Great American Scream Machine (Six Flags Great Adventure)

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Great American Scream Machine

The double corkscrew element.

Six Flags Great Adventure
Location	Jackson, New Jersey, USA
Status	Defunct
Operated	April 15, 1989 to July 18, 2010
Cost	$7,000,000^[1]
Height restriction	54 inches (137 cm)
Replaced by	Green Lantern

Statistics

Manufacturer

Arrow Dynamics

Designer / calculations

Ron Toomer

Type

Steel

Product

Custom Looping Coaster

Riders per train

28

Hourly capacity

1680

Propulsion

Chain lift hill

Height

173 feet

Drop

155 feet

Top speed

68 mph

Length

3800 feet

Inversions

7

Duration

2:20

G-Force

3.8

HELP

Great American Scream Machine was a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, USA. Built by Arrow Dynamics, it was the fastest inverting roller coaster when it opened in 1989. It was built along with two other sister coasters known as ShockWave (dismantled in 2002) at Six Flags Great America and Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Although another roller coaster with the same name exists at Six Flags Over Georgia, that ride is an out and back wooden roller coaster.

The ride was removed in 2010 and replaced with Green Lantern.

History

Originally, the ride was set to be named Ninja, but there were problems with the crowds drawn to the Ninja coasters in other parks. The park would instead name the coaster Great American Scream Machine.^[2] In September 1988, the ride was finally announced.^[3]

Great American Scream Machine had a media preview on April 14, 1989. It opened to the general public a day later on April 15.^[2]

After the first season, the top of the vertical loops were replaced by track with additional strength bracing. This was due to the the amount of stress put on the trains and problems on other Arrow Dynamics coasters, such as ShockWave at Six Flags Great America. The original top of the first loop can be seen in the monkey enclosure at the Wild Safari. Along with this, a trim brake was installed after the first loop. This was not designed to stop the train, it is only used to adjust the speed at temperatures of over 90 degrees.

In 2009, the white train (Liberty) was ad-wrapped as an advert for one of the rides sponsors, got2b Glued Styling Spiking Glue, a hair gel. This was the first ride in the park to have this, but adverts were later placed on Kingda Ka and El Toro trains for Karate Kid and Stride Gum respectively.

On July 5, 2010, Six Flags Great Adventure announced that Great American Scream Machine would close on July 18.^[4] In 2011, it was replaced by Green Lantern, a Bolliger & Mabillard stand-up roller coaster formerly located at Kentucky Kingdom.

Design

Elements
Chain lift hill 136 foot tall vertical loop 107 foot tall vertical loop 97 foot tall vertical loop Block brake Batwing Double corkscrew

After the lift hill and drop, there are three vertical loops, a brake run, the batwing, a double corkscrew before a turn around into the station.

Trains

3 trains with 7 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 28 riders per train.

A track section removed from Great American Scream Machine

Theming

All the colors of the ride and the surrounding area resembled the American flag. The track was painted red with white supports. The trains were named Freedom (red), Liberty (white), and Spirit (blue). The ground under the ride had a red and white pattern resembling the stripes on the American flag and the station building was white with blue trim.

Trivia

Planet Coaster, a build-your-own-theme park game like Rollercoaster Tycoon, has an Arrow-inspired looping coaster called the American Arrow, in honor of Great American Scream Machine.

Photo Gallery

One of the three vertical loops
Entrance after the ride closed
The roller coaster during demolition
The blue train entering the double corkscrew
View of the station
Train dropping
The batwing

References

↑ "The ultimate roller coaster is a real scream". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54446199/the-ultimate-roller-coaster-is-a-real/.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Great American Scream Machine". GreatAdventureHistory. http://greatadventurehistory.com/GASM.htm.
↑ "Great Adventure adds 'great' scream machine". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53865426/great-adventure-adds-great-scream/.
↑ "Great American Scream Machine to close July 18th". Coaster101. July 5, 2010. https://www.coaster101.com/2010/07/05/great-american-scream-machine-to-close-july-18th/. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

External links

Great American Scream Machine on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster April 1989 - May 1989
Preceded by ShockWave	Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster April 1989 - May 1989	Succeeded by Magnum XL-200

Tallest roller coaster drop tied with ShockWave April 1989 - May 1989
Preceded by American Eagle	Tallest roller coaster drop tied with ShockWave April 1989 - May 1989	Succeeded by Magnum XL-200

Most inversions on a roller coaster (7) tied with Goudurix Kumba ShockWave Viper April 1989 - May 1995
Preceded by Vortex	Most inversions on a roller coaster (7) tied with Goudurix Kumba ShockWave Viper April 1989 - May 1995	Succeeded by Dragon Khan

[1] "The ultimate roller coaster is a real scream". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54446199/the-ultimate-roller-coaster-is-a-real/.

[GAH-2] 2.0 ^2.1 "Great American Scream Machine". GreatAdventureHistory. http://greatadventurehistory.com/GASM.htm.

[3] "Great Adventure adds 'great' scream machine". https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53865426/great-adventure-adds-great-scream/.

[4] "Great American Scream Machine to close July 18th". Coaster101. July 5, 2010. https://www.coaster101.com/2010/07/05/great-american-scream-machine-to-close-july-18th/. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

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