Wabash Cannonball (roller coaster)

Wabash Cannonball
Opryland USA
Park section State Fair
Coordinates 36°12′32″N 86°41′54″W / 36.208864°N 86.698402°W / 36.208864; -86.698402Coordinates: 36°12′32″N 86°41′54″W / 36.208864°N 86.698402°W / 36.208864; -86.698402
Status Closed
Opening date 1975
Closing date 1997
General statistics
Type Steel
Manufacturer Arrow Development
Designer Ron Toomer
Model Steel Corkscrew coaster
Track layout Custom
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 70 ft (21 m)
Length 1,250 ft (380 m)
Speed 50 mph (80 km/h)
Inversions 2
Duration 1:10
Capacity 480 riders per hour
Height restriction 48 in (122 cm)
Wabash Cannonball at RCDB
Pictures of Wabash Cannonball at RCDB

Wabash Cannonball was a steel corkscrew roller coaster at the now-defunct Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee. Built by Arrow Development in 1975, it was the second roller coaster added to the park following the Timber Topper. Located in the State Fair section of the park, the ride was built in an area previously occupied by the park's buffalo exhibit.

In accordance to Opryland's musical theme, the ride was named after The Wabash Cannonball, an American folk song about a mythical steam locomotive.

Following the Opryland's closure in 1997, Wabash Cannonball was disassembled and sold to Premier Parks. After being stored at Old Indiana Fun Park in Thorntown, Indiana for several years, the ride was scrapped in 2003.

Layout

Wabash Cannonball was a stock model roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, a clone of Knott's Berry Farm's Corkscrew.

The ride began when the train rolled out of the station into a short U-turn. Following the turn was the 70-foot-tall (21 m) lift hill. Once the train was at the top of the hill, the train dipped down again into a banked turn. The banked turn then took riders down toward the first drop, which gave a sensation of airtime. Following the drop, the train then ascends a small hill and goes down a turn towards the double corkscrew element.

Following the signature double corkscrew element, the train then went through another U-turn into the brake run.

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, September 03, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.