Lincoln Park Comet roller coaster dismantled in Massachusetts
Posted
The Comet roller coaster, which provoked whoops of delight, hollers, and screams from its riders from the 1940s to the 1980s, was demolished today as its fans stood by, remembering the bygone thrills of the former Lincoln Park amusement park. The 3,000-foot-long wooden coaster was designed by Edward Leis and Vernon Keenan of the National Amusement Device Co. and built in 1947 for $80,000. The ride climbed to 65 feet and had a top speed of 55 miles per hour.
Read more from The Boston Globe.
Related parks
Did anyone on here ever ride this coaster? I've got pics of my dad riding it that my mom took in the 70's, but can't ask him how the ride was since he's been gone for 5 yrs. now. My mom and dad grew up in that area and went to all them little parks that are gone now.
I rode this coaster, along with it's smaller companion, the Comet Jr. in August of 1983 after attending the ACE Summer Conference at Riverside Park (Now Six Flags New England). I also visited Mountain Park, Whalom Park, Paragon Park and Rocky Point Park, all of which are defunct. :( (At least Paragon's Coaster was moved to Six Flags America, where it can still be ridden).
Thanks for the Memories.
Wow am I jealous of your trip, Regulus...esp. Paragon and Whalom. The few friends that rode Giant Coaster have said that Wild One pales in comparison.
Happy that the article emphasizes parks' impacts on their local communities. Sad that that emphasis is only recognized in hindsight...
When I rode Wild One in 1987 I found out they had added Brakes to the ride, and used them heavily, when this ride was at Paragon you rode most of the hills standing up, whether you wanted to or not!
I went to visit Giant Coaster several times before they tore it down, and it absolutely looked like a behemoth, especially considering how old it was. (I think it went somewhere in the 50-60mph range.)
I also rode Wild One and The Whalom Park Flyer Comet.To me, Wild One is a pretty standard woody. The Flyer Comet at Whalom stood out for two reasons; the Black Hole, the tunnel on one of the last camel humps, and the brakes were hand-operated, meaning that when the ride operator broke too late (which was not all that uncommon), you got to ride again. Those were the good old days. ( : Great memories.
You must be logged in to post
