Riverview Bobs(Chicago) POV video.

Wow, this coaster lives up to its rep. A woodie that is relentless. I can see why this coaster is famous.

Click here.

Reminds me a lot of Raging Wolf Kabobs (as it should). Looks like the mistake made with Wolf was that it was simply too tall.

Thanks for posting...great video! That has to be the most intense woodie I've ever seen. Must have been quite a ride when it was new.

It definitely looks much more intense than Geauga Lake's version. Wow, wish it was still around to ride.

Geauga's bobs was not a remotely accurate reproduction by any means. "Many of the source ride's fiester features considered too wild for modern riders were designed out of the ride." Description of the ride from ACE's guide to ride '91 edition.Mainly the intense laterals on the outlegs. Riverview's Bobs had a drop and turn ala K.W. Thunderbolt on the first outleg. Geauga's climbs up. Even without the comparison I think Raging Wuss Bobs is a piece of crap. Makes me glad the Ravine Flyer 2 was not built In the late '80s or it might have turned out that way as well.

"Wait in line 5 minutes"! Heck with Roger, I'd ditch him and stay on the Bobs all afternoon! And "meandering curves"? Looks like one of the best coaster intros ever. Lots of speedy footage in a small space.

Great vid, but I'm curious about Roger and his outing. From where does this clip come? Is is part of a longer movie with more scenes of the park? What were those boys up to? It has the tone of one of those Coronet Instructional Films (think Mr Bungle.)

Ah, the Bobs. Revered as one of the greatest rides of all time, and I ache to think how much someone like me would've loved Riverview. When the Raging Wolf Bobs opened they had (the nerve to) put pictures of the original ride along the fence leading up to it's queue. It only took a couple of quick back and forth glances to realize that the two rides shared little in common save for the basic footprint.

Traver design, articulated trains with thick padded seats, a single lap bar, and the largest collection of lost earrings in the world. Now, that's a ride! Thanks, Chitown.

^Sorry to be an anti-Traver person, but the master Fred Church designed the Riverview Bobs along with most of the best coasters from the mid 20's to early 30's. Watching the video makes me glad to have Evel Knievel here at Six Flags Over Mid-America, GCI's closest to a Church design that they've done so far.

Haha... 70 miles an hour. Wish they still made 'em like this. As a ride operator, I also really liked the fact that the train started moving two point five seconds after the boys sat down!

^^ oops! Prior and Church, of course. What's left of theirs from that era? The two west coast Dippers and Dragon at Rye, right? Any others?

Pretty cool video! The fact the coaster left a couple of seconds after the boys sat down had me laughing! You won't find that now. ;)

-Tina

1. It's too bad more coasters don't have long meanders to the lift like that.

2. That looks scary.

^1. Reminiscent of Hades. The three parks that closed in my lifetime that I'd have liked to have visited - Whalom, Palisades, and Riverview. The coaster collection that existed at Riverview...amazing.

I seem to remember someone planning on a Riverview II sort of park in the Chicagoland area. This video makes me wonder what happened to that idea.

^The man that was going to try to make this happen was murdered in 2003. His wife decided not to pursue his dream but said she would help out if someone else wanted to continue the project.

rollergator said:
^1. Reminiscent of Hades.

Indeed, another one I have yet to savor but I'm hoping to do it soon.

Was that running fast because of the film to digital framerate? If not, that thing was really smokin'. Looks like a great ride, but my spine may disagree if I actually rode it.

I see they were not fans of banked turns back in the day.

Always heard tales of the Bobs growing up in Chicagoland. Nice to finally see what all the fuss was about.

Wow, I finally got around to watching this. What a sweet spunky layout! Thanks for the link.

That looks like an awesome ride but think the frame rate makes it look a bit speedier than it was. The 70 mph claim is also inflated as well as it was with most of the coasters around back then. I saw an old newspaper add for pre-SFNE Riverside Park from the late 60s. It claimed the old Thunderbolt reached speeds of over 60mph!!!

If that was the case, wouldn't the people moving in the line and getting into the train appear faster also along with when the train first dispatches?

This is probably footage from the 60's. I could see if this was footage from the 20's where everything sped up.