I think I beg to differ here. Prior and church we’re building swooping curving diving coasters very successfully all throughout the 1920s. We did not see that again in wooden coasters until the 90s when great coasters came along and revived the beauty of the lost wooden twisters
@@anthonymcdonnell5384 funny you mention the Pleasure Beach- the last coaster Harry Travers was involved with the design of was the Grand National with Fred Church.
Personally I think this coaster was just simply way ahead of its time design wise. I think with today’s technology this coaster could easily be rebuilt and maintained properly for many to enjoy. Side note the coaster still thrills in spirit as a lot of the steel structure for the ride was reused to buildThe Comet which operates to this day.
I did tried to remake the whole thing into RMC in NL2 And im just say, the layout is just so wrong, in a bad way. Even by any modern coaster standard due to insanely high G-force (easily 6G) and snap is, combine of how well wooden coaster maintaining its energy. The only thing closer to this is I-305, and I'm not exaggerating.
The virtual ride at the end.......ROCKED and this is the only way we will get to even get CLOSE to saying we rode something that wild! Great video! Stay SCARED!! Richard
Son of Beast was a most insane experience. This was one bad ass coaster. I got to ride it only once in 2008 the last year in operation with the loop removed. I've never been scared of a coaster like this one. After the ride I think I had a pulled back muscle & looking at my girlfriend with her disheveled hair & in shock & pain (next to literal shock almost needing medical attention). It was an unforgettable experience. I wish they would have fixed this ride & it still existed today.👍
Agree with you that Son of Beast was a really rough coaster. I'm a back seater on coasters but because of the wait we rode it in the middle of the train and I thought it was really rough. I did ride it with the loop. I remember toward the end when the coaster went into the break run and it suddenly came to a stop I actually saw green dots in my eyes.
I rode Son Of Beast multiple times when it had the loop and while it was rough I don’t think it was as bad as people made it to be. I understand why it was destroyed and thankfully was replaced with an awesome ride Banshee.
In all fairness RCCA, the company that was responsible for SOB, were absolute grifters who left a string of poorly designed coasters behind them. This is not unlike Harry Travers- the designer of the crystal beach cyclone- who was considered to be a conman by many.
I've been fascinated by the coaster for decades. I have a copy of the original blueprint for the layout, and from that I came to the conclusion that Traver was a terrible engineer. The blueprint is very "pretty"; the ride is surprisingly symmetrical from above, with perfect circles at each end. But just like with a circular loop, that wasn't the best design choice. Traver needed to "stretch" the bottom of the hills to absorb the force of the drop (especially considering he used a steel structure, which didn't sway like wood does). The forces had to get distributed somewhere, so bolts would regularly sheer off the structure and passengers were tossed around like rag dolls. Traver's patented "trick-track" simply added insult to injury. So while I'm fascinated by the ride's history, I doubt I ever would ride it. Well, actually, I HAVE ridden it. And you can too. In 1946, Herb Schmeck was asked to completely re-engineer the ride using the same materials. So like an erector set, he rearranged all the steel into the profile of the Crystal Beach Comet, which now lives on at New York's Great Escape. It's awesome to see that ride structure with the Cylone's original bolt holes still in it. Even the station is how it was at Crystal Beach. And Schmeck made a ride that's just a thrilling, but not as punishing.
Yep. The Palisades Cyclone (not the famous one that enthusiasts reminisce about today) was the worst of the triplets. It had to fit within a narrower plot of land resulting in even tighter turns. Palisades Park and Revere Beach got rid of their Traver coasters pretty quickly. Crystal Beach kept theirs longer only because they were a smaller park and couldn't afford to replace it so soon.
There is a book called Harry G Traver : Legends of Terror by Richard Munch. It has photos of all 3 coasters and stories about them , plus the life of Harry Traver and all the other rides he designed. It's a fascinating book and is kind of hard to find as there are so few for sale. They are expensive to buy , mine is used ,but in great condition and cost me $80 and that was one of the least expensive ones !!!
No, it needs to be built by GCI or someone who can recreate the original design as accurately as possible for its historical value. They would probably just need to reinforce key structural areas and refine some of the transitions.
I was at Crystal Beach in 1974 as an 8 year old. I was too short to ride the big wooden coaster but rode the other wood one. My glasses came off but thankfully they landed on the floor of the car.
I've recreated this monster across all RCT platforms🥰; and I love that the original No Limits had it as a track in its program.🤓 Nice to be reminded of this terror classic! Thanks. 👊🏾
It is worth mentioning that the structure for the cyclone was repurposed to build the comet Which is still in operation at the great Escape in New York
I was waiting for you to cover this coaster and yes you did miss what I think is one of the best elements of this story: Crystal Beach dismantled Cyclone, but then reused some of its wood and steel to make a new wooden coaster called Comet, which would later be relocated to Six Flags Great Escape, where it still operates to this day
While twisters are more fun to look at, I've found out 'n' backs more fun to ride. This would make the Comet a great improvement over the Cyclone, in my opinion.
Mindbender at West Edmonton Mall. The roller coaster that actually killed 3 riders back in 1986 thanks to design and installation errors... The worst I got was neck bruising from being battered side to side by the head restraints... It's still a love/hate relationship with the ride to this day... And also kinda scary because of its operational history to boot! Plus you can stand in the middle of the loops on a walkway with the cars roaring all around you. That alone is kinda terrifying and scary to think about.... especially if someone had really bad intentions...
It was so terrifying people stopped riding it & watched, which was part of the reason it was replaced by The Comet... a real beauty & to this day is still the all time favorite coaster of many ;o)
Also the "Jazz Track" on Cyclone was the inspiration for the since-removed trick-track on Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure and the now-defunct Villain at Geauga Lake.
Scariest coaster experience was probably when I rode Great LEGO Race when I was very young. That made me afraid of coasters for a while... Scariest coaster would be Fury (for the height and speed), Lightning Rod (for the insane airtime), or SheiKra (for the daunting drop) but I wasn't scared riding these and really enjoyed them I would ride this coaster, but I'd probably give the defunct credit to Volcano, it just looks more enjoyable overall. Or maybe Eagle Fortress, that one looks wild
I remember a quote from (not sure if it was Stengel or Schwarzkopf) in a german documentary (~20 years ago) about rollercoaster engineering: "I would never ride this coaster. Im genuine scared" But this coaster started this man's interest for rollercoaster design.
Son of Beast was pretty rough. I quit riding it long before it closed for good. The first time i rode it my elbows and knees were bruised as heck from the restraints and another rider had their skin rubbed away from their crotch to their knees from having their legs rubbed together violently.
You have to admit though. This was one bad ass coaster. I got to ride it only once in 2008 the last year in operation with the loop removed. I've never been scared of a coaster like this one. After the ride I think I had a pulled back muscle & looking at my girlfriend with her disheveled hair & in shock & pain (next to literal shock almost needing medical attention). It was an unforgettable experience. I wish they would have fixed this ride & it still existed today.👍
The most terrifying roller coaster I have ever ridden is Superman Ultimate Flight (flying coaster) at SFOG. Not because of the ride itself, but because I first rode it when I was only 51 inches (54 inches required) and snuck on (they were not checking heights). I remember the tips of my toes barely making it into the ankle holder restraint and I had to force them to stay so that they would not dangle. I remember thinking that I was going to fall out and die. I also rode Goliath (hyper coaster), Georgia Scorcher (stand-up coaster), and Batman (inverted coaster) (all require 54 inches) that day, but none felt as dangerous as Superman. The only other one that was horrible to ride because I was too short was Georgia Scorcher because my legs did not touch the ground and it was painful. This all happened 10 years ago so I might be fudging and have misremembered the details.
I thought every coaster fan knew about this coaster there was an actual medic station at the off ramp due to consistent neck and back injuries. This was long before the fine tuning equipment for measuring as we do today
If you've been on a Schwarzkopf Looping Star, Drier Looping or Galaxy Mindbender? Then you've in essence been on a Traver drop! That's right. Her Schwarzkopf & Werner "pinched" that infamous 1st drop + exceeded those G-forces. Truth be know (maybe Mr. Travers were slightly higher) Also funnt they were the RMC's If you will of the time only in reverse. Structure was steel & track was wood laminate. The nurse was there to satisfy insurance company. If you can lay your hands on a copy of Harry G. Travers Legends of Terror. It makes 4 great reading. I as a lad saw the traveling pix of this guy @ my local mall in Houston, TX., in the 1980's. It's Y I'm a proud ACE Member to this day!!!
You do an awesome job presenting these videos which are extremely interesting and very well documented. I really do enjoy your site more than any other. Keep up the good work my man!
Reading about these Harry Traver designed & built "TerrifyingTriplets" is fascinating. Being from the Boston Massachusetts area, I was amazed to learn that The Lightning, one of Harry Traver's Terrifying Triplets, had once been one the daring, high octane rides at Boston's now defunct Revere Beach amusement strip. Though the layout of all three of these Terrify Triplets followed the same basic configuration, I understand that the respective ride experiences varied because a ride's footprint may have needed to be adjusted for the available layout space of that given location. The Revere Beach Lightning had a sinister reputation too. A girl was killed on the ride, shortly after it had opened.
Nice story bro, but don't thing you need to cut a story short. If there is more interesting things to learn, take the time to cover it. Keep up the good work!
Lightning Rod at Dollywood is a similar coaster. Same thrills for a wooden coaster. Many can't stand it. It's 1 of my favorite coasters. Faster than any RMC wooden coaster out there today.
I’m grateful to see Traver being discussed here- he was profoundly ahead of his time, and I frankly consider him the patron saint of extreme coasters. Thanks for this piece!
I remember as a child my mother standing with me as all my aunts and cousins had to walk and climb down the coaster because it was stuck for over 3 hours. I never rode a roller coaster again.. I was 7 then. 70 now!
Harry G Traver: Legends of Terror by Richard Munch is a great book but a little hard to find nowadays. You forgot to mention that a lot of steel supports from the Cyclone were used in the construction of the Crystal Beach Comet, now the Comet at Six Flags Great Escape in upstate NY .
I have that book and it is fantastic. It includes track plans for: Riverview Bobs; Airplane; Cyclone Racer; and Crystal Beach Cyclone as well as tons of photos. It was later discovered that Traver really had nothing to do with the Airplane. But, thankfully, at the time the book was written, it was thought Traver was the builder, therefore the book covers the Airplane. And the coverage is the best I've seen.
I knew I remembered my dad telling me about this a long time ago. But over time, I naturally remembered it as Coney Island Cyclone. And since Coney Island Cyclone is a safe ride (and my dad isn’t stupid), I convinced myself that I was just remembering something that never happened. I guess I never though to look into it.
video idea: Hybrid roller coaster in WESTERN NY?! - I was looking at coaster thrills yt channel and his newest pov is of a roller coaster called the bobsleds and it looks like an arrow hybrid mine train but its NOT!!!
I rode an exact replica when I was a kid in the sixtys. I was too young remember where it was I just know I rode it one night with my cousin whom we were visiting in New York and we crossed a large body of water to get there by ferry. Sure does sound like Crystal Beach but the coaster was long gone by then! I also remember them saying we had to go ride it because they where going to tear it down. But I remember the coaster so vividly, every bump, every turn, getting crushed in the circle at the bottom by some fat boy. The nurse, the whole thing.
My first ride on Voyage at Holiday World was a night ride at their Holiwood Nights event. I have never been so terrified riding a roller coaster! That Spaghetti Bowl which is traversed at break neck speed in the pitch black woods had me totally silent and holding on for dear life. I’m never silent on coasters; I’m either laughing or screaming. I was mentally trying to keep the train from flying off the tracks. When it was all over I of course jumped right back in line for another ride.
Wow, I rode that coaster years ago when I was a teenager. We were on vacation from North Carolina, and we passed Crystal Beach on the way to somewhere else. I loved amusement parks and had no fear of roller coasters at the time. I was unaware of its reputation, so I rode it. It was memorable, I know that much. Thanks for the memory. 🎢
Would love to see The Gravity Group rebuild Crystal Beach Cyclone. The fact that a coaster that went defunct in the 1940s is still legondary today justifies doing so. It would be a great fit for Marineland or Canada's Wonderland, both parks could benefit strongly from reviving such a famous Canadian coaster. As for comparisons to a modern ride I'd say the tightness and high intensity of a woodie like Mine Blower is probably the best approximation. The problem with Crystal Beach Cyclone would have been largely the trains rather than the layout design from what you described, with Timberliners much of it (NOT all, some would need to be redesigned if they rebuilt it today in the era of computer aided design) could probably work being that well, you can't end up in someone's lap I'll put it that way. With that thought in mind, Mine Blower basically being the modern version probably has some truth to it.
Disagree. The layout design was exactly the problem with the Cyclone. Traver normally built coasters for Fred Church, a gifted coaster designer. Fred Church had some legal problems for a few years that prevented him from designing any rides. Traver tried to compensate by doing some design himself. While Traver was brilliant at coming up with ideas, he was not always good at execution. The Traver Cyclone triplets had a bad design in that while the train would barely crest each hill, they would also travel though the low sections too quickly. These lower sections included the trick track and the figure eight whose transitions were much too fast. If Gravity Group or any other mfg (GCI?) were to try to rebuild the Cyclone, they would have to modify the layout significantly to make it work. If that's the case, they should probably just build something original.
@@gregorymoore2877 Full disclosure, I'm not an engineer. But I do have a good understanding on how much the trains effect forces. Simple fact is older coaster trains are heavier, especially those that weren't built by PTC (to be clear PTCs are pretty heavy compared to modern coaster trains but trains like those found on the Coney Island Cyclone, for example, are even heavier than PTCs). Modern trains like Timberliners are lighter and also more flexible in terms of turns, which would allow more of a layout like the Crystal Beach Cyclone to work with Timberliners. Of course it wouldn't be able to be a complete replica, but it would be able to be closer than most think possible to the original.
I've never ridden a "terrifying" coaster in my life. Thrilling, absolutely. I have always loved roller coasters since the first time I went on one and I have ridden hundreds all over the world, but never been afraid of one - just excited. Unfortunately I'm not quite old enough to have gone on the Cyclone. Gone on other coasters which no longer exist, though.
I live in South Eastern Ontario and have heard about this legendary scream machine.. please research and post one about the ol CNE Flyer in Toronto eh. Lol. I remember a final brake run failure that messed up a few folks .. rode it that summer . Thanks for lookin at the great white north. Have ridden every at Wonderland up til 10 years ago.. time to go again. Top Gun was the hot shoe last time I was there.. alots happened since
People pass out at 4 g's of pressure You could go blind you could get whiplash you could actually break your neck you could put significant damage to your internal organs your blood pressure can get completely screwed up at the very least you're gonna have Vertigo when you get off the thing it's gonna affect your equilibrium probably creating instant nausea this is dangerous people have died Because of the era the lack of planning and the lack of regulation roller coasters were built by people who did not really know how to engineer them properly so things like this actually happened more than was reported
they took part of the roller coaster down to make it safer my wife and I rode it in the 70'S had the front seat last ride at night the locking bar did not lock my wife grabbed me and I put my hands under the seat to hold on BEST RIDE EVER
I just rode the cyclone coaster at Coney Island, It is similar to this coaster in so far as it is as well a Vicious ride. If you are 69 yrs like me don't ride this one. I was wondering if you had ridden this coaster .and if not why not.......thank you for your research you do that makes your videos so interesting .
Hey I was wondering if you have any info on an old amusement park on Burlington Island in New Jersey, All I know is there used to be an amusement park on the island and people from Philly would get there by ferry. I’m pretty sure there was a coaster there at the time…..Thanx I really enjoy your channel
Hey Art! Absolutely! The park was known as Island Beach Park and opened in the early 1900s. By 1928 (I think that was the year), it burned down and was rebuilt, and could only be reached by ferry thereafter as you mentioned. The coaster you’re referring to is Greyhound, which was an extremely intense wooden coaster for its time designed by John A. Miller. It closed after it burned down with the park. This could make an interesting video!
As someone who grew up and lives nearby (I just came back from a drive and was in crystal beach), and who lived in crystal beach as a baby, it’s hard to believe this wonder was here. My mom has memories of the park and this coaster, but now nothing remains from the park besides the suckers, waffle crisps, and the loganberry juice - found all over town.
My scariest coaster experience was Joker at Six Flags Great Adventure. The unpredictable flipping is what made that ride a one-and-done for me. I personally don't enjoy feeling terrified on a ride.
I9 don't know of many wooden roller coasters now,most are made of steel. There IS one in Hershey,PA, but the park itself was "closed for maintence', so I couldn't go in.
Wait wait wait.....you had MORE and "you didn't have the time to share it"!?!🤷♂️😡😁 Ride looks like the RMC of its time....way ahead of where it probably should've been. Truly incredible. Thanks for sharing guys! 👍
Modern coaster enthusiast: "Son Of Beast/Manhattan Express (or whatever else ) is too rough." Also modern coaster enthusiast: "I wish I could ride the Crystal Beach Cyclone!"
Ya so I've been waiting on this episode. Nice. I think the jazz twister was used as inspiration for the similar element on Big Thunder Mountain at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
Magic Mountain put a similar element into its redo of Colossus, now Twisted Colossus. It's slow, so it doesn't crack your ribs like it did on this Cyclone.
on monday september 14th, the st cassian chamber choir, would board the cyclone roller coaster at 6:17 pm. at 6:19 pm, the front axel of the cart, would come off, in the top of the loop. the car derailed, and sent all 6 teenagers to their deaths.
The fatality was the parks fault just fyi. It was found that although he supposedly stood up while riding, the coaster car had a faulty lap bar that wasn't working. The family ending up winning in court.
