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Curtis D. Summers
Curtis D. Summers (September 17, 1929 – May 11, 1992) was an American engineer and 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. Career Curtis D. Summers began his career in the amusement industry when he was contacted by Cincinnati's Coney Island to provide structural repairs to the park's Shooting Star roller coaster. He was hired by the Hixson Engineering Company and worked with Coney to keep the park's two wooden coasters, Shooting Star and Wildcat, structurally sound. In 1972, Summers left Hixson Engineering to start his own firm, Curtis D. Summers, Inc., based in Cincinnati, Ohio The owners of Coney Island, Taft Broadcasting, closed the park in order to escape the repeated flooding from the Ohio River and built a new park, Kings Island, 25 miles to the north. Summers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abilene, Kansas
Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the Greyhound Hall of Fame. History 19th century In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1857, Dickinson County was founded and Abilene began as a stage coach stop, established by Timothy Hersey and named Mud Creek. It wasn't until 1860 that it was named Abilene, from a passage in the Bible (Luke 3:1), meaning "grassy plains". In 1867, the Kansas Pacific Railway (Union Pacific) pushed westward through Abilene. In the same year, Joseph G. McCoy purchased 250 acres of land north and east of Abilene, on which he built a hotel, the Drover's Cottage, stockyards equipped for 2,000 heads o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paragon Park
Paragon Park was an amusement park located on Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts. It closed in 1984. Rides Among the amusement rides in operation during Paragon Park's history was a traditional-style Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel (PTC #85) built in 1928 with hand-crafted horses, a bumper cars ride known as "Auto Scooters", a Ferris wheel, a horror-themed dark ride called "Kooky Kastle", and a wooden roller coaster known as The Giant Coaster. There was also a ski lift-type ride called the Sky Lark, an automobile-themed ride known as "Turnpike Cars" (replaced by a different ride in the 1970s called the "Indy 500"), and a water ride called "Bermuda Triangle" (formerly the "Congo Cruise," the "Jungle Ride," the "Red Mill", and the "Mill Rapids"). More rides that Paragon hosted over the years were the Trabant, the Tilt-A-Whirl, Galaxy Coaster, the Skydiver, Paratrooper, Matterhorn, Himalaya, Round Up, Scrambler, Crazy Tea Cups, Twister Kiddie Coaster, Caterpillar, the W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great America is a amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the Marriott Corporation. Six Flags acquired the amusement park in 1984 after the theme park division was an earnings disappointment for Marriott. The sale gave Six Flags rights to the ''Looney Tunes'' intellectual properties. In 1972, the Marriott Corporation bought rural land near the Tri-State Tollway and had officially announced the theme park to the public the following year, in 1973. The new park would be built near identical to its sister park in Santa Clara, California, now named California's Great America. Designed by architect Randall Duell, the park was designed in a "Duell loop," in where the park was laid out in a full circuit circularly, as employees worked out of sight, in the middle of the park. Opening attractions and areas wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Eagle (roller Coaster)
American Eagle is a wooden racing roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois. It was the first wooden roller coaster designed by Intamin of Switzerland and was built in 1981 by the contracting firm Figley-Wright at a cost of $10 million. While most of the records have since been broken, American Eagle had the longest drop and fastest speeds among wooden roller coasters when it debuted and is still recognized as a top racing coaster in the United States. History Construction of American Eagle began in June 1980. The attraction was built with approximately of lumber, 129,720 bolts, and of nails. Supports are attached to approximately 2,000 concrete footings that average in diameter and are deep. American Eagle was painted with over of white paint and took over 20,000 man hours to build. American Eagle was designed by Curtis Summers, James Figley, and Leonard Wright. Marriott originally contacted John C. Allen to design the coaster, but he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The company manufactured carousels, wooden roller coasters, toboggans (roller coaster cars) and later, roller coaster trains. History The Philadelphia Toboggan Company was incorporated January 20, 1904. It built and designed roller coasters until 1979. Notable designers included Joe McKee, John A. Miller, Herbert Schmeck, Frank Hoover, and John C. Allen. When Allen retired as president in 1976, the company stopped designing roller coasters but continued to work on coaster projects until 1979 when it exited the coaster-construction industry permanently. The company manufactured carousels known for their elaborate carvings and decorations. It expanded with the acquisition of the inventory of the Dentzel Carousel Compan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunder Road (roller Coaster)
Thunder Road was a wooden roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park on the border between Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Opened in 1976 and built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, the racing roller coaster cost $1.6 million to construct and featured two identical tracks that paralleled each other. The design of the ride was based on Rebel Yell (now Racer 75), a wooden racing coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Thunder Road was closed on July 26, 2015, to make room for expansion at the park. On August 27, 2015, Carowinds announced that the Boomerang Bay waterpark would be expanded and renamed Carolina Harbor. The expansion resulted in the removal of Thunder Road. History Construction and opening Carowinds unveiled plans for a $2 million expansion on January 22, 1975 at a press conference. The expansion would include a new roller coaster and renovation to increase ride capacity, provide a new dynamite live entertainment package and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rebel Yell (roller Coaster)
Racer 75 is a wooden racing roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Designed by John C. Allen, the ride opened with the park in 1975 as Rebel Yell. It features a similar track layout to The Racer (1972) at Kings Island and the now-defunct Thunder Road at Carowinds (1976). In 2018, Rebel Yell was renamed Racer 75, dropping its Confederate theme to represent its racing layout and opening year, as well as a subtle nod to the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) organization that was founded in 1978. History Racer 75 opened as Rebel Yell with Kings Dominion's grand opening in 1975. The original name paid homage to the battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Shortly after its debut, the racing roller coaster was prominently featured in the 1977 film ''Rollercoaster''. In 1992, the trains on one side were changed to face and run backwards, which was a similar change made on Kings Island's The Racer a decade earlier in 1982. Locals would call this r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghoster Coaster (Kings Dominion)
Woodstock Express is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. It opened as Scooby-Doo in 1974 after the famous Hanna-Barbera cartoon character. Despite being classified as a family roller coaster and located in the children's area of the park, the ride notably has a ride rating of 4 out of 5. History Opening under the original name Scooby-Doo, the junior roller coaster was one of two attractions that opened during a preview event in 1974 prior to the park's official opening in May 1975 (the other was Lion Country Safari). The ride is located in an area of the park previously known as The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera filled with other attractions that were also themed to cartoons of Hanna-Barbera studios. In 1997, the Kidzville section of the park was built up around the ride, and the name was extended to "Scooby-Doo's Ghoster Coaster". Following the purchase of Paramount Parks by Cedar Fair in 2006, Scooby-Doo and all other Hanna-Barbera themes were r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodstock Express (Kings Island)
Woodstock Express is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island and designed by John C. Allen. It is located in the children's rides area of the park known as Planet Snoopy. The coaster has undergone four different name changes as the children's area in which it resides has been renamed and rethemed multiple times since the park opened. It has also been painted a number of different color schemes since its debut. History Woodstock Express was designed by John C. Allen of the Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC). It is based on the first three roller coasters he designed shortly after becoming the company's president in 1954. These coasters opened in 1956 at Hunt's Pier, Angela Park and the Gooding Zoo (now the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium). Allen modified the original design, making Woodstock Express a little taller and longer. He eliminated the curved loading station as well, opting instead for an in-line station that precedes the curve to the lift hill. This modified d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Racer (Kings Island)
The Racer is a wooden, racing roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio. It was designed by John C. Allen, well-known for his contributions to roller coasters during the mid-twentieth century, and debuted at the park's grand opening in 1972. It was thrust into the national spotlight after being featured in an episode of the popular TV sitcom ''The Brady Bunch'' in 1973 and is often recognized for playing a vital role in the roller coaster renaissance of the 1970s. The Racer inspired similar designs in other roller coasters, such as Racer 75 (formerly Rebel Yell) at Kings Dominion and the now-defunct Thunder Road at Carowinds. The Racer is also one of the few original Kings Island attractions still in operation today. History Following a very successful decade, the first major era of roller coasters in the United States would come to an end in the 1930s as the economy struggled during the Great Depression. Although new roller coasters were still being bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gravity Group
The Gravity Group is a wooden roller coaster design firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The firm was founded in July 2002 out of the engineering team of the famed but now defunct Custom Coasters International. The core group of designers and engineers at The Gravity Group have backgrounds in civil, structural and mechanical engineering. Their experience comes from work on over 40 different wooden roller coasters around the world. The first coaster designed under the Gravity Group opened as Hades at Mount Olympus Theme Park in 2005. The Gravity Group also designed The Voyage at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, which opened in May 2006 and is the second-longest wooden roller coaster in the world. These first two accomplishments of the team have been received with great success by both the industry and coaster enthusiasts alike. In 2007, The Gravity Group opened Boardwalk Bullet, an intense wooden roller coaster that was built at Kemah Boardwalk and opened as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Custom Coasters International
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. It was located in West Chester, Ohio. History Custom Coasters Incorporated opened its doors on September 1, 1991. The company was founded by Denise Dinn-Larrick, the daughter of coaster designer Charles Dinn — founder of the Dinn Corporation, her brother Jeff Dinn and her husband Randy Larrick. The original designers for the company included freelance design engineers Mike Boodley and Bill Kelley of California. Larry Bill, formerly with Curtis D. Summers & Associates joined the design team in 1992. Initially the company promoted small, affordable, family coasters but eventually progressed to larger models known for their speed and intensity. Once the company started working with international clients the name was changed in November 1994 to Custom Coasters International. CCI fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
