originally posted on 2/18/2022 1:35:56 AM
Blue Streak.
Photo: Jeffrey Seifert. View full-sized image.
A highlight to any coaster season is the acknowledgment of new ACE Roller Coaster Landmark designations. ACEers will see two in 2022.
The first will take place at Coaster Con 44. Cohost Cedar Point will receive its second ACE Roller Coaster Landmark when the park’s venerable Blue Streak will be designated as such in June.
Named after the local Sandusky High School “Blue Streaks” football team, the coaster opened in 1964. Today it stands as the oldest roller coaster at the park, part of a renowned collection of record-breaking giants. Even among such coaster notoriety, the wooden coaster still has a multitude of fans. Butted against the parking lot on the left side of the park’s entrance, it has long been a welcoming greeter to those arriving at the park. Anyone headed to the park’s historic Breakers Hotel will encounter this beloved, historic ride first on the drive around Perimeter Road.
Credited as a design of Frank Hoover and built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC), the woodie still sports two trains from the company. The layout is a quintessential example of an out-and-back coaster. The ride stands 78 feet tall. One of the most distinctive features of Blue Streak is its attractive cupola at the pinnacle of the lift hill. Like any truly great coaster, Blue Streak is an unforgettable ride in any seat with fantastic airtime in both the front and back ends of the train.
Sea Dragon.
Photo: Alan Shick. View full-sized image.
The second ACE Roller Coaster Landmark designation will also take place in Ohio.
Sea Dragon, now a part of the Columbus Zoo (technically in Powell), was built in 1956. It also was a design by PTC. Frank Hoover was the construction supervisor, but the legendary John Allen is credited as the designer. At 35 feet tall, the wooden coaster is situated among the “family” variety — and a good one at that.
Originally called Jet Flyer, Sea Dragon is the lone remaining example of a set of triplets Allen designed. The other two were Valley Volcano at Angela Park (Drums, Pennsylvania) and Flyer at Hunt’s Pier (Wildwood, New Jersey). This design was inspired by a former PTC engineer, Herbert Schmeck, who mentored Allen. Sea Dragon is Allen’s oldest coaster in operation. Coaster fans can still appreciate the classic hand-controlled brakes operated by large levers.
While the coaster has not moved, its home has had many names. At one time an amusement park named Wyandot Lake was located adjacent to the zoo. Eventually the Columbus Zoo absorbed this property, and the ride area has been called Jungle Jack’s Landing and now the Rides At Adventure Cove section.
Sea Dragon is now the oldest operating wooden coaster in Ohio.
A ceremony is being planned to take place during a regional event, ACE Goes Wild at the Columbus Zoo II, on July 16.
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News Editor
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