Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is a steel roller coaster at Luna Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It is located near Surf Avenue and West 15th Street, on the Riegelmann Boardwalk next to the B&B Carousell.

History

Under construction

A wooden roller coaster named the Thunderbolt was originally operated by George Moran on Coney Island from 1925 to 1982. It was demolished in 2000 due to neglect.

In June 2013, it was announced that the operators of Luna Park at Coney Island, Zamperla, would construct a new steel roller coaster which would utilize the Thunderbolt name. Due to the small footprint required for the coaster, the original plans called for the coaster to use an elevator instead of a lift hill for the initial incline.

Published reports stated that Thunderbolt was expected to be completed and opened by Memorial Day 2014. This date was delayed to early June 2014; revised to open by June 6. In early June, the opening date was once again delayed for later that summer. On June 14, 2014, the Thunderbolt was opened.

Characteristics

Thunderbolt was manufactured by Zamperla at a cost of US$10 million and has a 90-degree vertical drop and four inversions. From the beginning of the initial drop, to the end of ride, it takes 38 seconds. The ride features 2,234 feet (681 m) of track, a height of 115 feet (35 m), and a top speed of 56 miles per hour (90 km/h).

Layout

After leaving the station southbound, the train immediately makes a U-turn to the left and enters a 90-degree, 125-foot (38 m) lift hill. It immediately descends 91 degrees and enters a vertical loop, followed by a Zero-G Roll to the left. After the second inversion, the train enters a leftward-sloping Stengal dive, followed by a Immelmann loop to the right. Having reversed direction, the train goes over two camelback hills before entering a right-hand corkscrew. After the corkscrew, the train enters another camelback hill before hitting the brake run and entering the station.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Thunderbolt (2014 roller coaster)" and modified on October 14, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.