Most Infamous Coasters

[CstrzRock]

Hey everyone! I was only able to think of a few and was wondering if there were other ones I wasn't thinking of.

To start it off of course, Drachen Fire. The very out of character Arrow custom looper that looked like something out of the B&M playbook that Arrow took a swing at. It only operated for 6 years and had one of its inversions taken out after two seasons.
http://rcdb.com/112.htm

Then how about Son of Beast. The first modern looping woodie that also shattered records for wooden coasters. It was a hyper coaster at 218 ft tall with a 214 ft drop, the tallest woodie with the highest drop. It was also a hypercoaster that had a loop. That can't even really be said for current coasters over 200 ft tall (as far as coasters I can think of). It was also the fastest at 78.4 mph which if it were still around today, would still be the fastest woodie. It was also the second longest woodie and still would be today at 7,032 ft long. I really wish I would have been able to get this one :/ http://rcdb.com/584.htm (lasted 6 years with the loop, 2 after it was removed)

And last for this post is the Wild Wind that was installed at Rye Playland. While other Wild Wind coasters exist from Interpark, this one was set up and never opened, was then transferred to another park, set up and didn't open, then sent to another park and then set up and didn't open again. http://rcdb.com/681.htm bizarre

What else do ya got, CF?

 

[ava1enzue1a]

Fiesta Texas' former Rattler for the structure's excessive swaying. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was still unsettling to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLfQBW9wnDI

The initial drop had also shrunk more than 40 feet due to multiple reprofilings since debut.

Nürburgring's Ring°Racer, which has failed on so many levels. :\

 

[Youngster Joey]

I've heard nothing but terrible horrible no good very bad things about Villain from Geauga lake

 

[Hyde]

For the good of the order - are we defining Infamous as "well known for bad quality"?

 

[elephant58]

2 words. Thunder Looper.

 

[Hyde]

The Villain is the first to spring to mind, but let us not forget Raging Wolf Bobs, also at Geauga Lake. Another terrible, terrible wooden coaster.

As for industry wide, what about the Vekoma SLC or Boomerang? Quantity over quality.

 

[BBH]

Orphan Rocker, which still exists, but will likely never operate.

ring*racer deserves a mention for operating for an entire four days before it was closed after nothing but four years of absolute bollocks.

 

[TilenB]

^ As far as I know, it's still standing there...

 

[rollermonkey]

I've heard nothing but terrible horrible no good very bad things about Villain from Geauga lake

I didn't find it all that bad, and I'm pretty distasteful of rough coasters.

Crystal Beach Cyclone is probably the most notorious coaster...

The Crystal Beach Cyclone is considered by many to be the most extreme roller coaster ever built. The ride lasted only 40 seconds after cresting the lift hill. The layout was nearly void of any straight track and consisted of one extreme turn after another. There was a nurse on duty who often tended to riders who fainted.

Flip Flap Railway at Coney Island frequently caused whiplash requiring medical attention. The ride was shut after a single season.

Finally, Cannon Coaster, also at Coney Island, is the one that many people have a hard time believing actually existed... Although it apparently never operated with it's most notorious feature.

The Cannon Coaster used a Cannon Facade as part of the lift hill. At the crest of the hill the car ran through the breech of the cannon and then out the end. At the end of the cannon there was intended to be a gap in the tracks giving riders the feeling of being shot out of the cannon. The gap was determined unsafe during testing and was removed before the ride opened. False rumors of casualties during this gap testing actually increased the rides popularity.

 

[ava1enzue1a]

Crystal Beach Cyclone is probably the most notorious coaster...

The Crystal Beach Cyclone is considered by many to be the most extreme roller coaster ever built. The ride lasted only 40 seconds after cresting the lift hill. The layout was nearly void of any straight track and consisted of one extreme turn after another. There was a nurse on duty who often tended to riders who fainted.

Oh yeah, I think this one wins, hands down. Forgot about the "terrible trio"/"terrifying triplets"...

The 1920s was a great time for roller coasters, but not so much for the people riding them. Apparently "not killing people" wasn't as much of a priority back then as "mentally scarring them for life." A prime example of this comes in the "Terrible Trio" of coasters designed by amusement tycoon Harry G. Traver.

The trio consisted of the Cyclone in Ontario, Canada, Lightning in Revere Beach, Mass. and another Cyclone in Fort Lee, NJ. Traver specifically designed these coasters to be as unsafe as possible while not breaking any existing regulations, resulting in monstrously twisted knots of metal and wood that stood like giant monuments to an unloving god. Two of the three caused at least one death within their first two days of operation.

One of those two deaths was on the Cyclone, which literally tore itself apart on a regular basis from how vicious it was, meaning that it couldn't operate on a normal schedule -- it's opening hours were "whenever we've patched it together enough to work." Once it did manage to hold together, the G-forces it generated were so vast that passengers frequently passed out while riding it. A nurse was kept on the Cyclone's station at all times: in all likelihood, this was as much a publicity stunt as it was an insurance necessity.

But if the Cyclone resembled a hospital, the Revere Beach Lightning was a shady back-alley clinic. Its violent side-to-side motions were so intense that the phrase "take her on the Lightning" actually became slang for "abortion" around the Boston area.

Finally, the New Jersey Cyclone didn't live up to the high standards of its baby-killing, self-mutilating brothers -- but only because it was demolished by a wise park proprietor before it could do any harm (it was then replaced by an unrelated coaster of the same name, probably in an attempt to exorcise the terrain).

(Full article here)

Yikes.

 

[rollermonkey]

That article was fantastic!

 

[vaugc002]

Another 'notorious' coaster is surely the Battersea Fun Fair Big Dipper.

Having heard my grandparents talk about this I had to check it out and sure enough there was a woodie in London that ended up killing five children and injuring thirteen. Apparently the anti-rollback failed after the lift cable snapped.

http://londonist.com/2014/03/londons-fo ... -crash.php

Wikipedia has a bit about it too.

Probably where the UK GP get their deep-rooted perception of wooden rollercoasters being unsafe.