Negative-G - Six Flags The Great Escape 2014

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The Comet Roller Coaster at Six Flags The Great Escape 2014

PTC sent a employee named John Allen to Crystal Beach in Ontario to supervise the disassembly of the Cyclone and to oversee the construction of what Herbert Schmeck had put to paper. The project that became The Comet and others stuck with John Allen and in 1954 he took over PTC as the company president as well as chief designer.

The Comet roller coaster at Six Flags The Great Escape, Queensbury, New York

The reason The Comet is such a negative-g masterpiece is that it has three tall hills: the lift and two turnarounds, between those high points are stretched little hill after little hill that are taken at high speed giving you plenty of chances to be thrown up against the lap bar either from speeding up the hill or having the train yanked out from under you as the track pulls it down into the next dip.

The Comet was a huge success in 1947 when it opened at Crystal Beach. For forty-two years it ran back and forth along the edge of Lake Erie as Crystal Beach's premiere attraction before that park closed. The ride had such a reputation that Charlie Woods who at the time owned Martin's Fantasy Island and The Great Escape went to Crystal Beach and successfully bid on The Comet for one of his parks in the US.

The Comet's track was discarded as in all wood coaster relocation while the structure, train and mechanical parts were meticulously numbered and disassembled and stored for future use. From 1988 to 1994 The Comet sat idle before being resurrected at the back of The Great Escape.

Back to John Allen's story briefly. As the Chief Designer for PTC several of his most memorable rides like the Racer at Kings Island, the Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Over Georgia and his final ride the Screaming Eagle at Six Flags St. Louis all share a common design going back to The Comet. They all have a string of low airtime filled hills stretched between the lift and tall turnarounds just like The Comet.