Maurer Söhne Spinning Coaster

Last summer, I got the chance to ride a Maurer Söhne Spinning Coaster SC2000 at Waldameer Park in Erie PA. Standing at 50 feet tall and a top speed of 38 miles an hour over 1,410 feet of track, it’s not going to break any records, but it is a lot of FUN! The SC2000 is a portable spinning coaster that you will find at County Fairs, State Fairs and smaller amusement parks. Each car holds 4 riders and 900 people per hour can ride. Maurer Söhne makes larger models and custom spinning coasters for large parks. But some how, I really like this smaller version, it reminds me of what the Jumbo Jet was like in it’s hay day. Here are some YouTube videos that you might be interested in:

Per the Maurer Söhne SC200 Coaster Ride Description; After the lift the fun begins with the first drop! Plunging downward in a sideways position, the car reaches the ride‘s maximum speed of 60 km/h (38 mph) in the sheer drop. In the Immelmann Turn, the track being banked at 80°, passengers find themselves staring straight up at the sky or straight down at ground depending on their position in the car at any given instant. A 360° carousel, a slalom section and sharp curves add the crowning touches.

I guess you could say it is the coaster that I am really looking forward to ridding next summer. Is it summer yet? Let’s Ride!

Save the last ride for me!

“Please stop – I want that ticket for Demon Drop.”

The last Contest of the season for the last ride on the Demon Drop is happening 11/01/09. Cedar Point Announced on there blog (Want The Last Ride On Demon Drop?) that 12 full time staff members (the ones that wear the blue, rectangular name tags) will have 2 Golden Tickets around there necks and all you have to do is walk up a say EXACTLY “Please stop – I want that ticket for Demon Drop.” and you will get those 2 golden tickets.. If the numbers are 4, 3, 2 or 1 you will be the last 4 people that will ride the Demon Drop before it moves across country to it’s new home. Let’s Ride!

Greetings from Cedar Point!

This is from one of those wallet post cards sets… As I recall this was from the 1975 post card set, however I may be wrong. I wish that you could see the Jumbo Jet better. This is the Cedar Point that I remember. Let’s Ride!

Demon Drop’s Final Season at CP.

In an article that appeared on the LA Times website (Travel Section: Knott’s Berry Farm to add 1980s-era thrill ride in 2010), Cedar Point’s Demon Drop is relocating to sister park Knotts Berry Farm for 2010. So you have this weekend and next to get to the Point to ride the Demon Drop one final time or travel to Knotts Berry Farm in 2010. There is also an interesting article at Theme Park Insider “Knott’s Berry Farm causes jaws to drop with Demon Drop deal”. Check out this video I found on YouTube. At :39 you see the Space Needle and the Wildcat, however there is no AR/DT so this video was taken Between open day of the Demon Drop 1983 and 1985 when Avalanche Run opened. A great view of were the Jumbo Jet was located, which is now populated by various support buildings.

Here is the TV commercial for Demon Drop:

Perhaps they are making room for thelostcoaster, aka the Jumbo Jet…. Now wouldn’t that be cool? Let’s Ride.

MORE Bits and Pieces Revealed

This is incredible! The latest from thelostcoaster’s “Lost and or Found” Department… In my last major post about Wieland (See post “Bits and Pieces, more revealed”), he mentioned that André Blunck was writing a book about his father and the rides he created. Wieland also shared André’s email address with me, so I decided to write to him to see if he could clear up a couple of loose ends. Like where our beloved Jumbo Jet went to after Cedar Point. It had been thought that CP’s Jumbo Jet went to Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach Maine. Here is André’s response back to me:

Re: FW: Regarding Cedar Point’s Jumbo Jet (Jet Star 3)‏
From: Andre Blunck (a.blunck@REMOVE.de)
Sent: Wed 10/14/09 5:48 AM
To: Jumbo Jet (thelostcoaster@REMOVE.com)

Hello Jerry,

thank you for your mail. At first, my english is very simple and bad, but i hope you can understand me.

You´re right. I write a book about the Schwarzkopf company and all her rides & coasters, they had manufactured over the years. I found many very great stories, but unfortunately the book is written in german. I hope to released the book next year.

I read your emails from me you between Wieland. Some Information are true and some wrong.

Her father manufactured a total of 7 Jumbo Jets, not 5. One of them goes to Cedar Point (1972-1980) for 8 years. After dismantling it gone to Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach for 3 seasons. Then it went (sent) back to Europe to play a fair in the Netherlands (all Jumbos were portable versions). The next one year, it stood in Sweden in a citypark. After this season Wieland bought the ride and rented it to Prague for a Expo Fair. After the Fair the ride was destroyed in Prague by some kids. After repairing, the ride hold some big fairs in Poland. Wieland sold the ride to Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, some years later again to a citypark in Minsk/Belarus.

What with the other 6 Jumbos ? One Jumbo were scrapped in late 70. One Jumbo is embedded by a showowner in Europe. Another Jumbo is played every summer at the Southcoast in a french Lunapark (similar with a Pier). The Jumbo Jet from Coney Island travelled throughout China now. The last two Jumbo Jets are in park in South-America.

I hope, the informations helps you. If you have another questions, please ask me.

Best greets from Germany

André

So Palace Playland is a big YES! You never know what we will dig up next… Keep reading thelostcoaster blog! If you have any information on the Jumbo Jet, perhaps a good photo… Then leave a comment or contact thelostcoaster on Twitter.

Things that go BUMP in the Night!

Some may think that I am an “Old Fart” and that may be true, however my music tastes are not that of an “Old Fart”. Most times when I am on the interweb, I am also listening to the latest technobump music from BPM! One of the best net stations that I have listened to. The official net station of thelostcoaster is BPM.FM! Check it out! Technobump the music choice of thelostcoaster…

Found?

We are working some new information about Cedar Point’s Jumbo Jet and the path that it took to get to Minsk, Belarus. More information coming soon from thelostcoaster’s “Lost and or Found” Department. You don’t want to miss it, so keep checking back daily. ~ TLC

All you fear is here!

The OverLord wants you! All you fear is here… Halloweekends! WOW… Who knew that I would be heading to Halloweekends at Cedar Point, One more time this year… YIPPIE!!! If you are close to Sandusky Ohio you really should check out Halloweekends.

If you cant make it head over to DrewBorg’s Halloweekends Photo Album on Flickr! Get to the Point for Halloweekends now through November 1st. All you fear is here at Cedar Point.. Let’s Ride!!!

American Jumbo Jet!

I came across this on my travels around the interweb. In the book “The American Roller Coaster” By Scott Rutherford on Page 74 is a great shot of Cedar Point’s Jumbo Jet:

Perhaps “The American Roller Coaster” would be a great Christmas gift for the coaster fan in your life. In case you are wondering I do not have this book. Hint… Hint… Nudge… Nudge… Say no more!

Bits and Pieces, more revealed…

LOST AND OR FOUND?

You wont find this anywhere else on the Interweb, the following is an exclusive on thelostcoaster blog here at wordpress. I have written lots of emails trying to get confirmation on the exact locations of the Jumbo Jet that was at Cedar Point from 1972 to 1978. Where did it go after 1978, for the most part I got a “Gee we really don’t know”. 30 plus years is a lot of time. Cedar Point was really nice to me! (A big thanks to Peggy B, Ann Marie at John H at CP) I got some great information from Michael Pantenburg over at Schwarzkopf.Coaster.net, including that great picture of a Jumbo Jet in Russia. I have gotten copies of post cards showing a Jumbo Jet at Palace Playland.(Still would like confirmation that this Jumbo Jet is the one from CP) I have contacted the Werner Stengel Company and Gerstlauer Amusement Rides (Company’s that were started by people who worked for Anton Schwarzkopf and may have worked on the Jumbo Jet). My best lead was from Gerstlauer, who provided me with an email address of Wieland Schwarzkopf, the son of Anton and forwarded my email to Wieland. After several months of not hearing anything form Wieland, I decided to write to him. The following is the response that I got from him hours later:

Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 19:34:32 +0200
From: wieland_schwarzkopf@remove.de
To: thelostcoaster@remove.com
Subject: Re: Regarding Cedar Point’s Jumbo Jet (Jet Star 3)

Hello,
your email is very interesting, because nowadays only few people knows about the JUMBO JET. For detailed infos you should contact Andre Blunck, he is just doing a book about our company, the rides and of course about my father.
As far as my memory is still in function, we manufactured 5 JUMBO JETS. The one from Cedar Points I bought in the early `90ies from a citypark in Malmoe/Sweden and rented it out for a one year operation in Prague/Czechia, after for several years to Poland. In 2002 the ride was totally refurbished and sold in 2003 to a citypark in Nizhny Novgorod/Russia, from there it were sold last spring to a citypark in Minsk/Belarus.

Hope it was helpful for you and good luck to get the rest of your required infos by Andre.

Best regards
Wieland Schwarzkopf

WOW confirmation that our beloved Jumbo Jet was at Beoland in Russia and is heading to a city park in Minsk, Belarus. I have fired off an email to Andre Blunck for more information on the Jumbo Jet and the book he is writing. As soon as I hear something from Andre, I will post on thelostcoaster blog. Missing information is still needed from 1978 to the early 90’s. If you know something leave me a comment and I will get back to you. Or you can contact me on Twitter @thelostcoaster. Stay Tuned more stuff to follow.