Rolling Thunder (roller coaster)

Rolling Thunder was a racing roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Designed by William Cobb, it opened in 1979 as the park's first wooden coaster during its fifth operating season. Rolling Thunder closed permanently in 2013 to make room for Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, which opened in 2014 and was removed in 2024.

History

Rolling Thunder opened on June 6, 1979.[1] To mark the 100th anniversary of roller coasters in the US, Rolling Thunder's Coaster 2nd side was renamed "Rednuht Gnillor", the backwards spelling of "Rolling Thunder", in 1984. The trains were turned around so that riders could view the ride while riding backwards. During this season, Rednuht Gnillor's warning signs were placed in the back of the station and on the back of the lift hill so that riders could see them.

Rolling Thunder did not operate from Fall 2005 through Spring 2006 due to construction of the "Plaza del Carnival" section of the park and the new El Toro roller coaster. The ride closed permanently on September 8, 2013, to "make room" for Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, which opened the following year in 2014.[2]

Ride experience

Queue

The line for the ride began at an adjoining entrance and had separate queues for each track. The queue to the right of the entrance lead to the Coaster 1 track and Coaster 2 was reached by the queue on the left. Guests who were not tall enough for coasters with 54-inch (137 cm) minimum height rode Rolling Thunder, which had a 44-inch (112 cm) height requirement.

Layout

Unlike most racing coasters, Rolling Thunder's tracks were not always next to each other, they separated at several points in the ride. After the first drop, the left track traveled over a big hill, followed by a small hill, whereas the second track reversed that. On the turnaround at the back, the left track traveled up and made a level turn, while the right track traveled up and dropped while turning. The hills on the return segment were also staggered. The trains were not always raced.

Track

The structure and track were mostly built from 850,000 feet (259,080 m) of Douglas fir. In the past, the Douglas fir had been treated with pesticides which were not considered environmentally friendly and the track and supports were slowly being replaced with southern yellow pine.

The track was made by bolting seven layers of wood. In most places on the ride, there were two layers of southern yellow pine, which sat on top of five layers of Douglas fir. Older sections of track still had seven layers of Douglas fir (mostly on the lift) and there were refurbished sections of track with seven layers of southern pine. A 7 in strip of steel was bolted onto the top layer of wood track and three-inch-wide pieces of steel were bolted onto the sides.

Brakes

Rolling Thunder used skid brakes to stop the trains rather than modern fin brakes. The trains had brake pads underneath each car which slid against the brakes to lift the train's wheels off the track. The brakes were always in the up position unless the operator, in conjunction with the rear unloader attendant, advanced a train. The road wheels were heard spinning at the end of the ride and continued to spin until the operator, in conjunction with the unload attendant, advanced the train.

There were three sets of brakes. The trim and ready brakes were located in the tunnel at the end of the ride. The trim brake slowed and stopped the train and served as a holding place for one train until the second train left the station. The train was advanced off the trim and onto the ready brake. The ready brake held the train until the second train reached the top half of the lift hill. The dispatch brake held the train in the station while it was being unloaded and loaded for the next ride. The trains were stopped manually and were not always aligned with the queue stalls in the station. Therefore, the attendants had to direct the guests to their rows from time to time before the airgates were opened.

When the brake pads and wheels were wet, there was little friction to stop the trains and they slid too far onto the brakes. For safety reasons, only one train ran per side in rainy weather.

Brakes

When the brake pads and wheels were wet, there was little friction to stop the trains and they slid too far onto the brakes. For safety reasons, only one train ran per side in rainy weather.

Trains

There were four trains that were distinguishable by color: red, blue, yellow and green. Each train had four three-bench Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters cars held together by hitch bars. Each car contained six seats. Each train held a maximum of 24 riders.

The trains used buzz bars that locked in one position. Seat dividers and headrests were added in 1981 to prevent people from standing on the ride while it was in operation. Seat belts were added on the ride's 30th anniversary.

There were three types of wheels used on the trains. Sixteen road wheels rode on the steel layer on top of the track. Sixteen guide wheels guided the trains around the turned on a separate steel track located on the sides of the wooden track. Sixteen upstop wheels rode on the bottom of the track.

location	Six Flags Great Adventure
section	Plaza del Carnaval
coordinates	40.13936°N, -74.43428°W
type	Wood
type2	Racing
status	Removed
opened	June 6, 1979
closed	September 8, 2013
replacement	Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom El Diablo
manufacturer	William Cobb & Associates
designer	Don Rosser & William Cobb
model	Racing roller coaster
track	Figure 8/Out and back
lift	Chain lift hill
height1 ft	96
length1 ft	3200
speed1 mph	56
inversions1	0
duration1	2:10
angle1	45
capacity	3840
restriction in	44
trains	4
carspertrain	4
rowspercar	3
ridersperrow	2
virtual queue name	Flash Pass
virtual queue image	Fastpass availability icon.svg
virtual queue status	was Available
rcdb number	132

Rolling Thunder (roller coaster)

History

Ride experience

Queue

Layout

Track

Brakes

Brakes

Trains

Accident

See also

References