Z Roller Coaster

With the popularity of hybrid wooden coasters, those constructed with a steel structure instead of wood or the newest variation built with a pre-fabricated wood track, many roller coaster fans have been wondering if those constructed entirely of wood are going to be a thing of the past.

It’s not that fans don’t enjoy the new variations, some of which have recieved rave reviews and won awards like The Voyage at Holiday World or El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure. What concerns them is the possible loss of the past. Are we losing, some part of Americana? Is the true wood roller coaster fading away to be replaced by the newer variation?

Well “woodie fans” you need not worry, the designers of all wood roller coasters have not disappeared. Instead they’ve been hard at work in Sunbury, Pennsylvania designing a new thrilling attraction for Kentucky’s Beech Bend Park.

Great Coasters International
Jeff Pike, Mike Boodley and Chris Gray of Great Coasters, Intl. at Beech Bend Park and their wooden coaster, Kentucky Rumbler. © 2006 Joel Styer/RideZone
Great Coasters International a growing roller coaster design firm is dedicated to preserving the old fashion fun a wooden coaster offers. They say they won’t be swayed by new concepts that violate their tried and true principles.

When Clair Hain, president of Great Coasters International is asked to comment on today’s steel roller coasters he simply says, “I don’t ride steel coasters.” Instead he prefers to talk passionately about the wooden twisters of the past and about bringing back rides of the past from legendary designers like Harry Traver. So it should come as no surprise that their latest roller coaster pays tribute to the rides of a bygone era.