We have lost a lot of coasters recently

Thunderbolt was razed last year.

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"There's nothing sweeter than a bowling ball with a liquid center" - Homer Simpson

Regarding Viper at SFOG, it is sitting back in the employee parking lot, rusting away. It for the most part is damaged, so it will most likely never operate again.

There goes another shuttle looper.

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"The fish are eating the guest, sir

SLFAKE said:

So, while they were torn down recently... they were actually lost years ago... in my opinion.

Definitely. It was very sad to go to Coney Island and see the Thunderbolt sitting there, slowly decaying. As sad as I was to see it finally be torn down, at least it gave a sense of closure.

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--Greg
"Are you justified in taking life to save life?" -- The Great Debate, Dream Theater
My page

This is nothing compared to when deprression, WWII, and the "boring" era for coasters hit back betwwen the late 20s all the way through the 60's and part of the 70's. We lost TONS of coasters and even parks due to low popularity, bad economy, need for supplies, and shopping centers (Chicago Riverview, I miss you). It's not that bad, it's not like we lost 100s of coasters, just a few, I can count the number of RECENT lost coasters on one hand.

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What is it Lassie? Did Timmy fall down the well again? Rough. Did Mr. Wilson have a heart attack? Rough. Is the drug dealer here for his money? Rough Rough. RUN!

Opryland USA=Shoppryland USA

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"The fish are eating the guest, sir

Raging Rider said:
This is nothing compared to when deprression, WWII, and the "boring" era for coasters hit back betwwen the late 20s all the way through the 60's and part of the 70's. We lost TONS of coasters and even parks due to low popularity, bad economy, need for supplies, and shopping centers (Chicago Riverview, I miss you). It's not that bad, it's not like we lost 100s of coasters, just a few, I can count the number of RECENT lost coasters on one hand.
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What is it Lassie? Did Timmy fall down the well again? Rough. Did Mr. Wilson have a heart attack? Rough. Is the drug dealer here for his money? Rough Rough. RUN!

You have a very good point. Also, according to my rollercoaster book, it was 100's of coasters that were lost during this era.

i wish i had ridden drachen fire it looked like it was a very intense ride.

What about Black Hole Flyer Comet? If Whalom isn't saved, then I seriously think that coaster is gone. Though we'll still have Thunderbolt at Six Flags New England, I hope Flyer Comet doesn't go. Even if Whalom does open again, it probably wont last that long without adding something spectacular. Every person Ive talked to up here says that they don't go to Whalom because (1) they only have one coaster, (2)the don't have Superman, and (3)it old and raggedy. The last thing they added was a second hand swinging ship called Sea Dragon 2000 and there was publicity, but nobody went anyways.

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

I don't really think that we have lost a large number of coasters in recent years relative to the total number which is increasing. There are about 630 coasters in North America. If you figure that an average life for a coaster is 50 years, then we should expect to average losing a dozen or so per year.

The coaster building boom of the last decade may actually have contributed slightly to the destruction of older coasters, since parks need room for their new rides.

Yes, I know that Leap The Dips is 100. In fact I gave it a ride on my way back from Kennywood just so I can say I've ridden a 100 year old coaster, but most coasters don't last nearly as long.

Opryland USA=Shoppryland USA

And to make it worse, after tearing down Opryland, instead of enhancing or selling it, to build Opry Mills, Gaylord is now selling their interest in Opry Mills.

I wish more coaster companies and and parks would dedicate more thought to bringing back some of the great lost coasters. It would seem to me to be a sure fire way for any park to generate a buzz.Just don't try to pull a Raging Wolf Bobs tragedy and modify it.Build them as they stood those long years ago.

Long live Riverview Bobs, Areoplane,and Idora Wildcat.

GregLeg said:
Definitely. It was very sad to go to Coney Island and see the Thunderbolt sitting there, slowly decaying. As sad as I was to see it finally be torn down, at least it gave a sense of closure.

agreed...the coaster looked terrible sitting there rotting away....I hate to see them torn down, but once they're that far gone, restoration would be more expensive than starting over from scratch....and with the cost of land in NYC, neither of those was going to happen with T-bolt....

I guess there is a price to pay when so many new coasters are built... sometimes the value of older ones is forgotten or ignored.