The amusement rides found in State Fair are all rides that would have been familiar to visitors to the hundreds of amusement parks that were once found across the nation. When possible, original rides have been brought to Americana 1900, refurbished and restored, and have now found new life entertaining families from across the nation and around the world. In some cases, no surviving examples were either available or suitable for restoration, but in those situations a new ride was constructed based on the original designs, and emphasis was put on authentically recreating the original ride experience. In all cases, modern safety mechanisms and features were installed to meet all modern safety codes. Some of the rides found in State Fair might appear to be temporary rides, but this is only because the original ride was, indeed, a temporary installation and Americana 1900 decided to recreate the ride experience as completely as possible. All rides in State Fair are installed and maintained as permanent attractions, with the appearance of impermanence perhaps adding to the thrill. It is possible that this sense of surviving danger is part of the fun that modern riders take away from rediscovering and reliving the rides that our grandparents experienced all those years ago at their own State Fair.
Some of the State Fair rides might fall slightly outside the 1880-1920 years of Americana 1900, but their importance in the development of modern rides warranted their inclusion in State Fair. Each ride has a commemorative plaque and information sign explaining the history of the ride and its importance to American amusement park culture.
Note: We’re exploring State Fair in a similar manner as we did with Green Springs, moving counterclockwise around the perimeter, then from south to north down the middle of the Township.
Thunderbolt and Lightning (AAP)
Dominating the entire southern side of the fairgrounds is one of the most beautiful and unusual roller coasters in America, Thunderbolt and Lightning, an RMC coaster with a dual personality. It- or perhaps we should say “they”- are not racing coasters or dueling coasters in the traditional sense. Americana 1900 has christened them “mirror” coasters, closely following the same layout as each other, but in reverse, and doing so while intertwining their tracks and support structure. To add to the unusual nature of these coasters, they are actually two different kinds of coasters- “Thunderbolt” is a wooden coaster, with wooden supports and the traditional wooden “roar” and feel to it. “Lightning” is a steel coaster, with steel supports (constructed to look like wood for aesthetics) and with the speed and smoothness of a truly great steel coaster.
The loading station, located in the center of the row of concessions and games on Main Street, is inspired by the traditional wooden roller coaster stations of the early Americana era, with white ornamental cupulas sporting flags on its bright red roof. This station serves both coasters, with separate side-by-side entrances for each coaster. The lift hill for Thunderbolt rises to the left (east) and for Lightning to the right (west). At the top of the 140ft. hills the trains plummet down a 59-degree descent, banking sharply (to the right for Thunderbolt, left for Lightning), and from there on the trains race through the twists, turns and hills of these breathtaking coasters, often passing each other in apparent near-misses, and mimicking each other’s movements in an amazing achievement of coaster design.
Thunderbolt provides the deafening roar. Lightning provides the blinding speed. Together, Thunderbolt and Lightning truly are very, very frightening- but also very, very fun!
The early history of the Tumble Bug is vague, but it was most probably first introduced in the mid-1920s. The oldest one with a verifiable date was at Conneaut Lake Park in Pennsylvania, dating from 1925. Six round cars, each capable of carrying eight riders, are propelled around a circular, undulating track one hundred feet in diameter by long poles attached to a central ride mechanism. Each car rotates on its own axis, moving up and down on the rising-and-falling track while spinning around at the same time.
Once found in nearly every amusement park and fairground midway in America, only one other operating example of the Tumble Bug exists today, at Kennywood Park in Pennsylvania. The Tumble Bug, so titled because it was usually decorated to look like a series of bugs, carries families on a fun, mildly-thrilling and nostalgic ride through America’s amusement park past.
The Steeplechase was the heart, soul and namesake of Steeplechase Park, the most popular and successful of the Coney Island, New York parks from 1897 until 1964. Part roller coaster, part scenic railway with a hint of derby racer thrown in, it was a ride unique in concept and design. Several times fire destroyed the ride, or even the entire park, but it was always rebuilt, a “phoenix rising from the ashes,” and once again Steeplechase has been reborn, this time at Americana 1900.
The Americana Steeplechase, which dominates nearly the entire east side of State Fair, is a Zamperla-built coaster that blends the launched motorbike technology of Pony Express at Knott’s Berry Farm with the visual theme and ride experience of the only remaining example of an original Steeplechase ride, the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Steeplechase in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, to create a coaster experience unequaled by any of its forerunners.
Guests enter the loading station, which resembles the grandstand of an impressive horse racing track of 1900, white with tall, slender columns and a towering cupola topped with fluttering flags surmounting the roof. Passing through the queue area, guests can read signs and examine displays explaining just what a steeplechase horse race is, and how it differs from a regular horse race. A steeplechase is not run on a traditional horse racing track, but is a cross-country distance race where horses must leap over fences and hedges, across ditches and jump over streams and other water hazards. The name comes from early races when riders used a church steeple as a reference point to orient their location in the race.
The multiple tracks and ride vehicle design is among the most technologically advanced in the roller coaster world. The Americana Steeplechase consists of eight parallel tracks that proceed side-by-side through a beautifully landscaped out-and-back course of forest and fields, over fences, hedges and even roads, and past a rural Southern church with a tall, landmark steeple. Eight side-by-side tracks can accommodate ride vehicles designed to look like sleek racing horses, similar to the horses on Pony Express at Knott’s Berry Farm but bearing more resemblance to the sleek, streamlined racing horses on Cedar Downs at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. As on Cedar Downs, each horse is designed for two riders per horse, one riding behind the other. Also as on Cedar Downs, the horses race on individual parallel tracks side-by-side against each other. This arrangement of multiple tracks and horses allows for near-continual loading and unloading of riders while others are racing, with up to 128 riders on the course at one time. Passengers mount their horses and sit on saddles with automatic restraints to hold riders securely in their seats.
After their riders are seated and secured, the eight horses and their sixteen riders advance to the “starting line.” A bugle trumpets “First Call,” also known as “Call to the Post,” and they’re off!, each horse reaching a speed of 38 m.p.h. in less than three seconds. They race each other over hedges, around trees and barns and take several high-banked turns up to a height of 44 feet. Each track is designed to have the same distance to travel. Since the inside tracks on the turns would be shorter than the tracks further out, extra hills or swerves around trees or other natural obstacles have been added to make each track have a total length equal to the others. To add to the excitement of the Steeplechase experience, each horse also has a galloping motion built into its supports, so that the riders not only feel the speed as they surge forward down the track, they also feel the gait of the horse as it gallops down the Steeplechase course. Throughout the race, magnetic propulsion systems, brake sections and multiple computer safety sensors keep the horses racing at full speed while ensuring the safety of the riders and control over the horses. Coming into the final stretch, a final burst of speed is added to create the feeling of the horses pushing themselves to win the race.*
*Note: The horses race in a counterclockwise direction around the track. The map drawing has them racing clockwise. In England, steeplechase races are run clockwise, but in America (and Americana 1900) they are run counterclockwise.
The computer system operating and controlling the racehorses is designed to provide for random winners of each race, so that no one horse or “position” becomes the favorite for experienced riders. The winner is offered to pose for a complimentary sepia photograph of themselves wearing a victor’s wreath. Other riders can also have their photo taken in the Family Album Steeplechase Photography Studio, located beneath the grandstand that overlooks the finish line, and can purchase an online photo taken during the race. All photos are done in the sepia tones of the era, long before color photography was common, or even available. This shop also sells Steeplechase-themed souvenirs (to be discussed in the Merchandise section of this presentation under “Grandstand Shoppe).
Regardless of who wins, each rider of Steeplechase will have a winning experience on the most unique roller coaster in Americana 1900, and possibly in all of America.
