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| Manufacturer | Frontier Construction Company | ||||||||||||||
| Designer / calculations | Don Rosser William Cobb | ||||||||||||||
| Type | Wooden | ||||||||||||||
| Track layout | Cyclone | ||||||||||||||
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 93 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Drop | 80 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Top speed | 60 mph | ||||||||||||||
| Length | 3180 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Inversions | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Drop angle | 53° | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2:15 | ||||||||||||||
| Rolling stock | |||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Morgan (1987-2005) Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (1976-1986) | ||||||||||||||
| Riders per train | 24 | ||||||||||||||
Texas Cyclone was a wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, USA. It operated from 1976 to 2005.
History
The park had hoped to purchase the original Cyclone from Coney Island, but this fell through. Texas Cyclone opened on June 12, 1976 as part of a new Coney Island themed area.[1]
The ride's trains were originally provided by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. They used four-bench cars, but were later replaced with three-bench ones to accommodate the ride's curvature. Headrests and additional padding were later added. These trains were then replaced with Morgan trains in 1987.
The ride closed with the park on October 30, 2005 and was subsequently demolished.[2][3][4][5][6] A short section of track from the Texas Cyclone was preserved and put into storage. In November 2020, the section of track was transported to the National Roller Coaster Museum for display. Larson International assisted with the move.[7] The trains from Texas Cyclone were transported to La Ronde.[8] The front lead car of the red train was later sold on to a coffee shop in Montreal, Canada called La Graine Brûlée where it is still present there today. [9]
Design
| Elements |
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The layout was a mirror-image of that of the original Cyclone at Coney Island. However, Texas Cyclone was taller and longer.
Color scheme
Unpainted track and white supports.
Trains
6 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 24 riders per train. The former rolling stock was replaced with new trains from Morgan in 1987.[10]
Images
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The entrance as it appeared in 2004 -
A train climbing the lift hill
References
- ↑ "Astroworld's new ride real thriller". San Antonio Express.
- ↑ "For AstroWorld, the ride is over".
- ↑ "Texas Cyclone demolished". Theme Park Review.com.
- ↑ "3/12/2006". Save AstroWorld.com.
- ↑ "Six Flags Astroworld". Screamscape.com.
- ↑ "A Houston icon is no more". Amusement Today.com.
- ↑ "Soon you'll be able to relive the thrill of riding Texas Cyclone at Astroworld". ABC13. November 7, 2020.
- ↑ Callahan, Michael (March 9, 2016). "Astroworld's Texas Cyclone Demolished". Bayou City History. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ↑ "Vacationing in Montreal, I wandered into a coffee shop a block from my hostel, and found... this". Reddit.com.
- ↑ Griffin, Bob (July 3, 1987). "The Texas Cyclone at AstroWorld rated the world's best roller caoster". The Shreveport Journal. p. 52. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
External links
- Texas Cyclone on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
- Texas Cyclone on Coaster-Count.
- Texas Cyclone on sixflags.com.
