If you could bring back one roller coaster...

Chad - Drachen Fire was a fun coaster but Alpengheist and Apollo's Chariot are WAY better! If I were you I wouldn't be so stubborn and give the park another try.

mOOSH

Wedgewood's Tornado and Springlake's Big Dipper. Both are defunct woodies near OK City, OK. Both my mom and dad's families are from western OK and I have heard stories from relatives and friends about both of these coasters, and it would be great to experience them for myself.
Of course my others include all the great woodies of the past like Airplane Coaster, CB Cyclone, Lightning, etc...

Did Chad just respond to his own post?

....Yes, I think he did.....

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Speechless.

...I wasn't going to point it out, but it did make me laugh ;)

Me too! ;)

Without a question it would have to be the Wildcat and Jack Rabbit from Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio! ;)

HERCULES

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Woody said:

As for Coasterqueen's Jumbo Jet, all we would have to do is hop on a plane to Guadalajara where it gives rides daily to thrill seekers.

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I was lucky enough to ride the one at Cedar Point, and the one at Coney Island. It is a great coaster. I am surprised more family parks in PA dont have any more. THere are two Tobaggans in PA, why not a Jumbo Jet? http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery247.htm?Picture=1 (in case you are wondering what a tobaggan coaster is.

1ej

*** Edited 1/23/2004 2:47:20 AM UTC by 1EyedJack***

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Millenium Force29 said:
I would probably have to say Drachen Fire, Hercules, and Orient Express. .

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I rode Hercules a month before it was announced that is was coming to an end. Trust me, I did not shed a tear at the announcement. Without a doubt, the roughest of the 147 coasters I have rode in my life.

1ej

Jack - The Jumbo Jet/Toboggan ratio is horribly backwards unfortunately... especially since Toboggans are really just car crashes with a name.

As for the vote... most of the lost Schmeck's, Rye's Aeroplane, Cyclone Racer, the Belle Vue & Riverview Bobs's, and just to see how crazy it really was, the Crystal Beach Cyclone. Add the Steel Phantom into that list too... I loved that thing!

-BB *** Edited 1/23/2004 3:12:03 AM UTC by BBSpeed26***

shockwave

This one was not well known outside of the Pacific Northwest,but my vote goes for the Jantzen Beach Big Dipper that stood here in Portland,Oregon from 1928-1970.This coaster was designed by Carl Phare of PNE Coaster fame.I remember seeing this coaster in the 1960s but never got to ride it.:(

For pictures of this coaster go to www.pdxhistory.com ,click on the link for amusement parks,then click on Jantzen Beach.

If I had the $$$,I would bulldoze the sorry shopping mall that stands there now and rebuild the amusement park.

ThunderLooper at Alton Towers, I miss that baby *sniff*

and Moosh - too funny :)

-Jim

The Shooting Star at the old Coney Island, in Cincinnati.

I forgot all about the Shooting Star! Shame on me...

Drachen Fire was a good ride... for its time. When DF debuted, it was at a time when Arrow looping coasters (which had saturated the market) were all pretty much the same. DF introduced some new elements- the mid-air inversion after the drop, the "Batwing" and the cutback turn- that had never been attempted on a steel coaster before. I remember liking the ride- a lot. But, then again, I liked SFGAdv's GASM at one time, too.

While I miss DF and wish that it still operated for those of us who desire a more "hardcore" steel coaster experience, Moosh is right... with Alpengeist and Apollo's Chariot, BGW is more that worth a visit, with or without Drachen Fire.

OK...I'll bite, but we've been through this before!

*ahem* I like a lot of ideas here of coasters that need to be brought back to life. I think with the current state of engineering technologies and given that so many of our current engineers in the field are enthusiasts, I don't think it would too difficult to resurrect some classics. As a matter of fact, I've had this exact conversation with a few of them already, and we concur that things could be rebuilt. (By the way...I'm talking about wood here and not metal)

I can't single out any one ride because so many *classic* rides have been mercilously bulldozed. To name them all here would be difficult but here are a couple more that haven't been listed:

Puritas Springs 'Cyclone' (JOHN MILLER)

Summit Beach 'Sky Rocket' (JACK KASTER)

Euclid Beach 'Thriller' (HERB SCHMECK/HOWARD STONEBACK)

Chippewa Lake 'Dipper/Coaster' (FRED PIERCE)

Nu Pike 'Cyclone Racer' (HARRY TRAVER)

Frontierland 'Texas Tornado' (HARRY TRAVER)

Mountain Park 'Flyer' (HERB SCHMECK?/PTC)

Cedar Point 'Cyclone' (HARRY TRAVER) yeah I know, this will never happen, besides Disaster Transport is a MUCH better ride!!!

Palisades Park 'Cyclone'

etc., etc., etc., .......

One of the best rides ever developed would be the old Norman/Bartlett Flying Turns. If we could find a substitute wooden material to use in the barrel for the cypress, then I would add these to name a few:

Euclid Beach 'Flying Turns'

Palisades Park 'Lake Placid Bobsleds'

Wood - anything else is an imitation

I understand all of you here that say busch has aplen and appolos so don't fret over it, but I NEVER got to ride drachen fire. I got to spend hours gazing at it during two visits to the park. I was just sooo obsessed with it. It looked soo cool, so big, so nice, and it was closed. I remember riding the train over and over, going on big bad wolf just to look at more of it, look from the gates to the blackforest of das festaus. When not at the park I looked at as many pics and on ride photos and videos as possible. I was obssessed, I still am. If I had gotten even ONE ride, I would be satisfied and could move on. But i never got that chance at all, but came soo close to it I could nearly touch it. And now its gone. Im 16, im looking for the best thrills, and it just brings tears to my eyes now every time I go to Busch and look down from the gates of the Blackforest and see the empty field and station standing alone. God, when will someone hury up and invent a time machine!

Chad, are you sure that Americas Greatest Rollercoasters Vol#1 has drachen fire on it? I looked at the list of coasters they gave on a few sites and they never mentioned that? Am I looking at the wrong one? I REALLY want to get a video with drachen fire on it.