Texas Cyclone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Texas Cyclone was a roller coaster in Six Flags Astroworld in Houston Texas, and was known for its airtime, speed, and feeling of being out of control. It was 93 feet tall, had 3,180 feet of track, and the ride lasted for two minutes and fifteen seconds. It was opened in 1976, after a failed attempt by Astroworld to buy the original Coney Island Cyclone.
In the 1970's the Coney Island Cyclone was in a state of disrepair, and was in danger of being torn down to expand a nearby aquarium. Astroworld did not have a wooden roller coaster at the time, so they tried to buy the Cyclone and move it to Astroworld. After further examining, the land proved to be too expensive and difficult for Astroworld, so they decided to build a replica of the Cyclone.
Astroworld hired William Cobb to design the replica of the Cyclone. He created a mirror image of the Cyclone, which was also larger and faster than the original. During the construction, which was done by the Frontier Construction Company, the north end turnaround was damaged by a tropical storm, which delayed the opening of the coaster until 1976. When the Texas Cyclone was opened, it was one of the tallest and fastest wooden roller coasters in the world, and was considered by many to be the best roller coaster in the world. In 1979, the first turn was lowered by two feet to prevent stalling, so that it could operate safely in higher winds.
Six Flags Astroworld closed in 2005. The Cyclone was demolished on March 9, 2006, sometime between 7:00am and 9:30am. You may view the demolition video at OldAstroworld.com. The roller coaster would have been very expensive to move. Even if it were rebuilt, it would not comply with current building codes.
