Looking for 1992 Rattler Pictures

The good thing about this is we all got a little Moosh-back.

Narrowminded- who was your grandfather?

It is my father that was the superintendent of the job. He went to the job site when they were just beginning the park. I have pictures of all phases of construction. It still amazes me what he did on those coasters.

Narrowminded said:

I have not rode it since the changes nor do I think I ever would.

Why? Because you don't think it's likely you'll make it back to SFFT, or because you've taken a moral "stand" against a roller coaster?

None of the reasons that you stated. I rode it many many times when it was in it’s original design and it was AWESOME. Fast, quick turning, and everything else I ( yes I said “I” ) would ever want in a wooden coaster. The first drop was incredible to me. I liked the full drop and the speed of the ride. Just my
Opinions. Plus I am
Not going from Georgia to Texas just to ride the ride after the bottom of the first drop was raised. Just not the same to me.

bjames said:

Narrowminded said:

I have not rode it since the changes nor do I think I ever would.

Why? Because you don't think it's likely you'll make it back to SFFT, or because you've taken a moral "stand" against a roller coaster?

You take dickishness to levels rarely seen here.

Narrowminded said:

None of the reasons that you stated. I rode it many many times when it was in it’s original design and it was AWESOME. Fast, quick turning, and everything else I ( yes I said “I” ) would ever want in a wooden coaster. The first drop was incredible to me. I liked the full drop and the speed of the ride. Just my
Opinions. Plus I am
Not going from Georgia to Texas just to ride the ride after the bottom of the first drop was raised. Just not the same to me.

But the drop is now bigger than it was when originally built.

I have not kept up with the new changes. I knew the bottom was raised and some other changes were done to the coaster.

My family went to San Antonio a few years ago for my daughters softball and was going to go to SFFT just to ride the ride and I seen that it had been changed ALOT and we were not able to get time to go ride it. I didn’t study what all had been done to the ride.

Honestly, I was looking for a video online of the coaster in its original design like the one I have on a vcr tape and I found this forum. I can’t find the video so it looks like I will have to buy a vcr or get the tape converted to digital. The video is a professional video that was done when it opened. It goes from start to finish from several different places on the car.

My kids have seen the video when they were very young and I was going to show it again.. now I want to get all my pics together of the construction and put them all together.

Thanks for your time allowing me to open up the past.

You take dickishness to levels rarely seen here.

Rare my ass.

I sense your affinity for roller coasters isn’t quite as strong as many here, so I apologize. You still may have come to the right place, we’ll see.

I rode the original Rattler and loved it. It likely remains one of my favorite first drops of all time. Time wasn’t kind to the ride, though, and it became quite rough and there were complaints, maybe even an injury. As an answer the first drop was inexcusably altered with the pull out raised up causing the drop to be neutered. It lasted a while until Rocky Mountain Construction came in around 2013 and altered the entire ride while changing it to a steel ride. Many of us here think it was a good solution. The drop was restored to its full length and inversions were included as well.

RCDB.com (Roller Coaster Data Base) is a great, complete source for roller coaster info and history. You can find images of Rattler and Iron Rattler by searching for them.
I looked up Rattler for you. There are photos and videos.

https://rcdb.com/56.htm

I hope this helps in your effort to renew and share memories.

Narrowminded said: I have not kept up with the new changes. I knew the bottom was raised and some other changes were done to the coaster.

Yeah the other changes include such minor updates as new trains, a full retrack by another company, and a complete redesign. Nothing too major. :)

I absolutely love roller coasters but I am sure not as much as most of the people on here. I have a history and many memories of the construction of all the coasters he built. I have many many pictures of the coasters as well at all phases of construction.

I found this place from looking for the video. I have a really good video but it is on a vcr tape.

I had lunch with my Dad today and told him about this forum and then we talked about the Construction of the rattler for about 2 hours. It was awesome.

I replied to all of this because the OP said he was looking for original photos of the coaster. I have a bunch and will share them if someone wants them. Just let me know. I have the specs of the coaster and will post it if y’all would be interested.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that Narrowminded is not familiar with the conversion to Iron Rattler?

Take a look, watch a POV on YouTube, and show it to your Dad. See what he thinks. Personally, I absolutely love what was done with the conversion. It was my favorite of this style of ride (Called a "Hybrid") until this year, when the mother of all Hybrids was built at Cedar Point.

We have seen it and looked at it at lunch. He said “well”. I guess he kinda fells like I do. He worked so hard on it and was very proud of it. He was gone out of town working from his family and they changed it.

I know things don’t stay the same forever but when it was built they wanted a wooden coaster that pushed the edge and that is what they got. Then right after that, he had to go back and make it not so edgy. Then they changed it all around.

He appreciates the coaster for what it is but because he worked so hard on them he likes the original. As do I.

Omg, I’m so confused here.
We all realize the op posed his question in 2008, right?

Yes but I just seen this and I guess I thought with this being a coaster page I would reply and let everyone know that I had what he was looking for and some other info but it looks like I have received mostly negative responses. I thought with him having built so many wooden coasters that the info would be neat to share. Looks like I was mistaken.

So with that I am sorry I wasted everyone’s time and I will move on down the road...

I for one enjoyed hearing about your father building the ride. It's cool to hear how much pride he had in something he helped create and build. Not everyone can say that they built a rollercoaster! I'd love to meet him.

But to be brutally honest, Rattler wasn't much loved by the coaster community. I only rode the modified drop version, (and the new hybird) but by then it had gotten very rough and shuffled terribly through the course. A lot of this could be due to the fact that Six Flags doesn't take very good care of their wooden coasters. A lot more could be that Rattler pushed the boundaries and was really too tall and fast for what wooden coasters are capable of doing. In fact, just about every one of the extremely tall and fast wooden coasters of the era have ether been converted to Hybrids or torn down.

I'll say this though, the drop from the cliff top, down into the tunnel was, and still is, one of the coolest coaster moments of all time, and made every ride totally worth it.

I meant no offense when I said to show him the new Iron Rattler. I'm genuinely curious to see how the man who helped create and build a ride would react to a complete re-imagining of his work.

Some large wooden coasters did not survive old age. A lot was invested to preserve an iconic ride, even if it included significant change.