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First Drop of Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point.
Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point

A hybrid roller coaster is a category of roller coasters where the track is made out of one material, either steel or wood, and the support structure is made from another.[1][2] Early hybrid coasters include mine train roller coasters from Arrow Development, which feature a steel track with a wooden support structure.[3] Becoming increasingly more common are hybrids with wooden tracks and steel supports,[3] such as The Voyage at Holiday World.[4][5]

Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is well-known for their I-Box track design, commonly used to retrofit existing wooden coasters with a new steel track. Such designs provide several benefits, offering smoother rides and reducing maintenance costs.[6] Hybrid coasters can also add inversions, similar to Mean Streak's conversion into Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point in 2018. Newer hybrids also tend to be taller, faster, and feature steeper drops over their wooden coaster counterparts.[citation needed]

History

Two main components of roller coaster design are their track and support structure. In most cases, both are made of the same material – either wood or steel.[3] Occasionally, they are designed to feature a steel track with a wooden structure, or vice versa, in what has become known as a hybrid roller coaster.[5] Hybrid roller coasters have existed for a long time, with one of the oldest being Cyclone at Luna Park, which opened in 1927.[7] Its track is made from wood, while the support structure is made of steel.[8] Arrow Development built a vast amount of mine train roller coasters beginning in the 1960s, featuring tubular steel track and wooden supports.[9][10][11] One of their last installations is Adventure Express at Kings Island, which opened in 1991.[12][13]

Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) and The Gravity Group are at the forefront of modern hybrid coaster construction.[14] RMC entered the industry by refurbishing old wooden roller coasters, converting them into hybrids with steel track, beginning with New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in 2011.[3][5] One of their most popular conversions is Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point,[15] which has been consistently ranked as one of the best steel coasters in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards. The Gravity Group designs coasters with wooden track but with a steel support structure, such as Hades 360 at Mount Olympus Theme Park.[16]

Terminology

The term "hybrid roller coaster" started to be used by the coaster community when New Texas Giant opened and Six Flags classified the roller coaster as wood. Six Flags in response of the confusion classified the roller coaster as a "hybrid", which has since been used to include many other Rocky Mountain Construction Coasters of the same style.[17] Coasters are usually still classified as either "steel" or "wood", based on what their track material is.[18] The use of the phrase is controversial.[1]

Examples of hybrid roller coasters

Name Park Opened Country Notes
New Texas Giant Six Flags Over Texas 2011 United States First RMC conversion[19]
Hades 360 Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park 2013 United States
Steel Vengeance Cedar Point 2018 United States First hybrid hypercoaster and longest hybrid in the world[20]
Hakugei Nagashima Spa Land 2019 Japan First hybrid roller coaster in Asia[21]
Iron Gwazi Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 2022 United States
Wildcat's Revenge Hersheypark 2023 United States World's largest underflip inversion[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Weisenberger, Nick (2012). Coasters 101: An Engineer's Guide to Roller Coaster Design (Paperback) (1st ed.). United States: Createspace Independent Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 9781468013559.
  2. ^ Throgmorton, Todd H.; Throgmorton, Samantha K. (30 April 2016). Coasters: United States and Canada (E-book) (4th ed.). McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. pp. 21, 49, 116, 223, 231. ISBN 978-1476622118.
  3. ^ a b c d "What Is A Hybrid Roller Coaster?". coastercritic.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  4. ^ Marden, Duane. "The Voyage  (Holiday World & Splashin' Safari)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "What Is a Hybrid Wooden and Steel Roller Coaster?". TripSavvy. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  6. ^ Glaser, Susan (13 October 2017). "Meet the man behind Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point's newest record-breaking roller coaster". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  7. ^ Marden, Duane. "Coney Island Cyclone  (Coney Island)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. ^ "The Cyclone" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. 12 July 1988. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Arrow Dynamics – Coasterforce". Coasterforce. 17 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Roller Coaster Search Results". rcdb.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  11. ^ "The Coasters of Kings Island". Warren County | Ohio's Best Vacation Destination. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Adventure Express – Kings Island – Roller Coasters". Ultimate Rollercoaster.com.
  13. ^ "Adventure Express – Kings Island (Mason, Ohio, United States)". rcdb.com. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  14. ^ MacDonald, Brady (1 October 2014). "Get ready for the next wave of looping wooden coasters". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  15. ^ Arehart, Mark (4 May 2018). "State of the Arts: A New Kind of Wooden Coaster Twists and Turns at Cedar Point". Ideastream Public Media. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  16. ^ "The Gravity Group – Coasterforce". Coasterforce. 23 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Roller Coaster Search Results". rcdb.com. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  18. ^ "New Texas Giant Roller Coaster". Guide to Six Flags over Texas. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  19. ^ Marden, Duane. "New Texas Giant  (Six Flags Over Texas)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  20. ^ Marden, Duane. "Steel Vengenace  (Cedar Point)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  21. ^ Marden, Duane. "Hakugei  (Nagashima Spa Land)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  22. ^ Marden, Duane. "Wildcat's Revenge  (Hershey Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase.

Further reading

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