John C. Allen

John C. Allen

Company	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Born	May 21, 1907, Philadelphia
Died	Aug 17, 1979
Years active	1934-1979
Known for	Revival of the wooden roller coaster

John C. Allen (May 21, 1907 - August 17, 1979) was a roller coaster designer who was responsible for the wooden roller coaster revival which began in the 1970s. After attending Temple University, he started working for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1934 as a roller coaster operator and rose to become president of the company by 1954. He had designed over 25 coasters and made significant contributions to roller coaster technology. He once said, "You don't need a degree in engineering to design roller coasters, you need a degree in psychology."

Roller coasters

Surviving

Name	Park	Opened	Closed	Status
Black Diamond Formerly Golden Nugget	Knoebels Amusement Park Dinosaur Beach	2011 1960	1999	Operating
Blue Streak	Cedar Point	1964		Operating
Cannon Ball	Lake Winnepesaukah	1967		Operating
Great American Scream Machine	Six Flags Over Georgia	1973		Operating
Nightmare	Joyland	1949	2004	SBNO
Racer	Kings Island	1972		Operating
Rebel Yell	Kings Dominion	1975		Operating
Screamin' Eagle	Six Flags St. Louis	1976		Operating
Sea Dragon	Jungle Jack's Landing	1956		Operating
Skyliner Formerly Skyliner	Lakemont Park Roseland Park	1987 1960	1985	Operating
Swamp Fox	Family Kingdom Amusement Park	1966		Operating
Woodstock Express	Kings Dominion	1974		Operating

Defunct

Name	Park	Opened	Closed	Status
Comet	Rocky Glen	1959	1987	Defunct
Comet	Funway Amusement Park	1973	1989	Defunct
Flyer	Dinosaur Beach	1957	1988	Defunct
Jetstream	Riverview Park	1964	1967	Defunct
Mr. Twister	Elitch Gardens	1964	1994	Defunct
Shooting Star	Lakeside Park	1968	1986	Defunct
Skyliner	Fair Park	1965	1988	Defunct
Starliner Formerly Starliner	Legoland Florida Miracle Strip Amusement Park	2007 1963	2008 2004	Defunct
Tornado	Wedgewood Village	1961	1969	Defunct
Tornado	Petticoat Junction	1970	1984	Defunct