Colossos (roller coaster)
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| Colossos | |
| Location | Heide Park |
|---|---|
| Type | Wood |
| Status | Open |
| Opened | April 13, 2001 |
| Manufacturer | Intamin AG |
| Designer | Werner Stengel |
| Model | Wooden Coaster (prefabricated track) |
| Track layout | Out and back |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 196.83 ft (60 m) |
| Drop | 159.08 ft (48.5 m) |
| Length | 4409.4 ft (1344 m) |
| Max speed | 74.6 mph (120.1 km/h) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 2:25 |
| Max Vertical Angle | 61 degrees degrees |
| Capacity | 1500 riders per hour |
| Colossos at RCDB | |
| Pictures of Colossos at RCDB | |
Colossos is a wooden roller coaster at Heide Park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the first wooden roller coaster to use prefabricated track, and is the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in Europe (second tallest and fastest worldwide).
Colossos is very different from a traditional wooden roller coaster because it is a prefabricated wooden roller coaster. This means that instead of trackers cutting, shaping, and laying down the track on site by hand, the track is laser cut in a factory. This means that the track is manufactured to a higher degree of precision than could ever be achieved by hand. The track is also made so that it snaps together like Lego pieces. The track also is made of more layers of wood that are tightly bonded together instead of nailed together by hand like a traditional wooden roller coaster. This has three major benefits, two being to the park and the other being to the riders.
The "Plug and Play" aspect of the coaster speeds construction of the coaster since track does not have to be completely manufactured on site. In addition, because of the speed of construction, the costs of building the coaster are lowered due to fewer manhours spent on the construction. The riders benefit from a coaster, that while being wooden, is near steel smooth. However, some roller coaster enthusiasts may find that aspect to take away from the ride since it would not have the same character as a traditional wooden roller coaster. Two other prefabricated wooden roller coasters have since been built, Balder at Liseberg and El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure.
