originally posted on 6/3/2024 10:35:00 AM
New at Indiana Beach in Monticello for the 2024 season is the All-American Triple Loop, a classic coaster with a storied history that spans the entire globe and a year’s-long refurbishment to give it new life.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.
In June of 1984, the world’s first roller coaster with three vertical loops made its debut on the German fair circuit. Originally named Drier Looping, this Anton Schwarzkopf creation continued to thrill riders under showman Rudolf Barth for the next 12 years with its last fair appearance being in 1996. The ride then began traveling the world, spending two years at Sunway Park in Malaysia, five years at Flamingo Land in the United Kingdom and 12 years at La Feria Chapultepec Mágico in Mexico.
Photo: Jon Roost. View full-sized image.
On November 24, 2020, Indiana Beach announced it had purchased this classic coaster and would be refurbishing it. Over the next three seasons, the park’s maintenance team worked to rebuild the ride, with the three iconic loops going up in late 2021 and track work being completed in early 2022. But the park wasn’t stopping there, as they found new rolling stock by purchasing the trains from the recently closed Mindbender at Galaxyland in Canada. By the end of 2023, testing had finally begun.
All-American Triple Loop (as it’s now named) sits in the far northwest corner of Indiana Beach in what was once the north parking lot. After walking past Steel Hawg, guests are presented with a view of the curved lift hill and beyond it the three vertical loops. Upon entering the station, riders enter a three-car train with a seatbelt, lap bar and accordion over-the-shoulder restraints. The trains themselves are a bit cramped by modern standards, but ride crews work hard to ensure everyone is secured properly and comfortably.
Heading up the lift hill, the ride uses an interesting method of propulsion. The drive tires along the curved lift are connected by a series of drive shafts that begin in the station and go all the way up the hill. From the top of the 111-foot lift, riders get a brief glimpse of the park and Lake Shafer before experiencing a curved drop, reaching speeds of 53 mph. Curving back up into a trim brake, the ride dives once more into the first two vertical loops where the positive G forces keep picking up. Riders curve back up into another trim brake (a small tire drive lift itself) before diving into the third and final loop, the smallest of the three, where the positive G forces reach their peak. The ride ends with twists and turns around a large figure eight in the inside of the structure before hitting the brakes.
The introduction of All-American Triple Loop to Indiana Beach’s collection of rides and coasters is quite an achievement. To say the team has done great work to bring this ride back to life would be an understatement, with the preservation of a classic ride being of particular importance to ACE. They’ve brought more than corn to Indiana in the form of a fun, intense, retro coaster that will delight and thrill riders for years to come.
— Jon Roost
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