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My current favorite wooden coaster at Six Flags New England is the classic Thunderbolt.



It is a beautiful thing when you've got a great classic coaster pretty much to yourself.  Thunderbolt's very cool staff just let Bond and I sit there for lap after lap.  Each time we hit the station a few more people left the train until we had it all to ourselves.  It is a wonderful time having a coaster for just the two of us.



Thunderbolt opened in 1941 and was one of the last new coasters in America for quite a while as with the nation entering the Second World War in December of that year.  Actually the Thunderbolt dates back to the 1939 New York Worlds Fair.  The Cyclone as it was called at the World's Fair was designed by Harry Baker; who designed the legendary Coney Island Cyclone and Harry Traver who was responsible for the infamous Crystal Beach Cyclone. 

 

After the fair came to an end Riverside Park purchased the trains, mechanicals and plans and resurrected and rechristened the Cyclone as the Thunderbolt.

The Thunderbolt is nowhere near as insane or intense as the other coasters Baker and Traver are remembered for but it is an extremely fun ride that has some great dips and wonderful pops of airtime.  It is a perfect coaster to ride over and over and over just as Bond and I did.



Bond and I are a pair of suckers for a swing ride with no line.  These have always been hard to pass up.



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Paul B. Drabek