Texas Cyclone
Encyclopedia
The Texas Cyclone was a wooden roller coaster
at the defunct Six Flags Astroworld
in Houston, Texas
, and was known for its airtime, speed, and feeling of being out of control. It was 93 feet (28.3 m) tall, had 3180 feet (969.3 m) of track, and the ride lasted for two minutes and fifteen seconds. It was opened in 1976, after a failed attempt by Astroworld to buy the original Coney Island Cyclone
.
. Astroworld did not have a wooden roller coaster at the time, and the owners attempted to buy the Cyclone and move it to Houston. After further study, the owners decided that a move would be prohibitively expensive, and so settled on building a replica of the Cyclone in Texas.
Astroworld hired William Cobb
to design the replica of the Cyclone. He created a mirror image of the Cyclone, which was also larger and faster than the original. During the construction, which was done by the Frontier Construction Company, the north end turnaround was damaged by a tropical storm, which delayed the opening of the coaster until 1976. When the Texas Cyclone was opened, it was one of the tallest and fastest wooden roller coasters in the world, and was considered by many to be the best roller coaster in the world. In 1979, the first turn was lowered by two feet to prevent stalling, so that it could operate safely in higher winds.
Six Flags Astroworld closed on October 30, 2005. The Cyclone was demolished on March 9, 2006, sometime between 7:00am and 9:30am. The roller coaster would have been very expensive to move.
Wooden roller coaster
A wooden roller coaster is most often classified as a roller coaster with laminated steel running rails overlaid upon a wooden track. Occasionally, the structure may be made out of a steel lattice or truss, but the ride remains classified as a wooden roller coaster due to the track design...
at the defunct Six Flags Astroworld
Six Flags Astroworld
AstroWorld was a seasonally operated theme park located on approximately of land between Kirby Drive and Fannin Avenue, directly south of Loop 610 in Houston, Texas, USA...
in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and was known for its airtime, speed, and feeling of being out of control. It was 93 feet (28.3 m) tall, had 3180 feet (969.3 m) of track, and the ride lasted for two minutes and fifteen seconds. It was opened in 1976, after a failed attempt by Astroworld to buy the original Coney Island Cyclone
Coney Island Cyclone
The Coney Island Cyclone is a historic hybrid roller coaster in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York City. On June 18, 1975, Dewey and Jerome Albert, owners of Astroland Park, contracted to operate the Cyclone under an agreement with New York City...
.
History
In the 1970s the Coney Island Cyclone was in a state of disrepair, and was in danger of being demolished to expand a nearby aquariumNew York Aquarium
The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, having opened in Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan in 1896. Since 1957, it has been located on the boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The aquarium is managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society as...
. Astroworld did not have a wooden roller coaster at the time, and the owners attempted to buy the Cyclone and move it to Houston. After further study, the owners decided that a move would be prohibitively expensive, and so settled on building a replica of the Cyclone in Texas.
Astroworld hired William Cobb
William Cobb
This article is about the engineer. For other persons by this name, see William Cobb William L. "Bill" Cobb , was an American designer and engineer of roller coasters, as the founder and head of William Cobb & Associates...
to design the replica of the Cyclone. He created a mirror image of the Cyclone, which was also larger and faster than the original. During the construction, which was done by the Frontier Construction Company, the north end turnaround was damaged by a tropical storm, which delayed the opening of the coaster until 1976. When the Texas Cyclone was opened, it was one of the tallest and fastest wooden roller coasters in the world, and was considered by many to be the best roller coaster in the world. In 1979, the first turn was lowered by two feet to prevent stalling, so that it could operate safely in higher winds.
Demolition
External links
- OldAstroworld.com- Video of the ride being demolished