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Nineteen hundred and seventy-eight was a banner year filled with legendary rollercoasters like Gemini at Cedar Point, Greezed Ligntnin' at Astroworld, Shock Wave at Six Flags Over Texas, Colossus at Magic Mountain, Tidal Wave at Great America and Mindbender at Six Flags Over Georgia opening up from sea to shining sea.



Everywhere you turned there was a new coaster opening up and I remember as a young boy seeing footage of most of them being featured on the nightly news.  There was no 24/7/365 news back then.  There was no streaming video.  Stations would "tease" a story earlier in the day during the commercials and if there was a story that piqued your interest; like the word of a new coaster opening up to a budding coaster enthusiast like myself, you made sure to be parked in front of the set in anticipation for the news.



I remember the teaser on ABC7 out of Chicago with a few seconds of footage of two different coaster trains crossing each other in a pair of interlocking loops and I had to find out more.  Needless to say this six year old had the TV knob turned to channel 7 at nine-thirty with a prime seat in front of our huge 19 inch color television in preparation of getting a glimpse of the newest thrill machine.



Sitting a foot in front of the television tube watching the footage of the Loch Ness Monster as it rose a unheard one hundred and thirty feet over Busch Gardens The Old Country I imagined that I was riding this terrifying machine.  The Loch Ness Monster gives riders a stunning view of Busch Gardens before...



...really getting you in its grasp sending the trainload of riders down to the watery depths.



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Copyright 1999 - 2025

Paul B. Drabek