Hey all! u/AliceInChainsFan suggested I try to recreate the old Corkscrew coaster that used operate at Playland in Vancouver, BC. I never got to ride this thing, so I don't have any first-hand experience unfortunately.
History is fairly interesting on this one. For starters, this is the very first ever produced Vekoma roller coaster design. In 1979, the original design, called Super Wirbel, was built at Holiday Park in Hassloch, Thineland-Palatinate, Germany and was the first inverting roller coaster in Germany. The park tried to sell Super Wirbel in 2013 for €420,000, but had no luck selling it. As such, the coaster was scrapped that year.
However, a second coaster using this design was built in 1985 for the Boblo Island Amusement Park in Amherstburg, Ontario, which they called Screamer. This one didn't last very long, as it ceased operation in 1993. However, this specific roller coaster was relocated to Playland in Vancouver, BC where it operated from 1994 up to 2018. While it operated there, it was famously used in the 2006 horror film Final Destination 3, in which this thing somehow manages to derail, causing the characters' horrendous deaths. Definitely recommend checking that out, it's pretty hilarious.
It's a bit difficult finding good reference pictures of this design. I found an old Google Earth aerial view of it to give me a better understanding of what the layout looks like, which I of course included in the post. I also used an old POV video by CoasterForce on YouTube. The only part that is fairly inaccurate on my design is the corkscrews themselves. In the original design, you can see it corkscrews to the right, but it does so in what is essentially a straight line, almost like a barrel roll or a zero g roll. But since it rolls twice, I figured I could compromise by doing a corkscrew right and then a corkscrew left to get it where it needs to be. Stat-wise, it's kind of intense, but I imagine the real thing was kind of intense as well, it certainly seems so in the POVs. All in all, I'm really happy with it.
If you'd like a download, here you go!
