Farewell Top Spin, You Will be Missed!

I was browsing used ride sights and in ITAL, Intl. I came across this ad.

http://italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=865

I spoke with some of the guys at the Great NY State Fair, and they confirmed that James E Strates shows is in fact looking for a buyer for the Top Spin. This saddens me greatly, as this is one of the last great super-spectacular rides left traveling in the northeast US.

On a side note, it seems that Strates Shows may be on the verge of financial trouble, or just the cost of transportation is hurting them, as they are carrying less and less of the classic rides like the Rainbow, Ranger, Pirate, Flume, Roller Coaster, and Sky Wheel; the rides that set them apart from other carnivals. This year on the state fair midway there were two Scooters, two Cliff Hangers, two Scramblers, and aside from the Top Spin, Wave Swinger, Enterprize, and Kroon Giant Wheel, there were no other super spectaculars.

But look at the "classic rides" you mentioned:

Rainbow & Ranger are both heavy, high maintenace rides, the Top Spin (from what I hear) is not road legal, so it has to travel by train. The Sky Wheel uses 2 trailers, so it costs a lot to move and it has low capacity.

Our State Fair has lost the Sky Wheel (for it was sold) plus, Amusements of America have been selling ride after ride the past few years. However, this isn't really a bad thing considering the Fair has been booking in lots of other treats lately.

A of A has some great peices. They have a Fireball and Spin Out as well as a Wave Swinger and a bunch of other cool things

We had a Flume two years ago, but a few kids got banged up on it, so I don't expect them booking it anymore.

This ride has been shopped for 2 years now so its not a secret unfortunatly...its just been untill now quietly listed. I don't think this will sell quickly unless there selling it dirt cheap.

Strates also has several other rides for sale includen its Giant Wheel and a few others from what i've been recently told.

as for the finacial end of things, they are on solid ground. I can tell you that the Pirate and the Rainbow have had some mechanical issues and Huss has been overseas to try and fix them but they have yet to figure out what exactly is the problem with the two.

Well, then I'm glad I got to ride it back in the spring. I think I counted 21 flips all together. The only option I could see for this in the states would be for it to take up residence in a permanent park like SFNE or SFGAm.

Before anyone says that SFGAm's version isn't portable, compare pictures of it to the one in the link. The only difference in the Great America version is the bracing that keeps it several feet off the ground and keeps it from swaying like the Strates version.