Coney Island Cyclone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cyclone | |
 Coney Island Cyclone |
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| Location | Coney Island |
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| Type | Wood |
| Status | Open (seasonally) |
| Opened | June 26, 1927 |
| Manufacturer | Harry C. Baker |
| Designer | Vernon Keenan |
| Track layout | Cyclone |
| Lift/launch system | Chain-lift |
| Height | 85 ft (26 m) |
| Length | 2,640 ft (800 m) |
| Max speed | 60 mph (97 km/h) |
| Inversions | none |
| Duration | 1:50 |
| Max vertical angle | 58° |
| Cyclone at RCDB Pictures of Cyclone at RCDB |
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The Coney Island Cyclone is a well known roller coaster in Coney Island, New York City.
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[edit] Early history
After seeing the success of 1925's Thunderbolt and 1926's Tornado, Jack and Irving Rosenthal bought land at the intersection of Surf Avenue and West 10th Street. A coaster called the Giant Racer was already on the site, but the Rosenthals had it torn down. With a $100,000 investment, they hired Vernan Keenan1 to design a new coaster. A man named Harry C. Baker supervised the construction, which was done by area companies including National Bridge Company (which supplied the steel) and Cross, Austin, & Ireland (which supplied the lumber); the final cost of the Cyclone has been reported as both $146,000 and $175,000. When the Cyclone opened on June 26, 1927, a single ride cost twenty-five cents (thirty-five on Sundays). Lines were down the street and hours long.
In 1935, the Rosenthals took over management of Palisades Park and the Cyclone was put under the watchful eye of Christopher Feucht, a Coney Island veteran who had built a ride called Drop the Dips in 1907, and then did some minor retracking work on the Cyclone. The ride continued to be extremely popular, and one of its many stories is from 1948, when a coal miner with aphonia visited Coney Island. According to legend, he had not spoken in years but screamed while going down the Cyclone's first drop and said "I feel sick" as his train returned to the station—then prompty fainted after realizing he had just spoken.[citation needed]
[edit] Save the Cyclone Campaign
By the 1960s, attendance at Coney Island had dropped off. By 1968, the Cyclone was deteriorating and it was shut down in 1969. In 1971, the Cyclone was bought by the city of New York for one million dollars. Lack of riders hurt profits, and the ride was condemned; in 1972 it was nearly destroyed because the Coney Island aquarium wanted to expand. A "Save the Cyclone" campaign ensued, and the coaster was leased to the Astroland park for $57,000 per year. The ride is still owned by Astroland, but the land it stands on—75 feet along 834 Surf Avenue and 500 feet along West 10th Street ( ) — is still owned by the Parks Department. Astroland's owners had the ride refurbished, and it reopened on July 3, 1975. In 1978, it was featured in the film version of The Wiz as the home of its version of the Tinman, and its size compared to the rest of Oz raised to enormous proportions. In the 1980s, events like the Mermaid Parade and Sideshows by the Seashore brought visitors back to Coney Island and the Cyclone.
[edit] Legacy
In 1977, Richard Rodriguez, (USA) set a marathon record of 104 hours. Richard was only age 19 when he broke the record. Today, he currently holds the record for the longest marathon on a roller coaster with 401 hours on the Pepsi Max Big One/Big Dipper at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England. On June 13, 1991, the ride was named a NYC Historic Landmark, and then on June 25—the eve of the 64th anniversary of its opening—the Cyclone was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Its 70th birthday was celebrated in 1997 with a tightrope walk by Tino Wallenda between the ride's two highest points; that year a single ride cost four dollars. The track today is 2,650 feet long (including six fan turns and nine drops) and 26 meter at its highest point; the first drop is nearly 60 degrees. Each of the three trains is made up of three eight-person cars, but only two trains can run simultaneously. The ride's top speed is 97 km/h and it takes about one minute and fifty seconds. The current cost is eight dollars with a five dollar "reride" option. The "re-ride" option also gives riders the ability to choose their seats. In addition, a souvenir booth located near the exit sells photos of passengers taken at the first drop. The Coney Island Cyclone is an ACE Coaster Classic and Coaster Landmark[1][2]; it has also been honored by baseball's Brooklyn Cyclones as the source for their team name.
The popularity of the Cyclone has inspired several coasters to be patterned after it, including Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags Over Georgia, Psyclone (demolished in 2007) at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Viper at Six Flags Great America, the Cyclone at Lakeside Amusement Park, The Texas Cyclone at the now-defunct Six Flags Astroworld, the Bandit at Movie Park Germany, the White Canyon at Yomiuriland in Japan, and Aska at Nara Dreamland (demolished in 2006), also in Japan.
| Preceded by Giant Dipper |
World's Fastest Roller Coaster June 1927–April 1972 |
Succeeded by Racer (Kings Island) |
[edit] Video
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site
- The Cyclone (citynoise.org)
- "Coney Island Cyclone Turns 80" - WNYC story about the roller coaster
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