Pipeline Express - Anyone Ridden one?

Recently searching around I found a fun looking coaster called the Pipeline Express. It is a Bailey/Auto Sled. A link to one is below. Anyone ridden it? Link: http://www.rcdb.com/id2709.htm

Yup. It is simultaneously the dumbest and the scariest thing ever.

(hey, those pics look familiar ;) )

I rode one that used to be in North Myrtle Beach. As a little child I remember it being A. Quite Scary and B. Quite Dangerous. The loading platform was hanging off the side of a big concrete slab, so if you tripped or fell over the car while getting in, NOTHING was stopping a nice 20-30 foot fall. On top of that shadiness, the VELCRO seat belt only tightened to a certain point so as a small kid, my legs weren't even touched by the thing.

Overall, the ride was fun. I can see why they shut the park down though, the insurance must have been insane on all their weird/unsafe rides (Vertical Drop Slide exiting into the kiddy pool area? Yea... I'm being serious. Even as a 10 year old I could see the obvious *** Edited 5/24/2005 5:27:18 PM UTC by RollrCoastrCrazy***

I think I rode one as a child in a park outside of Fostoria (sp?) Ohio...? I forget the name of the park.

Looks like it'd be a lot of fun. Then again, so did X.

There was one at Boardwalk, a short lived amusement park just down the road from SFoT. I don't remember all of the details, but a girl was thrown from the ride and severely injured during the first few days of its operation. I believe the park was only open for a month or so.

I also rode the one in North Myrtle Beach. Yes, it was quite dangerous. I was waving to my friend who was video taping me and hit a turn that almost flung me off the darn thing. I'll have to see if I can dig up that video. It might be quite amusing to watch now....

I didn't think it was dangerous at all. My six year old rode it with no problem. She's in part of the video of the ride on my site.

It just seems so scary as it's nothing but a little plastic 'sled' with a belt over your lap and the ride op shoves you off the top of the hill.

Terrifying and stupid at the same time. :)

While the actual ride may not have been unsafe, the way I boarded as a child WAS definitely unsafe. Having a 20-30 foot dropoff on the other side of the car with no rail is just asking for trouble. I remember the ride was fun though, with a cool bunny hop at the end.

The whole park had that fun "liability problem" feeling to it. From the rough concrete slides, to the slides that didn't have high enough sides, to the rediculously fast speed slides exiting into the children's pool, to the unsafe loading procedure of the "coaster."

Not only did I ride the one at Putt 'N Pond Action Park in Fostoria, Ohio, but I shot on-ride video.

Unfortunately, I shot it on 8mm, so right now I have no way to play it back...

That ride has been SBNO for a few years now. :(

The one in Fostoria has PVC pipe rails mounted on steel cross-ties, supports and track backbone, so I count that one in my track record as a "plastic" coaster.

Unfortunately the year after I rode it, the weight limit went from 200 lbs to 170 lbs, and shortly after that my weight went from 180 lbs to 225 lbs. So even if it were open now, I would have to lose a lot of weight to ride it again. And I fit just fine on Millennium Force a couple of weeks ago.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Is the coaster at Putt 'n' Pond even still standing? I seem to remember driving past the place last year and no longer seeing the brightly colored coaster there anymore. If its still there, I might have to try and ride it sometime this summer.

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Lord Gonchar said:
It is simultaneously the dumbest and the scariest thing ever.

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That, my friends, is the best description of any amusement ride in the history of the world, hands down.

I've gotta ride this thing.

And if you do ride, you'll see how startlingly accurate that description is. :)

So....there's still two of these suckers operating in Ontario, huh?

Hmmmm....let's hope the weight limit is 90 kilos, just in case one of those comes into view next week.

Reminds me of an Alpine Slide/Coaster...wish they were down here in the USA again...

Crazy Canadians ;)

Yes, there will be an Alpine Coaster in the US very soon. See this post:

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=41326

Glenwood Caverns has updated their website, no prices listed yet though

www.glenwoodcaverns.com