhibition which took place in the "Deutsches Technikmuseum" in Munich in 2001.

It´s a sort of biography with lots of rare pictures, some technical sketches and some vague future-designs.

Of interest is also the appendix which lists Stengels work up to 2000, complete with project number, commissioner, manufacturer and kind of work (dynamics, layout, design). There are also some works listed which never saw the light of day (eg. Bullet coaster by italian company SDC for Kings Dominion). Sadly the book doesn´t show pictures of those rides.

 

Since the book was mainly done for the exhibition (it is a hardcover) it was presumably printed in relatively small numbers and was soon sold out.

 

Amazon did promise re-issues and english translations, but they never materialized. You´ll find it on Ebay every now and then, but it isn´t cheap.

 

Sorry, can´t scan from the book, since I am working away from home right now.

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That Stengel book sounds like a great thing to try and get hold of, does anyone have the ISBN number for it?

 

Here's the #: ISBN-13: 978-3933257390

 

And an Amazon link with an absurd inflated price of US$1960.00.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Roller-Coaster-Designer-Werner-Stengel/dp/3933257395/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

It's a great book with an amazing amount of info. I've heard the reason for the delay in both reprinting and the English version is a dispute between the author and publisher.[/tprtv]

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Thanks for the Info, I always wondered what exactly was the reason for them taking it down. I've seen pictures of this coaster quite awhile ago but never knew any info on it surrounding its "dismay."

 

There are more picture of the coaster on Michael Pantenburg's 'Fotoarchiv,' some will notice Michael Pantenburg as the creator of "Schwarzkopf Coaster Net." A Schwarzkopf fan's heaven!

http://metamorph.coaster.net/

 

 

 

 

(Also cheack out http://schwarzkopf.coaster.net/ if you haven't yet.)

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A great collection of posts, no doubt about it- and a little bit of trivia back about Ocean View Park's Rocket....

 

Back when I was in College in Tidewater, a friend of mine (also an enthusiast) showed me something that made me DROOL...

 

It was THREE of the cars from the defunct Rocket, languishing away next to an old warehouse near the Campus of Old Dominion University. When I left Tidewater in the late 90s, they were still there, but as that area has been 'redeveloped' I'm quite sure they are now gone, sadly. If I'd only had a trailer and a place to store them...

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Ahh, Carowinds. I live about 5 minutes from there so when I was younger I always seemed to have a season pass.

 

Never did experience either those trains or White Lightnin' but my parents always talked about how "pointless of a ride" it was. I would have liked an experience on it but oh well (unless I go to S. Africa)

 

I wouldn't mind seeing the Arrow Flume leave, it is just about as old as the park though and if they are going to remove that, then we better not get some hand-me-down. Our "newest" ride right now is actually The Runaway Reptar Junior Suspended. Its about time Carowinds gets something to call their own and if that involves removing the Flume then I am alright with that. Hell, I'm even alright with the removal of Hurler if that were to ever happen (I hope not but I would rather see that go than others in the park)

 

I always liked the steamer and LOVED Smurf Island. Any pictures of that? PLEASE!

 

Wouldn't the newest ride coasterwise at Carowinds have been Ricochet back in 02?

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