Switchback (ZDT's Amusement Park)

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Switchback

roller coaster

ZDT's Amusement Park
Location	Seguin, Texas, USA
Status	Operating since October 17, 2015

Statistics

Builder

Gravitykraft Corporation

Designer / calculations

The Gravity Group, LLC

Type

Wooden - Shuttle

Riders per train

8

Propulsion

Chain lift hill

Height64 feet

Drop56 feet

Top speed41 mph

Length1196 feet

Inversions0

Steepest drop87°

Airtime points: 9 - HELP

Switchback is a wooden roller coaster located at ZDT's Amusement Park in Seguin, Texas, USA. It is the first, and currently only, modern wooden shuttle roller coaster.^[1]

History[edit | edit source]

The ride was announced at IAAPA on November 18, 2014.^[1] It opened to the public on October 17, 2015.^[2]

Design[edit | edit source]

Elements
Chain lift hill Tunnel 104° over-banked curve Tunnel Vertical rollback Switch track

While Switchback has 1,196 feet of track, the train travels over 1,980 feet of track per cycle. The ride has a spike with a maximum angle of 87 degrees. There are nine airtime points and a maximum bank angle of 104 degrees.

Switchback makes two passes through a building, which was formerly a small grocery store.

Ride experience[edit | edit source]

After rolling out of the station, the train makes a right turn and climbs the chain lift hill, followed by a drop. Riders go past a tunnel, which was a former small grocery store and a 104 degree over-banked curve. The train goes through a second tunnel and an airtime hill. Following a left turn, riders ascend a vertical rollback. The train completes the circuit in reverse, before slowing down on the brakes after the drop. Riders move through a switch track, followed by a left turn that returns to the station.

Trains[edit | edit source]

2 trains with 4 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in a single row for a total of 8 riders per train. The front car of Switchback was on show at Gravity Group's IAAPA 2014 booth. The trains have a locomotive theme.