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One of many Vekoma mine trains is Colorado Adventure at Phantasialand, Germany


Mammut at Gardaland


that out only after we started the ride. One of the park people rode it and said to Ed and I, ‘You fellow get on and see what you think of that. We think it’s too violent.’ I remember riding that thing. I had my hands on the bar when suddenly, after the second drop, I hit that curve and made another drop. I felt my rear end was up in the air. I was still hanging on, but I was looking over in the field to find a soft place to land.” “We knew then we couldn’t put people on a ride like that. Ed and I got the crew together and they worked all night long, taking a section out and taming it down. Even then it was a pretty rough ride because subsequenly we also had to tame it down between the first and the second drops. A fellow would go out there each day and pick up all this stuff, put it in a basket, and people would gather it as they got off the ride. Riders would get frightened, you know. Women would sit down, forget all about their purse, grab the safety bar, and the purse would go off into the boondocks. Sunglasses would fly off the same way, even out of the riders' pockets. That was our learning experience. After the second modification, however, it was quite successful.” At Six Flags Over Texas, this first runaway mine train featured three lift hills, together with the world's first underwater coaster tunnel. Multiple lifts have become a feature of many of the rides that have followed, meaning that the action never lets up throughout the ride. And now, at Dollywood, guests can enjoy the thrill of Firechaser Express’ backwards launch courtesy of Gerstlauer. Because of the success and popularity of that pioneering ride at Six Flags and noteworthy attractions such as Disneyland’s Thunder Mountain (see over the page),


Vekoma’s Olandese Volante at Rainbow MagicLand


there are now almost 50 operating mine trains around the world, to mention many more smaller versions. Suppliers include Vekoma, Mack, Zamperla, S&S (using the ex-Arrow drawings) and probably just about any other rollercoaster manufacturer you can think of – and more on the way.


Worldwide operating mine trains •Runaway Mine Train


•Dahlonega Mine Train •Gold Rusher


•River King Mine Train •Carolina Goldrusher •Runaway Mine Train •Trailblazer


•Big Thunder Mountain •Big Thunder Mountain •Thunder Run •Alpen Express •Grottenblitz


•Big Thunder Mountain •Hill Billy Coaster Texas •Bag Express


•Yagiyama Cyclone •Adventure Express


•Big Thunder Mountain •Calamity Mine


•Runaway Mine Train •Gold Mine Train •Thunderation •Diablo


•Gold Rush


•Colorado Adventure •Road Runner Express •Diamond Devil Run •Wild West Mine Train •Pirate Island Typhoon •Quicksilver Express •Big Bad John •Mine Coaster


•Runway Mine Train


•Miniera d'Oro Del West •Canyon Blaster


•High Hazel Mine Train •Jungle Racing •Gold Mine Train •Mammut


•Olandese Volante •Big Grizzly Mountain •Gold Rush Express •Eldorado


•FireChaser Express


Six Flags Over Texas (opened 1966) Six Flags Over Georgia (1967)


Six Flags Magic Mountain, California (1971) Six Flags St Louis, Missouri (1971) Carowinds, North Carolina (1973)


Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey (1974) Hersheypark, Pennsylvania (1974) Disneyland, California (1979)


Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Orlando (1980) Canada's Wonderland, Toronto (1981) Europa-Park, Germany (1984) Heide Park, Germany (1985) Tokyo Disneyland (1987)


Tojoko Toy Kingdom, Japan (1987) Bagatelle, France (1987) Benyland, Japan (1988) Kings Island, Ohio (1991) Disneyland Paris (1992) Walibi Belgium (1992)


Alton Towers, England (1992) Nigloland, France (1992)


Silver Dollar City, Missouri (1993) PortAventura, Spain (1995)


Rainbow’s End, New Zealand (1995) Phantasialand, Germany (1996) Six Flags Fiesta Texas (1997)


Ratanga Junction, South Africa (1998) Ocean Park, Hong Kong (1999) Shibamasa World, Japan


Gilroy Gardens, California (2001) Magic Springs & Crystal Falls (2002) Happy Valley, Shenzhen, China (2002) M&D’s, Scotland (2002) Fiabilandia, Italy (2003)


Great Escape, New York (2003)


Wheelgate Adventure Park, UK (2005) Happy Valley Beijing (2006) Cowboyland, Italy (2006) Gardaland, Italy (2008)


Rainbow MagicLand, Italy (2011) Hong Kong Disneyland (2012) Adlabs Imagica, India (2013) Etnaland, Italy (2013)


Dollywood, Tennessee (2014) Source: Rollercoaster Database (rcdb.com) APRIL 2014 41


Phantasialand’s Colorado Adventure – ridden by


Michael Jackson!


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