| Orient Express | |
| Location | Worlds of Fun |
|---|---|
| Park section | Orient |
| Type | Steel |
| Status | Demolished |
| Opened | April 4 1980 |
| Closed | October 2003 |
| Manufacturer | Arrow Dynamics |
| Designer | Ron Toomer |
| Model | Custom Looping Coaster |
| Track layout | Terrain |
| Lift/launch system | Chain |
| Height | 117 ft (36 m) |
| Drop | 115 ft (35 m) |
| Length | 3,470 ft (1,060 m) |
| Max speed | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
| Inversions | 4 |
| Duration | 2:15 |
| Max vertical angle | 55° |
| Capacity | 1,800 riders per hour |
| Max G force | 3.5 |
| Orient Express at RCDB Pictures of Orient Express at RCDB |
|
|
|
|
The Orient Express was a steel roller coaster at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri. The Orient Express was introduced to Worlds of Fun in 1980. The red-orange track was in between the two entrances of the park.
The Orient Express was the first coaster ever to have a "Kamikaze Curve" element, which was later termed a "boomerang" by Arrow Dynamics and a "batwing" by Bolliger & Mabillard. This element consists of a 90-degree dive to the right or left (similar to half a corkscrew), followed by a half of a traditional loop element, then a rising half loop, then a final 90-degree dive sending the track in the same direction it entered the element. This element was later often used on Arrow's larger looping coasters, as well as on Parc Astérix's Goudurix, where it was known as a "Double Sidewinder", and on B&M's inverted roller coasters. The Orient Express also featured a tunnel prior to the lift hill that housed the Orient Express Dragon, a wooden sign that had the ride's logo illuminated.
The queue house had a "chicken exit" that guests could take if they chickened out at the last minute.
The Orient Express was also the second roller coaster to have interlocking loops, the Loch Ness Monster being the first. With the retirement of the Orient Express, the Loch Ness Monster is again the only coaster with this feature.
The ride started out running three trains at once but eventually only two would run at a time due to the ride's blocking system. If there was a backup in the station there would be a train would stop in the trim brakes just outside the station and one would stop in the trim brakes half way through the ride. This caused the ride to shut down as the only way to get the train out of the trim brakes half way through the ride was to have maintenance come and manually release the brakes.
The Orient Express suffered many malfunctions within the last seasons of its life. It broke down often and once the ride's back two cars derailed. In 1995, Worlds of Fun was bought by Cedar Fair, the company that owns Valleyfair and Cedar Point amusement parks. Some people think that the company did little to maintain the ride, which could have been a leading cause to its demolishing in 2003.
Other information
Number of trains: 3
Number of cars per train: 7
Passengers per car: 4
|
||||||||
 |
This article about an amusement park, amusement ride, or roller coaster is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
