More pointless stuff about roller coasters: Wooden coasters ranked

[mmcirvin]

There's this whole online community of roller-coaster freaks who ride many more coasters than I ever will be able or willing to, and they have polls. Here's one about favorite wooden coasters.

I didn't vote in this because there's only one woodie I've ridden on that is still standing: Canobie Lake's Yankee Cannonball, mentioned on many previous occasions here. I thought the Yankee Cannonball was a surprisingly good ride given how short its first lift looked from the ground. Kids on YouTube snarked about how unimpressive it looked. I chalked it up mostly to my being relatively inexperienced.

Now I find that apparently I wasn't wrong: according to the detailed rankings by these hardcore coaster freaks, the Yankee Cannonball is the 55th best wooden coaster worldwide. While not world-beating, this is entirely respectable, putting it well in the top half and ahead of many surprisingly better-known rides, including all the woodies at Kings Dominion and Six Flags New England and all but one at Hersheypark. It seems to be regarded as particularly well-maintained; a lot of parks let their wooden coasters get super-rough from neglect.

It does, however, underscore the point that I really need to get down to Lake Compounce one of these days and ride Boulder Dash.


(In my first version of this post, based on the detailed spreadsheet, I said it was ranked 56th. The difference from the final listing was due to the disqualification of the rehabbed Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas from the final results, because its new track really makes it a steel coaster. There are steel tracks on wooden supports, and wooden tracks on steel supports (like the Coney Island Cyclone); the generally accepted distinction seems to be that it's the track that counts.)

Comments

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Did you ever ride the long-gone wooden coaster at Paragon Park in Nantasket? It remains my sentimental favorite, partly because my great-grandfather's firm built it.

I do love the Yankee Cannonball.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, that closed down several years before I arrived in New England.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Hey, that coaster is still operating (http://www.rcdb.com/148.htm)! It moved to Six Flags America in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

It's ranked #63 in the poll, also a respectable showing.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

That Paragon Park coaster has quite the history (http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2010/12/blast-from-past-paaragon-parks-giant.html). It was originally built in 1917, two years before John Miller patented upstop wheels, the ones that keep coaster cars from flying off the track. So I'm wondering if it was originally a side-friction coaster (that is, one lacking upstop wheels, where the cars ride in a sort of trough). On the other hand, it was designed by Miller himself, so maybe not.

Then it largely burned down in 1932 and was given a major makeover by Herbert Schmeck, who designed the Yankee Cannonball. When Paragon Park shut down, it moved to this animal park called Wild World which eventually became Six Flags America.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Excitement! I will have to make a pilgrimage.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

all but one at Hersheypark

...which, however, is counted as two separate coasters in the poll, since it's a racing coaster whose two sides have somewhat different layouts. (The completely symmetrical ones seem to be counted singly.)