D. H. Morgan Manufacturing

D. H. Morgan Manufacturing
Private
Industry Amusement ride manufacturing
Fate sold to Michael Chance
Successor Chance Morgan
Founded 1983
Defunct 2001
Headquarters La Selva Beach, California
Key people
 Dana H. Morgan, Paula Morgan
Products Roller coasters, Carousels, thrill rides, family rides, gentle rides

D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, later simply known as Morgan, was a manufacturer of roller coaster trains, custom amusement rides, roller coasters, children's rides and other amusement devices. Founded in 1983, the company was originally headquartered in Scotts Valley, California.[1] In 1991, the company moved to La Selva Beach, California and into a new 55,000 square-foot indoor manufacturing facility that also featured an acre of outdoor space.[2] That facility was later increased to 75,000 square feet.[3] The company produced a variety of rides from 1983 until 2001, but is probably best known for its steel hyper coasters.

History

Dana Morgan, the son of Arrow Development co-founder Ed Morgan, founded D. H. Morgan Manufacturing in 1983. He got his start in the amusement industry at age 14 as a ride operator at Playtown, a small children's park in Palo Alto, California, that was owned by Arrow Development.[4] Upon graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo he went to work for Disney, primarily doing design work for the Walt Disney World project. During the construction of Disney World, Morgan went to work for Arrow Development which was building rides for Disney World.[4] In 1974 Morgan left Arrow Development to became the general manager of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.[2] When Huss Maschinenfabrik purchased Arrow Development in 1981, Morgan was appointed president of the newly formed Arrow-Huss.[5] Morgan left Arrow-Huss in 1983 to form his own company, D. H. Morgan Manufacturing. Morgan had originally intended to build carousels, but the company's first contract was to build new trains for the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.[2] The demand for new coaster vehicles was so great that the carousel-building business had to be put on hold until 1988.[4] In the meantime, the Electric Antique Car Line was developed, and customer requests came in for custom attractions as well.[4] In March 1991, the company moved to larger facilities in La Selva Beach, California.[4] Dana Morgan continued building trains for wooden coasters until 1994 when on June 8, he sold the wood train manufacturing operation to competitor Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters.[6] The last Morgan trains built for a wooden coaster were delivered to Yomiuriland in Japan.

In 1995 Morgan built a Mine Train type ride for Michael Bonfante for what was then called Hecker Pass — A Family Adventure in Gilroy, California. The coaster, Quicksilver Express, was manufactured in 1995 but sat at the Morgan Manufacturing facility for five years before it was finally installed in 2000. Bonfante Gardens opened to the public a year later in 2001. In 1995, Richard Kinzel of Cedar Fair asked Morgan to build a 200-foot hypercoaster for Valleyfair in Minnesota. Utilizing designer Steve Okamoto, whom he had worked with at Arrow Dynamics, Morgan opened Wild Thing in 1996.[7] Morgan went on to build seven more steel coasters, including two more for Cedar Fair. D. H. Morgan Manufacturing also redesigned the former Arrow Coaster Steel Phantom at Kennywood Park in Pennsylvania.[8]

Dana Morgan retired from the amusement industry in 2001 and sold the assets of his company on June 14, 2001 to Michael Chance, who was the sales representative for competitor Chance Industries, Inc.

Wooden roller coaster trains

Opened Name Park Notes Ref
1983 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk [9]
1985/86 Le Monstre La Ronde Replaced by PTCI trains in 2013 [10]
1985 Cyclone Six Flags New England Replaced by PTC trains in 2000 [11]
1986 The Grizzly California's Great America [12]
1987 Texas Cyclone AstroWorld closed 2005, destroyed March 2006, trains moved to La Ronde [13]
1987 Colossus Six Flags Magic Mountain [14]
1988 Anaconda Walygator Parc [15]
1988 Dragon Coaster Playland (New York) [16]
1989 Jack Rabbit Seabreeze Amusement Park [17]
1989 Giant Dipper Belmont Park (San Diego) [18]
1992 The Rattler Six Flags Fiesta Texas replaced by PTC trains in 1996 [19]
1994 White Canyon Yomiuriland Coaster is SBNO as of January 2013 [20]

Steel roller coasters

Opened Name Park Notes Ref
1996 Wild Thing Valleyfair [21]
1996 Santa Monica West Coaster Pacific Park [22]
1997 Steel Force Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom [23]
1998 Mamba Worlds of Fun [24]
1999 Steel Eel SeaWorld San Antonio [25]
2000 Steel Dragon 2000 Nagashima Spa Land [26]
2001 Quicksilver Express Gilroy Gardens This was the first coaster manufactured by D. H. Morgan although it did not open until 2001. [27]
2001 Phantom's Revenge Kennywood Rebuilt Steel Phantom, an Arrow Coaster. [28]
2004 Superman el Último Escape Six Flags México Started by D. H. Morgan but manufactured under the Chance Morgan brand. [29]

Steel roller coasters that operate with D. H. Morgan Manufacturing trains

Carousels

Opened Venue Location Size Notes Ref
1989 Town Center Mall Thornton, Co. 30 foot Menagerie carousel (may have been removed from mall) [31]
1989 Belmont Park San Diego, Calif. 30 foot Liberty themed with 12 custom paintings of San Diego's history. Features replicas of Looff and Dentzel menagerie characters [31]
1990 Vallco Fashion Park Cupertino, Calif. 30 foot North American wildlife theme (may have been removed from mall) [31]
1991 Playland Park Vancouver, B.C. 30 foot Restoration of Arrow Dynamics Carousel. 12 hand painted scenes of B.C. Landscape [31]
1992 Fiesta Texas San Antonio, Tex. 47 foot German themed, 16 scenes of Texas [31]
1993 Entertainment City Kuwait 47 foot Arabian horse themed, 56 custom Arabian horses [31]
1996 Carousel Park, Broadway at the Beach Myrtle Beach, Calif. Restoration of Allan Herschell carousel. New fiberglass horses [3]
1999 Islands of Adventure Orlando, Fla. 47 foot Dr. Seuss themed, 54 animals from classic Dr. Seuss stories [31][32]
2001 Disney's California Adventure Anaheim, Calif. 47 foot King Triton themed, 56 sea creatures and multiple icons of Calif. historic seaside parks [31]

Electric guide-limited auto rides

Morgan produced two styles of cars: Classic Antique cars with two or four-passenger vehicles, and 1950s-themed cars with a working radio that played classic 1950s tunes.

Opened Park Notes Ref
1985 Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Antique style cars (removed 1999) [31]
1986 Lake Compounce Antique style cars [31]
1987 Kennywood Antique style cars (removed 2009, currently in storage) [31]
1987 Six Flags Magic Mountain Antique style cars (removed 2008) [31]
1992 Fiesta Texas Dual track, 1950s style cars with radio — '56 T-bird, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy (closed August 2014) [31][33]
1995 Dollywood Dual track, 1950s style cars with radio — '56 T-bird, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy
2001 Bonfante Gardens 1950s style cars with radio — '57 Chevy, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy [31]
2001 Bonfante Gardens Antique style cars — 1900s Mercer Raceabouts [31]
2002 Michigan's Adventure Dual track, 1950s style cars with radio — '56 T-bird, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy

Miscellaneous Projects

Opened Ride Park Notes Ref
1988 Train crash mechanism Universal Studios Hollywood [31]
1988 Children's Boat Ride Lotte World Under water track and drive system [31]
1988 Children's Chariot Lotte World [31]
1990 Tour boat ride Haw Park Villa, Singapore 16-passenger boats themed as 100-year-old Chinese junks [31]
1992 8 Ball Ride Fiesta Texas Teacup-style ride [31]
1992 Dark Ride Transport System Kings Island Originally for Phantom Theater [31]
1992 Teddy Bear Ferris Wheel Lotte World Highly themed with teddy bears holding candy canes [31]
1992 Balloon Ride Knotts Berry Farm [31]
1993 Outrigger Canoes Leofoo Village Theme Park 300-foot underwater track and drive system [31]
1996 Delta boat ride Opryland Hotel 20-passenger ADA accessible battery-powered boats [3]
1999 Fairy Tale Brook Legoland California 4-passenger rail-guided boats themed to look like floating leaves. [3][32]
2001 Garlic Clove Ride Bonfante Gardens Teacup-style ride [31]
2001 Balloon Ride Bonfante Gardens [31]
2001 Children's Hand Car Ride Bonfante Gardens [31]
2001 Custom Monorail Bonfante Gardens [31]
2001 Circular Boat Ride Bonfante Gardens [31]
2001 Artichoke Ride Bonfante Gardens [31]
2001 Strawberry Ride Bonfante Gardens [31]

References

  1. ↑ D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Inc. product catalog (undated)
  2. 1 2 3 "Dana Morgan", Morgan Fun Times, Fall 1997
  3. 1 2 3 4 D. H. Morgan Manufacturing Inc. Fact Sheet (undated)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Schwabe, Lee (1992). "Morgan Manufacturing: More Than Just Trains ACEers Love to Hate". RollerCoaster! Magazine 13 (3): 17–23. ISSN 0896-7261.
  5. ↑ O'Brien, Tim. Legends: Pioneers of the Amusement Park Industry, Ripley Entertainment Inc., 2006, p:224
  6. ↑ Althoff, David. "The Roller Coaster Almanac". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Wild Thing". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Phantom's Revenge". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Giant Dipper". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Monstre". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  11. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Cyclone  (Six Flags New England)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  12. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Grizzly". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  13. ↑ Marden, Duane. "Texas Cyclone  (AstroWorld)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Colossus". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Anaconda". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Dragon Coaster". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Jack Rabbit". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Giant Dipper". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Rattler". Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: White Canyon". Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  21. ↑ Baldwin, Timothy; Seifert, Jeffrey (2000). Guide to Ride 2000. Zanesville, Ohio: American Coaster Enthusiasts Worldwide Inc. p. 62. ISBN 0-9703987-0-0.
  22. ↑ Baldwin, Timothy; Seifert, Jeffrey (2000). Guide to Ride 2000. Zanesville, Ohio: American Coaster Enthusiasts Worldwide Inc. p. 37. ISBN 0-9703987-0-0.
  23. ↑ Baldwin, Timothy; Seifert, Jeffrey (2000). Guide to Ride 2000. Zanesville, Ohio: American Coaster Enthusiasts Worldwide Inc. p. 89. ISBN 0-9703987-0-0.
  24. ↑ Baldwin, Timothy; Seifert, Jeffrey (2000). Guide to Ride 2000. Zanesville, Ohio: American Coaster Enthusiasts Worldwide Inc. p. 65. ISBN 0-9703987-0-0.
  25. ↑ Baldwin, Timothy; Seifert, Jeffrey (2000). Guide to Ride 2000. Zanesville, Ohio: American Coaster Enthusiasts Worldwide Inc. p. 100. ISBN 0-9703987-0-0.
  26. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Steel Dragon 2000". Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  27. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Quicksilver Express". Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  28. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Phantom's Revenge". Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  29. ↑ "Roller Coaster Census: Superman el Último Escape". Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  30. ↑ Baldwin, Timothy; Seifert, Jeffrey (2000). Guide to Ride 2000. Zanesville, Ohio: American Coaster Enthusiasts Worldwide Inc. p. 67. ISBN 0-9703987-0-0.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1996 D. H. Morgan Mfg. Inc. Partial list of Clients and Projects
  32. 1 2 O'Brien, Tim (May 17, 1999). "New Family Rides Add Plenty Of Capacity". Amusement Business 111 (20): 20.
  33. ↑ "Farewell to an Iconic Classic - the Motorama Car Ride". sixflags.com. "Six Flags Entertainment Inc. 8/1/2014. Retrieved 9/2/2014. Check date values in: |access-date=, |date= (help)
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