Excalibur (Six Flags AstroWorld)
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| Manufacturer | Arrow Development | ||||||||||||||
| Product | Runaway Train | ||||||||||||||
| Type | Steel | ||||||||||||||
| Riders per train | 30 | ||||||||||||||
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 88 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Drop | 80 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Top speed | 46 mph | ||||||||||||||
| Length | 2637 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Inversions | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2:51 | ||||||||||||||
Excalibur was a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, USA.
History
The attraction was built by Arrow Development and opened in 1972 as Dexter Frebish's Electric Roller Ride, as part of the Country Fair section. It was painted entirely white. It was built much taller and with a steel structure compared to other Arrow mine trains at the time.[1]
In 1980, the ride was damaged during the construction of Thunder River by a dump truck. This caused a slight jog in the tracks, leaving a "trick-track" element.[2] For this season, the ride's brakes were reserved which would later occur again in 1993.[3]
It was renamed to Excalibur in 1981, as the area was later rethemed to Nottingham Village. The track was later painted red and the supports were painted brown.
In 1989, Excailbur would receive a new lap bar system.
The ride closed at the end of the 1998 season and was later replaced by Serial Thriller in 1999, which was built on its former plot. It was dismantled in late 1998.
In 1999, it was relocated to Frontier City in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, but it was never reassembled. The ride was reportively damaged during disassembly from Six Flags AstroWorld, being not "cleanly" removed and remained in storage. This made it difficult to reinstall and rebuild.[4][5][6]
Excalibur was eventually scrapped in 2005, with its trains being sent to Six Flags Over Texas as spare parts for Runaway Mine Train.
Incident
On August 9, 1997, a 51-year old maintenance worker was struck by a train which was dispatched while working on the ride's track. The impact caused him to fall to his death.[7][8]
Design
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Color scheme
Trains
5 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows, for a total of 30 riders per train.
References
- ↑ "Excailbur". Six Flags Houston.
- ↑ "Excalibur Tribute Page". MDRCoast.
- ↑ "Six Flags Astroworld". Theme Park Timelines.
- ↑ "Excailbur". Six Flags Houston.
- ↑ "Excailbur....RIP". Coasterphotos.
- ↑ "Aerial Antics: Frontier City". NewsPlusNotes.
- ↑ "ROLLER COASTER ACCIDENTS". SFGATE.
- ↑ "News, Rumors, and Serious Fatalities". Six Flags Houston.
External links
- Excalibur on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
