Raptoralex's defunct coasters
Cyclone's layout is finished. Custom supports are underway.
Take a spin on one of Cedar Point's first major coasters!
Next I'm either doing Coaster Dips at Glen Echo Park or Comet/Mighty Lightnin at Rocky Glen. Depends on photos and videos I can find.
Coaster Dips at Glen Echo is underway.
That's the famous 85-foot drop into the ravine. The double-down before it, also into the ravine, looks like a better drop. The supports are not final. More terrain, scenery and station work is to come.
Ride Coaster Dips at Glen Echo Park!
The 85-foot drop into the ravine.
I think this double-down into the ravine was the better drop.
Go for a ride on Mighty Lightnin at Rocky Glen. It's a junior wooden coaster.
Take a ride on Wildcat at Bertrand Island! This Herbert Schmeck-designed PTC woodie operated from 1925-1983.
Big Dipper at Jantzen Beach Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon. This is the 30th coaster I've made a recreation of!
My next planned recreations: Comet at State Fair of Texas, Thriller and Derby Racer at Euclid Beach, and Zingo at Bell's.
Take a ride on Comet at the State Fair of Texas. This Charles Paige-designed NAD coaster operated from 1947-1985. Enthusiasts attempted to save it but were unsuccessful, and it was demolished in 1989.
My next coasters will be Thriller and Derby Racer at Euclid Beach.
Thriller's track is complete. I have the length down to the foot. Most of my recreations are under 200 feet off from the actual length, which I don't care too much about because the purpose is to make the POV videos look accurate. But this one is spot on. I am proud of that. Custom supports are next, followed by Derby Racer.
I don't know if there's enough angles of pictures to go by, but a recreation of The Great Derby roller coaster at Chesapeake Beach would be neat.
That was a side-friction coaster. I don't do those because the track styles don't permit it. Maybe if I could 3D model, but for now, I stick with what the program offers.
Progress on Derby Racer. Trackwork is mostly complete. Supports are temporary; I have to customize a lot of them. But right now, it appears to be running about the same as in photos and a couple of videos I've seen.
Derby Racer POV (both sides)
Thriller
I am back with another recreation. My computer had a bad crash a month or so ago, and I had to reinstall the operating system. Luckily everything was backed up, so nothing was lost. I also had vacations and started a new job in the meantime. What was supposed to be a quick project took over two months! And now without further delay, here is Roller Coaster at Joyland.
Up next I think I am going to make Zingo at Bell's.
I didn't do Zingo because someone I know who used to work on it made an excellent recreation. There's no way I could top that, and I don't want to make something that's been done. So I made Comet at Fontaine Ferry Park in Louisville, Kentucky.
This Herbert Schmeck-designed PTC out-and-back operated from 1956-1971. Its remains are still on the site, which is now a city park. There are footers, some supports, wires and rails.
Next I plan to make Mountain Dips at Rocky Glen.
raptoralex posted on October 21st, 2021
Its remains are still on the site, which is now a city park. There are footers, some supports, wires and rails.
Fascinating. Now you got me curious. I gotta check it out.
It took me a couple of months, but I have completed Mountain Dips at Rocky Glen.
Next I plan to make Shooting Star at Lakeside Park in Salem, Virginia.
Shooting Star at Lakeside Park was apparently the tallest roller coaster in the world when it opened in 1968. This John Allen-designed PTC out-and-back operated until the 1986 season. It closed after a 1985 flood and after a worker was killed by one of the coaster's trains during testing in 1986. It was sold to a park in North Carolina, but it was never rebuilt and eventually scrapped.
Next, I plan to make Jack Rabbit at Clementon Park in New Jersey.
Work is progressing on Clementon Park's Jack Rabbit. It's a bit slow going because my job has been busy, plus working on smaller coasters is more tedious than bigger coasters. But it's almost done. The layout and supports are finished, and finishing scenery is all I have left.
Jack Rabbit was a junior wooden roller coaster designed by John Miller. It operated at Clementon Park in New Jersey from 1919-2002. It was in need of a rebuild, which the park considered too expensive, so it stood but did not operate from 2003 until 2007, when it was torn down. It was one of the oldest coasters in the world, the last operating coaster to open in 1919, and the last Miller coaster without upstops.
My next recreation will be Mountain Flyer at Mountain Park in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Mountain Flyer operated at Mountain Park from 1929 to 1987. It was famous for its lateral-filled turnaround and the bunny hop after the first drop. It closed with the park. One selling point of the ride was that it could seat three children per seat.
My next recreation will be Pippin at Kennywood.
Can you do Greyhound at Lakewood Park in Atlanta? https://www.atlantamagazine.com/list/things-didnt-know-atlantas-past/smokey-bandit-ii-blew-atlantas-famous-roller-coaster/
Pippin at Kennywood is complete. Notice the similarities with Jack Rabbit. That might be why the ride was remodeled for the 1968 season.
My next recreation will probably be Comet at Lincoln Park. Maybe the original Ravine Flyer at Waldameer.
I've finished the challenging Comet at Lincoln Park in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It operated from 1946 to 1987 and was designed by Edward Leis and Vernon Keenan. Keenan also designed the Coney Island Cyclone; you can see similarities in the two designs. Comet closed with the park but remained standing until 2012. The land is now a residential neighborhood.
My next recreation will be the original Ravine Flyer at Waldameer -- if I can find the necessary information. I've found very little doing preliminary researching. If not, perhaps Whirlwind Dipper at Pacific Park.
I ended up building Coaster at Dorney Park after riding Thunderhawk and being inspired. There are photos and blueprints in line for Thunderhawk.
Coaster was an out-and-back design that ran from 1924-1929. It was modified for the 1930 season as a figure-eight design, which still operates today as Thunderhawk.
For my next recreation, I am leaning toward the original Wildcat at Hersheypark.
I might think about it. I've got a list of coasters I keep adding, so I'll add that.