Thunder Road (roller coaster)
| Thunder Road | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Thunder Road from the parking lot
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| Carowinds | |||
| Park section | County Fair | ||
| Coordinates | 35°06′01″N 80°56′33″W / 35.1004°N 80.9426°WCoordinates: 35°06′01″N 80°56′33″W / 35.1004°N 80.9426°W | ||
| Status | Closed | ||
| Opening date | 1976 | ||
| Closing date | July 26, 2015 | ||
| Cost | $1,600,000 | ||
| Replaced by | Carolina Harbor | ||
| General Statistics | |||
| Type | Wood – Racing | ||
| Manufacturer | Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters | ||
| Designer | Curtis D. Summers | ||
| Track layout | Out and back | ||
| Lift/launch system | Chain | ||
| North Carolina (Blue) | South Carolina (Grey) | ||
| Height | 93 ft (28.3 m) | 93 ft (28.3 m) | |
| Drop | 88 ft (26.8 m) | 88 ft (26.8 m) | |
| Length | 3,819 ft (1,164.0 m) | 3,819 ft (1,164.0 m) | |
| Speed | 58 mph (93.3 km/h) | 58 mph (93.3 km/h) | |
| Inversions | 0 | 0 | |
| Duration | 2:10 | 2:10 | |
| G-force | 3.4 | 3.4 | |
| Height restriction | 48 in (122 cm) | ||
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Thunder Road at RCDB Pictures of Thunder Road at RCDB |
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Thunder Road was a wooden roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park that sits on the border between Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Opened in 1976 and built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, the racing roller coaster cost $1.6 million to construct and featured two identical tracks that paralleled each other. The design of the ride was based on Rebel Yell, a wooden racing coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Thunder Road was closed on July 26, 2015, to make room for expansion at the park. On August 27, 2015, Carowinds announced that the Boomerang Bay waterpark would be expanded and renamed Carolina Harbor. The expansion resulted in the removal of Thunder Road.
Thunder Road was named and originally themed after the 1958 movie, Thunder Road. NASCAR celebrities Bobby Allison and David Pearson, along with major newspapers from around the country, were at Carowinds for the grand opening. Thunder Road was originally painted red, white, and blue. Two moonshine stills were originally placed at the entrance but have since been removed.
The ride originally featured trains from the Jetstream, a roller coaster at Chicago's defunct Riverview Park. For use on Thunder Road, the trains were themed to resemble a Sheriff's car and an Outlaw's car to fit the coaster's original theme. The Riverview trains were retired in 1980 and replaced with new, higher-capacity Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters trains.
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