Rollo Coaster is a

wooden Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

located at

Idlewild and Soak Zone Idlewild and Soak Zone, commonly known as Idlewild Park or simply Idlewild, is a children's amusement park in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States, about east of Pittsburgh, along US Route 30. Founded in 1878 as ...

near

Ligonier, Pennsylvania Ligonier is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,513 at the 2020 census. Ligonier was settled in the 1760s. The borough is well known for nearby Idlewild Park, one of the oldest amusement parks in t ...

. It was built in 1938 by the leading roller coaster designer and builder of that era,

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 T ...

. It was Idlewild's first and only roller coaster for decades until the larger

Wild Mouse A wild mouse is a type of roller coaster consisting of single or spinning cars traversing a tight-winding track with an emphasis on sharp, unbanked turns. The upper portion of the track usually features multiple 180-degree turns, known as fla ...

coaster was erected in 1993. The coaster closed in 2016, amidst safety concerns, but was reopened for the 2018 Operation Season. Built over a hillside at Idlewild Park, the Rollo Coaster is an out and back format. It uses skid brakes operated manually with a lever. The train consists of 4 cars that have 2 rows in 1 car and 1 row in the others. Each row has 2 seats. It was popular with coaster enthusiasts due to its lack of restraints except for a grab bar, until 2018. It is located next to the Carousel and Flying Aces. While the Rollo Coaster features only small hills, it uses topography to its advantage. Built over steep terrain, the ride features many tight twists and turns which create a rough ride and a sense of much greater speed. This coaster was the inspiration for

Boulder Dash ''Boulder Dash'' is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while ...

, a similar but much larger coaster at

Lake Compounce Lake Compounce is an amusement park located in Bristol and Southington, Connecticut. Opened in 1846, it is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States. It spans , which includes a beach and a water park called Crocodile ...

. The Rollo Coaster was an

ACE An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

Coaster Classic.

Incident

On August 11, 2016, a three-year-old boy was thrown from the Rollo Coaster. The boy sustained injuries and was rushed to a Pittsburgh hospital by helicopter, where he was listed in critical condition with head and chest injuries. The boy was in the hospital for two months before being released. The ride was closed pending an investigation and remained closed for the remainder of the season, and all of the 2017 season. In May 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Division of Rides and Amusements released its investigative report, detailing how the riders switched seats after ride operators checked them, resulting in the riders not meeting the rider height requirements. In addition, the report noted several instances of excessive wear and movement of the train hitches and tracks, but that it wasn't known whether these factors caused the accident. The report listed several requirements for the ride to be reopened, including the addition of seat belts, a reevaluation of minimum rider height, and a ride evaluation by a Professional Engineer. Based on this report, the state also recommended amusement parks with similar roller coasters voluntarily make take the same actions. Idlewild announced they had procured a new train for the Rollo Coaster, which included seat belts, and that they expected the ride to resume operation for the 2018 season, pending a state inspection.

References

External links

Idlewild website
{{ACE Coaster Classics Roller coasters in Pennsylvania Roller coasters introduced in 1938 1938 establishments in Pennsylvania