I've always been intrigued by these rides and I'd love to ride it someday. Sadly, the only one that is still left is the one in the post mentioned above and is located in more or less no-man's-land (when it comes to enthusiast's point of view) in Ontario.
Those coaster are/were manufactured by a Canadian based firm Bailey. The reason behind me using 'are' as an option is that the manufacturer is still in business and still sells them. Actually they were also present at some IAAPA exhibitions in the first few years of the new millennium (I think I've read this on some coaster connected website a while ago, but sadly I don't exactly remember where, so I can't link it).
http://baileyrides.com/pipeline-express
In total there have been 6 of these coasters (they are coasters, even though the 'trains' do seem rather unconventional!) built:
1. Putt N'Pond Speed Park, Ohio (Pipeline Express)
The prototype coaster was built in 1986 in Ohio. What made the prototype stand out from the rest, was the fact that it was one of the very few (if not the only) coasters that did have tracks made from a material that wasn't neither wood or steel. Instead, the coaster used plastic (PVC) rails! It closed down in 2000/2001, a few years before the park did.
coaster footage starts at 0:30
[video]https://vimeo.com/95083792[/video]
2. Kid's World, Jersey coast
The second of these babies had a really short lifespan. Here's the quote from rcdb
The owner had received a permit to operate the roller coaster the day before the fire that destroyed the pier. The fire started at about 3pm on Monday and the park was closed at that time. It isn't believed that the roller coaster operated on the previous Sunday.
http://rcdb.com/4093.htm
3. Sauble Beach Fun World, Ontario
The third model operated from 1988-2008. There's not much to say about this one, since there's limited info to be found about its history. Here are some photos from rcdb and a youtube POV.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGDiFHeaHgA[/youtube]
4. & 5. have both been built in 1989. Pipeline Express, which is located in Wild Water and Wheels is the only one that is still operating, whereas the second one, that was operating in Windy Hill Watterboggan Park (Myrtle Beach) has been taken downin the late 90s.
6. Located in Boardwalk Fun Park, Grande Praire, Texas and built in 1992, this is the only of the 6 models that did actually see a serious accident. The coaster opened with the park in July 1992, but was closed less than 2 months later, after a serious accident. A 12 year old fell some 12 metres into an unused pool, causing her to slip into a coma. The coaster never reopened and the park closed for good after their inaugural season. The whole complex (along with the coaster) was left SBNO and was finally demolished in 1997.
Hope that any of you will find these info helpful and worth a read.
sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardwalk_Fun_Park
http://rcdb.com/7198.htm
http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips ... and_wheels