A wooden roller coaster is most often classified as a roller coaster with running rails made of flattened steel strips mounted on laminated wooden track. Occasionally, the support structure may be made out of a steel lattice or truss, but the ride remains classified as a wooden roller coaster due to the track design. The type of wood typically used in the construction of wooden coasters is Southern Yellow Pine, usually grown in the US and the rest of North America.
Custom Coasters International (CCI) was one of the premier wooden roller coaster manufacturers in the world and produced 34 wooden coasters in eleven years — more than any other company in recent times.
Michigan's Adventure is a 250-acre (1.0 km2) amusement park in Muskegon County, Michigan, about halfway between Muskegon and Whitehall. It is the largest amusement park in the state and has been owned and operated by Cedar Fair since 2001. As of 2019, Michigan's Adventure has 52 rides, more than any other park in the state.
Steel Vengeance, formerly known as Mean Streak, is a steel roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. The roller coaster was rebuilt by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) and opened to the public on May 5, 2018. It features RMC's patented I-Box Track technology utilizing a significant portion of Mean Streak's former support structure. Upon completion, Steel Vengeance set 10 world records.
Harry Guy Traver was an American engineer and early roller coaster designer. As the founder of the Traver Engineering Company, Traver was responsible for the production of gentle amusement rides like the Tumble Bug and Auto Ride. However, Traver's coasters became legendary for their unique twisted layouts and thrilling, swooped turns. At a time when most coasters were built from wood, Traver was the first coaster builder to utilize steel for the primary structural material.
Thunder Run is a wooden roller coaster at the Kentucky Kingdom amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky. The ride originally operated from August 1990 through to October 2009, when then-operators Six Flags abandoned the park. After remaining closed since 2009, Thunder Run reopened in May 2014 when Kentucky Kingdom reopened under new operators.
The Wild One is a wooden roller coaster at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. It features a 450° spiral helix and a series of bunny hills that produce a significant amount of air time. The wooden coaster was previously known as Giant Coaster when it was located at Paragon Park in Hull, Massachusetts. It operated there from 1917 to 1984.
Big Dipper was a wooden roller coaster located at the defunct Geauga Lake amusement park in Bainbridge Township, Ohio. Originally opened in 1925 as Sky Rocket, it was renamed Clipper in the late 1940s and eventually Big Dipper in 1969. It was the oldest operating roller coaster in Ohio and seventh-oldest in the United States when it closed in 2007. Designed by John A. Miller, the Big Dipper was also one of the last remaining roller coasters in the world from the legendary designer. American Coaster Enthusiasts awarded the coaster its ACE Coaster Classic and ACE Coaster Landmark designations. Efforts to sell, preserve, and restore the ride were unsuccessful. The ride was demolished on October 17, 2016.
Hercules was a wooden roller coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by the Dinn Corporation and designed by Curtis D. Summers, the roller coaster opened to the public on May 6, 1989. It set a world record for having the longest drop on a wooden coaster at 151 feet (46 m), surpassing the previous record of 147 feet (45 m) set by American Eagle in 1981. Hercules was the third wooden coaster to be constructed at the park. A scenic railway operated at Dorney from 1905 to 1912. The park's existing wooden coaster, known simply as "Coaster" opened in 1924 and was remodeled in 1930. With the opening of Hercules, the existing coaster was given a formal name — Thunderhawk.
Boulder Dash is a wooden roller coaster located at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut. Construction for the coaster began in June 1999 and was completed in May 2000. The coaster was built by Custom Coasters International using Southern Yellow Pine wood; while the track is made of Douglas Fir. This ride was ranked the #1 Wooden Roller Coaster in the World by the Golden Ticket Awards in 2004 and from 2013 to 2016, until slipping into third place in 2017. The trains were built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters.
Wildcat is a wooden roller coaster located at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut. It was built in 1927 and is the park's centerpiece. It is one of the world's oldest roller coasters still in operation at the same location. It greatly resembles the now-defunct Wildcat roller coaster at Elitch Gardens Theme Park in Denver. Wildcat has received the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) Coaster Landmark Award for its historical significance.
Villain was a wooden roller coaster at the Geauga Lake amusement park in Aurora, Ohio. It was designed by the now-defunct Custom Coasters International (CCI). The ride opened as a part of the four-coaster expansion Six Flags brought to Geauga Lake between 1999 and 2000. It was a wooden hybrid, which means it had steel supports but had wood track. When it originally opened, the ride was moderately smooth, but by 2001 it deteriorated and was re-tracked during the off-season. This was the second CCI coaster to feature a "trick track" element where the track banks from one side to another while staying otherwise on a straight path.
Raging Wolf Bobs was a wooden roller coaster located at Geauga Lake amusement park in Ohio. Designed by Curtis D. Summers to resemble Bobs, a popular roller coaster at the defunct Riverview Park in Chicago, Raging Wolf Bobs was constructed by the Dinn Corporation and opened to the public in 1988. It operated until June 16, 2007, following an accident involving the derailing of a train that unexpectedly rolled backward on one of the track's hills. Later that season, park owners Cedar Fair announced the permanent closure of Geauga Lake, sealing the fate of Raging Wolf Bobs.
The Yankee Cannonball is a wooden out-and-back roller coaster built in 1930 at Lakewood Park and relocated in 1936 to Canobie Lake Park, Salem, New Hampshire.
Shivering Timbers is a wooden roller coaster located at Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon County, Michigan. It was developed and built by Custom Coasters International. Opened in May 1998, Shivering Timbers debuted for the park's 32nd year in operation and was a success. Construction for the ride began in 1997. The trains were made by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. The ride's out and back layout is 5,383 feet (1,641 m) long, making it the fourth-longest wooden roller coaster in the world. The ride has been re-tracked by Martin & Vleminckx and Great Coasters International. Shivering Timbers is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Michigan.
Dinn Corporation was a roller coaster designing and manufacturing company established in West Chester, Ohio in 1983 by Charles Dinn. The company is noted for moving and rebuilding several existing wooden coasters and building ten new wooden roller coasters in the United States.
Cheetah was a wooden roller coaster by Custom Coasters International, located in the African Pridelands section of the Wild Adventures theme park, in Valdosta, Georgia. The coaster was named after the cheetah, the fastest land animal, because of its top speed reaching 65 mph when the coaster first opened, but after years of friction and track deformation the coaster was recorded in 2009 reaching a top speed of 52 miles per hour. It has a standard out and back layout with five bunny hops and a figure-eight ending. Built in 2001, Cheetah was the largest roller coaster at Wild Adventures. In Wild Adventures off season between 2009 and 2010, the Cheetah was given a $1.3 million renovation by Martin & Vleminckx replacing the track on the figure-eight and smoothing out the rest of the track. In March 2020, Cheetah closed along with the rest of the park due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, the park reopened, however without Cheetah operating. Wild Adventures cited being unable to achieve "adequate physical distancing." Access to the coaster has since been blocked by a wooden construction wall and the coaster's trains have been removed from the tracks. In January 2021, the park stated "The Cheetah roller coaster has been retired to make room for new and exciting changed in the coming years."
Curtis D. Summers was an engineer and American roller coaster designer credited for designing or providing structural engineering on 25 wooden roller coasters around the world. He earned a degree in Architectural Engineering from Kansas State University and was a registered engineer in 40 states.
The Great White is a sit-down wooden/steel roller coaster made and built by the now defunct Custom Coasters International.
Martin & Vleminckx is a roller coaster manufacturing and construction company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with an affiliated office and manufacturing facility in Haines City, Florida, United States, and two subsidiaries, including a warehouse, in China.
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