observations of the past: Revolution and Drachen Fire

Ok, so last night I decided to pull out some of my old rollercoaster videos, which I hadn't watched in a while. One of them had most of the movie "Rollercoaster" on it, and another couple videos featured Drachen Fire.

Now I know we've discussed Drachen Fire and Revolution recently, but I noticed some things that I thought I'd share here.

First, in the movie "Rollercoaster", Revolution operated without headrests. How long did it operate this way? SDL at HP has headrests. Has it always been this way, too, or did it ever operate without headrests, as well? And how did Revolution operate like that without snapping people's necks? I know it wasn't extreme like the old "Flip-flap", but it still pulls some nice G's going into the loop.

Another thing I noticed about the movie is, during the ending credits, you see Revolution run again. Of course we know that nowadays (and probably even back then), if someone dies on or by a coaster, they will not continue to run it that same day. This is probably just hollywood fun and not for realism's sake :)

Second, along the lines of Drachen Fire being legendary, I guess to me it was (in a sense). Not really because of it being SBNO for a while, but because it was featured on tv/video. I have most of an old NOVA program that was recorded off tv that features Drachen Fire. Also, the original World's Greatest Rollercoaster Thrills video features Drachen Fire. It was this ride that I had seen on tv before, and when I finally got to ride it, it was like, I'm finally getting to ride the "legendary" Drachen Fire--kinda like how Magnum XL-200 has been featured in so many programs, and once you get to ride it for the first time, it like it's "legendary" or something.

Just some thoughts of mine--take it as you will.

That World's Greatest Rollercoaster Thrills video also included Steel Phantom (which we all know was drastically changed) and Mean Streak (which later started living up to its name for the wrong reasons).

On the other hand, some real coaster stars from that time were also on it including Magnum XL-200, Raptor, The Beast, and the Coney Island Cyclone.

I think I have a copy of that Nova special somewhere as well. I remember seeing footage of Drachen Fire, Raptor, The Grizzly @ PKI, and a few other coasters. I should dig through my old tapes and find it... :)

^ The first 2 coasters featured are Drachen Fire (for a good little bit) and then PKD's Grizzly. I guess it wasn't too hard for them here because both coasters are in VA and are only about an hour apart.

After these, they go back historically quite a bit and kinda work their way forward. They even get into motion sims and stuff. I think near the end, they even show some footage of Anaconda at PKD.

---

rablat5 said:

if someone dies on or by a coaster, they will not continue to run it that same day. This is probably just hollywood fun and not for realism's sake

---

I watch Rollercoaster at least once every couple weeks...yes, I am goofy like that. Was that not the most pathetic death scene in a movie EVER? I mean the "young man" gets hit, lands with a thud for like a split-second, and that's ALL.

I can discuss this movie for hours...again, goofy!

I still would like to know how long Revolution operated without headrests, and how safe was it to run it that way? SDL at HP has headrests, and so do enough other Schwarzkopf (sp?) loopers. Did SDL ever run without them?

Anyone?

rablat5 - would you care to post that video of Drachenfire on youtube?

The HP SDL did run without headrests. I don't know how long it ran without them, but I have photos taken on-ride looking backwards that prove there were no headrests originally.