Comet (Lincoln Park)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Comet | |
| Location | Lincoln Park |
|---|---|
| Type | Wood |
| Status | Standing but not operating |
| Opened | 1946 |
| Closed | 1987 |
| Manufacturer | National Amusement Device Company |
| Designer | Edward Leis, Vernon Keenan |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift |
| Height | 65 ft (20 m) |
| Length | 3,000 ft (910 m) |
| Max speed | 55 mph (89 km/h) |
| Duration | 2:10 |
| Comet at RCDB Pictures of Comet at RCDB |
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The Comet is a twister-layout wooden roller coaster that operated in the now defunct Lincoln Park in Massachusetts. It operated from 1946 until 1987. It continues to rot away as time passes by.
[edit] History of The Comet
The coaster was designed by Edward Leis and Vernon Keenan and built by the National Amusement Device Company. The ride was 3000 feet long, and had a top speed of 55mph. One ride lasted two minutes and ten seconds. It had two trains, each with five cars, arranged with two per row, two rows per car, for a total of 20 riders per train.
The coaster was originally designed with five cars, but during the last years of its operation, the ride was shortened to four to allow the last carts to be used for spare parts. The ride continues to stand, though it's lifthill has been partially collapsed as of 2005. As of the winter of 2008, the Comet's station building has completely collapsed. The cause is unknown, but was most likely the result of either heavy snow or just wrought.
[edit] Possible Rebirth
The trains of the ride were purchased by Little Merrick Amusement Park when the ride closed. Merrick also expressed interest buying the coaster in 2002. The owner of Lincoln Park at the time, Walter Bronhard, offered to sell the coaster for $90,000, but received no buyers. Various preservation efforts were made to save the coaster, but as of January 2005 when the coasters lift had collapsed, the efforts had generally been abandoned. Instead, A-Merrick-A expressed that it would probably build an exact replica of the ride though the status of this plan is currently unknown.
