I checked out a couple more books from the library about roller coasters. This time they were from the adult section. I found a few pictures that I wanted to share with ya'll. The first two pictures come from THE GREAT AMERICAN ROLLER COASTER by Scott Rutherford. The Zephyr, seen here on the left, was the first roller coaster I ever rode! It was probably 1982 when I rode it, putting me at age 8. The Zephyr made it's home at Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. All I remember is that the track was enclosed from the loading station to the chain lift, and that I was hyperventilating for the better part of an hour after I rode it. At the time, the Zephyr was something like one of the top 10 wooden roller coasters in the country. I doesn't look all the big in this picture, but I guess when you're 8 years old looking up at it, it's huge! Lake Pontchartrain closed in 1983 and then was redeveloped almost 20 years later into Jazzland Amusement Park. Jazzland quickly became Six Flags New Orleans (shocker) and then the park was wiped off the map in 2005 thanks to Hurricane Katrina.
This photo is an early `70's shot of my beloved Kings Dominion. First off, notice the lake in the picture which used to be home to water ski shows. Now it's the water park. Of course in the background is the classic Rebel Yell but the coaster spotlighted in this picture is the small steel coaster at the bottom, Galaxy. I was thrilled to see this picture as I remember riding this great little coaster and loving it but never finding any pictures or much documentation that the ride ever existed. It's a large portable ride and it's still probably operating in a small park somewhere to this day. The Galaxy was removed in the mid-80's to make room for the Shockwave stand-up roller coaster. The Galaxy and rides like it were at one time a staple at most amusement parks and carnivals, but now they are hard to come by.
This last picture is from the book ROLLER COASTERS by Mike Schafer & Scott Rutherford. Here we see Hersheypark's classic Sooperdooperlooper. Built in the late 70's, this was the first roller coaster to turn riders upside-down on the east coast, and is my people's first looping coaster they ever went on. The ride still runs today, and remains as popular as ever, even if it's dwarfed by other rides in the park. A picture taken from this vantage point today would look quite different then the one we see here. The pathway visible in the photo is now lined with games of chance and an information booth called
Information...and more that I happened to work at occasionally when I worked for the Guest Services department of the park a few years back. The info booth is located directly inbetween the entrance and exit for the Sooperdooperlooper, therefore I spent most of my days in the booth answering the questions "Where do you go to get on the Sooperdooperlooper?" and "Where do people come off of the Sooperdooperlooper?"
I checked out a couple more books from the library about roller coasters. This time they were from the adult section. I found a few pictures that I wanted to share with ya'll. The first two pictures come from THE GREAT AMERICAN ROLLER COASTER by Scott Rutherford. The Zephyr, seen here on the left, was the first roller coaster I ever rode! It was probably 1982 when I rode it, putting me at age 8. The Zephyr made it's home at Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. All I remember is that the track was enclosed from the loading station to the chain lift, and that I was hyperventilating for the better part of an hour after I rode it. At the time, the Zephyr was something like one of the top 10 wooden roller coasters in the country. I doesn't look all the big in this picture, but I guess when you're 8 years old looking up at it, it's huge! Lake Pontchartrain closed in 1983 and then was redeveloped almost 20 years later into Jazzland Amusement Park. Jazzland quickly became Six Flags New Orleans (shocker) and then the park was wiped off the map in 2005 thanks to Hurricane Katrina.
This photo is an early `70's shot of my beloved Kings Dominion. First off, notice the lake in the picture which used to be home to water ski shows. Now it's the water park. Of course in the background is the classic Rebel Yell but the coaster spotlighted in this picture is the small steel coaster at the bottom, Galaxy. I was thrilled to see this picture as I remember riding this great little coaster and loving it but never finding any pictures or much documentation that the ride ever existed. It's a large portable ride and it's still probably operating in a small park somewhere to this day. The Galaxy was removed in the mid-80's to make room for the Shockwave stand-up roller coaster. The Galaxy and rides like it were at one time a staple at most amusement parks and carnivals, but now they are hard to come by.
This last picture is from the book ROLLER COASTERS by Mike Schafer & Scott Rutherford. Here we see Hersheypark's classic Sooperdooperlooper. Built in the late 70's, this was the first roller coaster to turn riders upside-down on the east coast, and is my people's first looping coaster they ever went on. The ride still runs today, and remains as popular as ever, even if it's dwarfed by other rides in the park. A picture taken from this vantage point today would look quite different then the one we see here. The pathway visible in the photo is now lined with games of chance and an information booth called Information...and more that I happened to work at occasionally when I worked for the Guest Services department of the park a few years back. The info booth is located directly inbetween the entrance and exit for the Sooperdooperlooper, therefore I spent most of my days in the booth answering the questions "Where do you go to get on the Sooperdooperlooper?" and "Where do people come off of the Sooperdooperlooper?"
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