![Steeplechase-Pleasure Beach Blackpool](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Steeplechase-Pleasure_Beach_Blackpool.jpg)
A Steeplechase roller coaster is a type of
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 ...
that has several side-by-side tracks in a dueling "racing" arrangement. Riders straddle horse-shaped single cars and launch simultaneously, as from a horse-race starting line.
Examples
The Steeplechase at
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...
is the last remaining example of a steeplechase roller coaster still in operation.
Motorcycle Chase was a modernized steeplechase roller coaster built at
Knott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...
in 1976 featuring single motorbike-themed vehicles racing side by side, each on one of four parallel tracks, launched together. One or two riders straddled each "Indian motorcycle" attraction vehicle. The tubular steel monorail track closely followed dips and bumps in the “road" and tilted to lean riders about the curves. Gasoline Alley, an electric steel-guide rail car ride below, was built together and intimately intertwined, which enhanced ride-to-ride interaction thrill value. Rider safety concerns of the high center of gravity coupled with the method of rider restraints caused it to be re-themed to
Wacky Soap Box Racers
Eccentricity (also called quirkiness) is an unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive. Eccentricity is contrasted with nor ...
with vehicles now attached in four-car trains, each car seating two riders, strapped in low (nearly straddling the track), surrounded by the close fitting car sides, and the dips and bumps of the track were straightened flat in 1980.
Motorcycle Chase/Wacky Soap Box Racers was removed in 1996 for a dueling loop coaster
Windjammer Surf Racers and now a launched coaster named
Xcelerator
Xcelerator is a steel launched roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It was Intamin's first hydraulically launched coaster, while also the fourth Intamin installation at Knott's, alongside Sky Cabin, Calico River Rapi ...
takes its place.
The former
Steeplechase Park
Steeplechase Park was a amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Steeplechase Park was created by entrepreneur George C. Tilyou in 1897 and operated until 1964. It was the first of the three large amusement parks built on Cone ...
at
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, was named for its thrilling Steeplechase attraction, and is perhaps the most famous of this type of coaster.
In 2017,
S&S - Sansei Technologies S&S may refer to:
*''Sense and Sensibility'', a novel by Jane Austen
*''Salt and Sanctuary'', a video game
*Sword and sorcery, a subgenre of fantasy and historical fantasy
*Simon & Schuster, a publisher
*S&S Cycle, a manufacturer of aftermarket engi ...
announced that they would be reviving the Steeplechase coasters with redesigned trains and restraints.
"S&S-Sansei Steeplechase Concept"
References
Types of roller coaster
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