I-Ta Yang Roller Coasters: Background and Design- Final Project Park: Kennywood, Pittsburgh PA Ride: Cool Steelers! Park Research: Kennywood amusement park is located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, which is about 8 miles from Downtown Pittsburgh.The park was opened in 1898 as a small trolley park by Andrew Mellon s Monongahela Street Railway Company. In 1906, F.W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan purchased Kennywood and began the Kennywood Entertainment Company. Because Kennywood still has some old buildings and rides, it is one of the only two amusement parks listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, Kennywood is operated by California-based Palace Entertainment. Kennywood is one of America s finest traditional amusement parks containing both renovation and tradition. In Kennywood, visitors can enjoy the new rides while feeling the history which creates unique amusement park experience. Kennywood, as a small trolley park, has suffered some battles for survival since the beginning. There were plenty of the trolley parks in Pennsylvania at that time creating competition for market shares. During early 1900 s, Kennywood started to increase the scope of the amusement park by adding more large rides. In 1910 s, two large roller coasters, the Racer and the Speed-O-Plane, were built. In 1920 s, Jack Rabbit, Pippin and new Racer were built in Kennywood. During the Great Depression from 1930 to 1935, all the amusement parks including Kennywood were having hard time to operate. However, Kennywood successfully pass through the Great Depression by creating dance festival. People went to park during weekends to dance while watching different dance bands. This strategy created low cost enjoyment for visitors. Kennywood has built many coasters since opening, such as Dipper, the Laser Loop. Some of them had different names in the past, and the park decided to change its name. For example, Pippin which was built by John Miller in 1924 became Thunderbolt in 1968 and it is still operating right now in Kennywood. There are three themed areas in Kennywood: Kiddieland, Lost Kennywood, and Volcano Valley. Kiddieland was the children s ride areas. It has many rides designed for young children, including miniature versions of the Turtle, Wave Swinger, Phantom s Revenge, etc. Lost
Kennywood was built in 1995. This themed area is built based on Kennywood history. The Pittsburgh Plunge, the Whip, the Bavarian Wave Swinger, the Exterminator, and the Swing Shot are in this area. Vocano Valley is the newest theme area when King Kahuna was built in 2003. Roller Coasters in Kennywood: Phantom s Revenge: Year Open: 2001 Type: Steel Manufacturer: Morgan Manufacturing Height: 160 feet The Exterminator: Year Open: 1999 Type: Steel (Mine Train) Manufacturer: Revershon Height: 50 feet Jack Rabbit: Year Open: 1920 Type: Wood Manufacturer: John Miller Height: 40 feet Racer: Year Open: 1927 Type: Wood Manufacturer: Charie Mach Height: 76 feet Sky Rocket: Year Open: 2010 Type: Steel Manufacturer: Premier Rides Height: 95 feet Inversions: cutback inversion, Zero-G Roll, corkscrew Thunderbold: Year Open: 1968
Type: Wood Manufacturer: Andy Vettel & John A. Miller Height: 70 feet. Kennywood has three wooden coasters and three steel coasters. One of the steel coasters, the Exterminator, is indoor mine train. The other two are outdoor steel coasters. Since Kennywood already has famous and popular wooden coasters, it is needed to build a new exciting steel coaster in the park to increase the excitement. Among three roller coasters, only Sky Rocket has inversions: cutback inversion, Zero-G Roll, and corkscrew. Moreover, there is no inverted coaster in Kennywood. As a result, if Kennywood can add a new inverted steel roller coaster with different inversions and drops, I believe that it can increase a lot of enjoyment and excitement to attract more visitors to Kennywood. PLUS! I am going to stay at CMU for another five years for phd Program. It will be nice to have a new roller coaster right here!
Visual Representation Cool Steelers which is an inverted steel coaster is going to be built by B&M. It is 135 ft. tall with 3 inversions: Heartline/ Barrel Roll, Corkscrew, and two vertical loops. The inversions are intended to mimic football moves during the games. The location is shown below:
1. Heartline/ Barrel Roll 2. Corkscrew 3. Two vertical loops The design of the first quick hill is to mimic the starting of the game when football is kicked up high in the air. After a football player catches the ball, he starts to run and try to pass through all the defenders; therefore, the heartline and the snake shape stimulate the football players running through the defenders. After the football player passed through the defenders, the football player touchdowns and scores and the player usually does some special trick after scoring such as forward somersault in the air, backward somersault in the air. Therefore, I add a corkscrew and two vertical loops to simulate the trick done by the football player.