Coney Island Cyclone

Cyclone
Coney Island Cyclone
Coney Island
Location	Coney Island
Status	Operating
Opening date	June 26, 1927
General statistics
Type	Wood
Manufacturer	Harry C. Baker
Designer	Vernon Keenan
Track layout	Cyclone
Lift/launch system	Chain-lift
Inversions	none
Duration	1:50
Max vertical angle	58°
Cyclone at RCDB

Perhaps the most famous roller coaster of all time is the Coney Island Cyclone, although it is not the oldest standing, most impressive, or even the only one to have had a campaign to save it from demolition. After seeing the success of 1925's Thunderbolt and 1926's Tornado, Jack and Irving Rosenthal bought land at the intersection of Surf Avenue and West 10th Street. A ride called the Great Coaster was already on the site, but the Rosenthals had it torn down. With a $100,000 investment, they hired Vernon Keenan to design a new coaster. A man named Harry C. Baker supervised the construction, which was done by area companies including National Bridge Company (which supplied the steel) and Cross, Austin, & Ireland (which supplied the lumber); the final cost of the Cyclone has been reported as both $146,000 and $175,000. When the Cyclone opened on June 26, 1927, a single ride cost twenty-five cents (thirty-five on Sundays).

In 1935, the Rosenthals took over management of Palisades Park and the Cyclone was put under the watchful eye of Christopher Feucht, a Coney Island veteran who had built a ride called Drop the Dips, and then did some minor retracking work on the Cyclone. The ride continued to be extremely popular, and one of its many stories is from 1948, when a coal miner with aphonia visited Coney Island. According to legend, he had not spoken in years but screamed while going down the Cyclone's first drop and said "I feel sick" as his train returned to the station—then prompty fainted after realizing he had just spoken. By the 1960s, attendance at Coney Island had dropped off. In 1965 (or 1971, reports disagree), the Cyclone was bought by the city of New York for one million dollars. Lack of riders hurt profits, and the ride was condemned; in 1972 it was nearly destroyed because the Coney Island aquarium wanted to expand. A "Save the Cyclone" campaign ensued, and the coaster was leased to the Astroland park for $57,000 per year. Today, the ride is owned by Astroland, but the land it stands on—75 feet along 834 Surf Avenue and 500 feet along West 10th Street (40°34′30″N 73°58′39″W) — is still owned by the Parks Department. Astroland's owners had the ride refurbished, and it reopened on July 3, 1975. In 1978, it was featured in the film version of The Wiz as the home of its version of the Tinman, and its size compared to the rest of Oz raised to enormous proprtions. In the 1980s, events like the Mermaid Parade and Sideshows by the Seashore brought visitors back to Coney Island and the Cyclone.

On June 13, 1991, the ride was named a NYC Historic Landmark, and then on June 25—the eve of the 64th anniversary of its opening—the Cyclone was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Its 70th birthday was celebrated in 1997 with a tightrope walk by Tino Wallenda between the ride's two highest points; that year a single ride cost four dollars. The track today is 2,650 feet long (including six fan turns and nine drops) and 85 feet at its highest point; the first drop is nearly 60 degrees. Each of the three trains is made up of three eight-person cars, but only two trains can run simultaneously. The ride's top speed is 60 mph and it takes about one minute and fifty seconds. The current cost is six dollars with a four dollar "reride" option. The Coney Island Cyclone, of course, meets the requirements to be listed as an ACE Coaster Classic; it has also been honored by baseball's Brooklyn Cyclones as the source for their team name.

The popularity of the Cyclone has inspired several coasters to be patterned after it, including Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags Over Georgia, Psyclone (demolished in 2007) at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Viper at Six Flags Great America and Texas Cyclone at the now-defunct Six Flags Astroworld.

External links

• Official site