Our final "Defunct Parks" segment for Season 5 premieres with our episode on Friday. It's a great story, one that we could've devoted an entire podcast episode to.
Midwesterners, many of you will have heard the tales of this famed park if you weren't lucky enough to visit it yourself before the gates swung shut for good. You'll want to hear about the lasting impact this trolley park has on the US theme park industry.
📸 Joseph Cole | c. 1960s
Euclid Beach Amusement Park in one of the oldest photos from the park's storied history.
The unnamed roller coaster in the photo is most likely the Figure Eight, a roller coaster designed by Henry Auchy that only lasted 5 years at the park before being torn out.
📷 Cleveland.com archives | c. 1904
#RollerCoasters #ThemeParks #Coasters #DefunctParks #EuclidPark #Cleveland
Mountain Coaster was an out-and-back wooden roller coaster designed by famed roller coaster designer Herbert Schmeck and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The ride opened in 1929 at Mountain Park in Holyoke, Massachusetts and continued to operate until the park's closure in 1987. The coaster would exist as SBNO until 1988 when it was finally demolished.
📸 Erik Sakowski | c. 1986
#rollerCoasters #themeParks #DefunctParks #defunctCoasters #massachusetts #MA #themePark #coasters
Texas Tornado (formerly Cyclone) operated at Frontier Family Fun Park in Lancashire UK from 1939 until the park's closure in 1999. The 3,000+ feet of track went through color changes over the years, with the final decade or so of the ride existing in a natural wood tone.
Poor upkeep in the park's final years led to the ride being.....not so very pleasant for a lot of park visitors.
📸 Steve Smith | c. late 1990s
#rollerCoasters #DefunctParks #defunctCoasters #lancashire #TexasTornado
Cyclone was a wooden out-and-back coaster that operated at Excelsior Amusement Park from 1925 until the park's closure in 1973. When the ride was built, it originally cost $60,000 USD to construct. ($1.02 million USD in today's money)
Note the lack of restraints securing riders into.
📸 Getty Images | c. 1935
#rollerCoasters #Coasters #AmusementParks #ThemeParks #cyclone #WoodenCoaster #DefunctCoaster #DefunctParks #minnesota
Rocket is a defunct wooden roller coaster that operated at Ocean View Amusement Park in Norfolk, Virginia from 1929 until the park's closure in 1978.
The ride was originally designed by Ed Vettel with further reworking of the track and layout by Herb Schmeck.
This is one of those roller coasters you wish hadn't been lost to history.
📸 rcdb.com | c. 1977
#RollerCoasters #coasters #norfolk #DefunctParks #DefunctCoaster #WoodenCoaster #ThemeParks
Giant Coaster at the now defunct Paragon Park in Massachusetts. The park was open from 1905 to 1984.
Giant Coaster was relocated to @SixFlags America after the parks closure and continues to operate today as Wild One. Originally built in 1917 by John A. Miller and Herbert Schmeck, Wild One is the oldest roller coaster in the Six Flags chain.
📸 Boston Globe | c. 1984
#rollerCoasters #DefunctParks #DefunctCoaster #SixFlags #WildOne #themeParks #amusementParks #coasters #rollerCoaster
Screamin' Delta Demon was a steel bobsled coaster that operated at Opryland USA from 1984 until the park's closure in 1997.
The bobsled was one of the first Intamin bobsled coasters to be manufactured. Unlike the few remaining bobsled coasters that still operate today, Screamin' Delta Demon had small trains that could fit 3-6 people depending on configuration and size.
📸 rcdb.com | c. 1990
#tennessee #rollerCoasters #AmusementParks #themeParks #DefunctParks #DefunctCoaster #nashville
XLR-8 was a suspended roller coaster designed by #ArrowDynamics that operated at @SixFlags #Astroworld from 1984 until the park closed in 2005. For most of its life the track/train was painted a blue and grey combo, but for its final year of operation XLR-8 had a yellow and blue color combination.
📸 rcdb.com | c. 2004
#RollerCoasters #rollerCoaster #themeParks #DefunctParks #DefunctCoaster #sixFlags #Texas
A postcard of the Roller Coaster ride at the now defunct Wildwood Amusement Park at White Bear Lake #Minnesota .
Photo circa 1915.
This trolley park was open from 1889 until 1932, attracting visitors from nearby #stpaul and #minneapolis with rides, lake activities, and free admission.
#rollerCoaster #RollerCoasters #DefunctParks #themeParks #AmusementParks #trolleyParks #coasters
Once Upon a Coaster