A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated wheels, the steel roller coasters can provide a taller, smoother, and faster ride with more inversions than a traditional wooden roller coaster.
Anton Schwarzkopf was a German engineer who founded Schwarzkopf Industries GmbH, a German manufacturer of roller coasters and other amusement rides that were sold to amusement parks and travelling funfairs around the world.
S&S – Sansei Technologies is an American company known for its pneumatically powered amusement rides and roller coaster designing.
The Big One, formerly known as the Pepsi Max Big One, is a steel roller coaster located at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom. Designed by Ron Toomer and manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public on 28 May 1994 as the tallest and steepest roller coaster in the world, featuring a height of 213 feet (65 m) and a drop angle of 65 degrees. It held the title as the tallest until 1996 when Fujiyama opened in Japan. Constructed at a cost of £12 million, the ride was sponsored by Pepsi until 2011, which resulted in removing Pepsi Max from the name.
Fuji-Q Highland is an amusement park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan, owned and operated by the namesake Fuji Kyuko Co. it was opened on 2 March 1968.
Mystery Mine is a steel roller coaster located at Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Manufactured by Gerstlauer, the Euro-Fighter model is heavily themed as a haunted mining operation from the 19th century. The roller coaster was Dollywood's largest single investment in the park's history at the time, costing $17.5 million to construct. A large portion of the track is located indoor, where the ride utilizes a series of special effects. It was the first Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter installation in the United States and had the steepest drop of any coaster in North America at the time of its opening. The ride was installed by Ride Entertainment Group, who handles all of Gerstlauer's operations in the Western Hemisphere.
Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GmbH is a German manufacturer of stationary and transportable amusement rides and roller coasters, located in Münsterhausen, Germany.
Steel Hawg is an orange and black roller coaster located at Indiana Beach, Monticello, Indiana. The ride is the first El Loco model built by manufacturer S&S Worldwide of Logan, Utah. The ride was installed by Ride Entertainment Group.
The Euro-Fighter is a type of steel roller coaster developed by Gerstlauer. First launched in 2003, the trademark feature of the roller coaster is its beyond-vertical drop, which reaches an angle greater than 90 degrees. Although the majority of Euro-Fighters are custom designed for each installation, every design so far has included the trademark drop. A number of different track elements are possible, including vertical loops, diving loops and barrel rolls. Almost all Euro-Fighter models have a vertical chain-driven lift hill, although LSM launch systems are also available.
Saw – The Ride is a steel roller coaster located at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England. Manufactured by Gerstlauer, the Euro-Fighter model opened to the public 14 March 2009 as the steepest freefall roller coaster in the world, with a drop angle of 100 degrees. It is themed to the Saw film franchise, featuring an enclosed dark section and queue theming which makes numerous references to the film series.
Takabisha is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter steel roller coaster located at the Fuji-Q Highland theme park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan. It is famous for having a drop angle of 121° – the former steepest coaster in the world before being replaced by TMNT Shellraiser at American Dream in New Jersey. The Japanese name Takabisha translates to "high-handed" or "domineering" in English. The name is a pun, in that the three kanji in the name literally mean "high fly car".
Green Lantern Coaster is a steel roller coaster at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The ride is themed after DC Comics' Green Lantern and is located within the park's DC Comics superhero hub. The ride is an El Loco roller coaster manufactured by S&S Worldwide, characterised by a tight circuit featuring a beyond-vertical drop and an outward banked turn. When it opened in 2011, it held the record for having the second steepest drop in the world among roller coasters, and the steepest drop in the Southern Hemisphere, the latter of which is a record it still holds as of 2020. Green Lantern Coaster officially opened on 23 December 2011.
Iron Shark is a steel roller coaster at Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier. The Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster opened to the public on June 1, 2012. Iron Shark was the first Euro-Fighter coaster in Texas. The ride was installed by Ride Entertainment Group, who handles all of Gerstlauer's operations in the Western Hemisphere.
El Loco is a model of steel roller coaster manufactured by S&S Worldwide. The rides are characterised by a vertical or beyond-vertical drop, tight corners and abnormal banking. As of November 2013, there are six El Locos operating around the world.
Timber Drop is a steel roller coaster located at the Fraispertuis City amusement park in Jeanménil, France. With a slope of 113.1°, the coaster held the world record for the steepest drop in the world from 1 July 2011 to 16 July 2011 and currently holds the record for the steepest roller coaster drop in Europe.
Vild-Svinet is a steel roller coaster at BonBon-Land in southern Zealand, Denmark, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Copenhagen. Vild-Svinet is the prototype for the Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster model. At 97 degrees, the coaster is the steepest roller coaster in Denmark.
Cannibal is a steel roller coaster located at Lagoon amusement park in Farmington, Utah. It opened with the tallest beyond-vertical drop in the world on July 2, 2015, and its drop angle of 116 degrees was the steepest in the United States for a brief time. A large portion of the $22-million ride was built and designed in-house, a rare move for an amusement park. Since its debut, Cannibal has also consistently ranked in the top 50 among steel roller coasters worldwide in the annual Golden Ticket Awards publication from Amusement Today.
Tantrum is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Darien Lake in Darien, New York, United States. It is a Euro-Fighter roller coaster manufactured by German manufacturer Gerstlauer and opened on May 25, 2018. It was the first roller coaster in the state of New York to feature a beyond-vertical drop and the park's first new roller coaster since 2008.
The TMNT Shellraiser is a steel indoor roller coaster at Nickelodeon Universe amusement park, within the American Dream Meadowlands shopping and entertainment complex, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The roller coaster is a Euro-Fighter model manufactured by Gerstlauer, and themed to the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. It is the steepest roller coaster in the world with a vertical drop of 121.5 degrees. The TMNT Shellraiser has the exact same layout as Takabisha at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan, the previous record holder for world's steepest roller coaster.
