Sunday, December 16, 2018

Another Steel Curtain Construction Update, December 16th, 2018

It is so much fun watching a coaster get constructed. Steel Curtain is no exception to this. In one week we have seen the track started to get put into place, starting with the brake run and heading into the last inversion in the course of the ride's layout. They made some impressive progress in construction over the last week. This link will take you to our much more thorough update from last week
 The first inversion in the progress of construction, and the last one in the chronology of the coaster's layout.

I can't wait to ride this coaster!


2019 will be extremely exciting at Kennywood! For more info on the coaster, check out this link from Kennywood.

If you are looking for a gift for someone, or for yourself, check out our 2019 Roller Coaster Wall Calendar. It is available through the dropdown menu at the top of this page, and through our Etsy Store
Our 2019 Roller Coaster Calendar
It features roller coasters from many amusement parks, including Knoebels, Holiday World, Waldameer, Kentucky Kingdom, Carowinds, Cedar Point, Family Kingdom, Kennywood, Darien Lake, and Kings Island. These calendars are custom made with photos taken by the authors. The calendars open up to be 17 inches tall by 11 inches wide. Purchases can be made using the PayPal menus at the bottom of this page, and at the top of the page.
Also available is our book on Pennsylvania's historic amusement parks, Great Pennsylvania Amusement Parks Road Trip. It features Knoebels, Kennywood Park, Hersheypark, Dorsey Park, Waldameer, DelGrosso's, the currently idle Lakemont, Dutch Wonderland, Idlewild, and Conneaut Lake Park.

Purchases of both items can be made through the PayPal menu at the bottom of this page, and at the top of this page, and through our Etsy Store

2019 Coaster Calendar and PA Amusement Parks Book Options
 


Sunday, December 9, 2018

Kennywood Steel Curtain Coaster Construction Update

We just had our first chance to see Kennywood's new Steel Curtain Roller Coaster since construction has gone vertical. The bright yellow supports of the coaster pop out so nicely with the skyline. They are currently around 100 feet in height, and I can only imagine how imposing this coaster will appear once it reaches 220 feet. This S&S-Sansei (and Vekoma) creation should be amazing. It will top out at 220 feet, have the world's tallest inversion at 195 feet. 

Here is a list of some of the spectacular stats on this prototype coaster:
Height: 220 feet - tallest roller coaster in PA 
Speed: 76 mph 
Inversions: 9 - most in North America 
Tallest Inversion: 197 feet - tallest in the world 
Length: 4,000 feet 

  Sky Rocket, with Steel Curtain and the steel plant in Braddock in the background. 
 The track staging area in the area of the old K-Mart. Look at how aggressive some of those turns will be! The coaster will have some wicked transitions. 
While I am not a Steeler fan, the steel based theming of the coaster should be a win for the park. It is also nice to see the park make a nod towards the local steel industry, both past and present. The most robust portions of the region's steel making heritage are located right across the river in Braddock, in addition to the Irvin works on the other side of West Mifflin. 
 I never thought we would ever see a coaster built next to Racer. It is strange to see, but I really can't wait to see this coaster get done. 

2019 will be extremely exciting at Kennywood! For more info on the coaster, check out this link from Kennywood.

If you are looking for a gift for someone, or for yourself, check out our 2019 Roller Coaster Wall Calendar. It is available through the dropdown menu at the top of this page, and through our Etsy Store
Our 2019 Roller Coaster Calendar
It features roller coasters from many amusement parks, including Knoebels, Holiday World, Waldameer, Kentucky Kingdom, Carowinds, Cedar Point, Family Kingdom, Kennywood, Darien Lake, and Kings Island. These calendars are custom made with photos taken by the authors. The calendars open up to be 17 inches tall by 11 inches wide. Purchases can be made using the PayPal menus at the bottom of this page, and at the top of the page.
Also available is our book on Pennsylvania's historic amusement parks, Great Pennsylvania Amusement Parks Road Trip. It features Knoebels, Kennywood Park, Hersheypark, Dorsey Park, Waldameer, DelGrosso's, the currently idle Lakemont, Dutch Wonderland, Idlewild, and Conneaut Lake Park.

Purchases of both items can be made through the PayPal menu at the bottom of this page, and at the top of this page, and through our Etsy Store



2019 Coaster Calendar and PA Amusement Parks Book Options