Wabash Cannonball (roller coaster)

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Wabash Cannonball
Location Opryland USA
Park Section State Fair
Type Steel
Status Closed
Opened 1976
Closed 1997
Manufacturer Arrow Dynamics
Designer Ron Toomer
Model Steel Corkscrew coaster
Track layout Custom
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 70 feet (21.3 m)
Length 1,250 feet (381 m)
Max speed 50 mile per hour (80.5 km/h)
Inversions 2
Duration 1:10
Capacity 480 riders per hour
Height Restriction 48 inches (121.9 cm)
Wabash Cannonball at RCDB
Pictures of Wabash Cannonball at RCDB

Wabash Cannonball was a steel corkscrew roller coaster at the now-defunct Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee. Built by Arrow Dynamics in 1976, it was the second roller coaster added to the park following the Timber Topper. Located in the State Fair section of the park, the ride was built in an area previously occupied by the park's buffalo exhibit.

In accordance to Opryland's musical theme, the ride was named after The Wabash Cannonball, an American folk song about a a mythical steam train.

Following the Opryland's closure in 1997, Wabash Cannonball was disassembled and sold to Premier Parks. After being stored at Old Indiana Fun Park in Thorntown, Indiana for several years, the ride was scrapped in 2003.

[edit] Layout

Wabash Cannonball was a stock model roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, a clone of Knott's Berry Farm's Corkscrew.

The ride began when the train rolled out of the station into a short U-turn. Following the turn was the seventy foot tall lift hill. Once the train was at the top of the hill, the train dipped down again into a banked turn. The banked turn then took riders down toward the first drop, which gave a sensation of airtime. Following the drop, the train then ascends a small hill and goes down a turn towards the double corkscrew element.

Following the signature double corkscrew element, the train then went through another U-turn into the brake run.

[edit] See also