The Pippin (Kennywood)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
This article has been tagged since March 2007.

The Pippin was a wooden roller coaster operating at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania from 1924 through the 1967 season.

It was constructed by the famed John A. Miller, who had previously built the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood in 1921. The ride featured a sensational double-dip, which was then typical of coasters designed by Miller. Most of the ride was razed in 1968, but the beginning of the ride, including five drops down a ravine, was incorporated in the new Andy Vettel-designed Thunderbolt coaster. The Thunderbolt was rated the #1 Rollercoaster by the New York Times in 1974, and it still is the most popular ride at Kennywood. The Thunderbolt still uses the 1950s Pippin trains manufactured by the National Amusement Device Company, known as "flyers." The Thunderbolt had a minor accident in 2000, but still remains popular and is now perfectly safe.

INTERESTING FACT: Andy Vettel had wanted to change either the Pippin or the Jack Rabbit years before the plan was made to create the Thunderbolt!