- Colossos (Heide Park)
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Colossos 
Location Heide Park Park section Main Street Coordinates 53°01′23″N 9°53′00″E / 53.02306°N 9.8833333°ECoordinates: 53°01′23″N 9°53′00″E / 53.02306°N 9.8833333°E Status Operating Opened April 13, 2001 Cost unknown Type Wood Manufacturer Intamin Designer Werner Stengel Model Wooden Coaster (prefabricated track) Track layout Out and back Lift/launch system Chain lift hill Height 196.83 ft (59.99 m) Drop 159.08 ft (48.49 m) Length 4,409.4 ft (1,344.0 m) Max speed 74.6 mph (120.1 km/h) Inversions 0 Duration 2:25 Max vertical angle 61° Capacity 1500 riders per hour Max G force 3.8 Height restriction 4 ft 0 in (122 cm) Colossos at RCDB Pictures of Colossos at RCDB 
Amusement Parks PortalColossos is a wooden roller coaster at Heide Park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the first wooden roller coaster to use prefabricated track. Colossos is the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in Europe and the tallest running wooden roller coaster in the world. The tallest overall is Son of Beast at Kings Island, which has been SBNO (standing but not operating) since June 2009.[1]
Colossos is very different from a traditional wooden roller coaster because it is prefabricated. Instead of trackers cutting, shaping, and laying down the track by hand, the track is laser cut in a factory, achieving a higher degree of precision than could ever be done by hand. It is also made so that it snaps together like Lego pieces. The track also is made of more layers of wood that are tightly bonded together instead of being traditionally nailed together by hand. This has three major benefits, two for the park and the other for the riders.
The "Plug and Play" aspect of the coaster speeds construction, since track does not have to be completely manufactured on site. In addition, building costs are lowered due to fewer man-hours being required. The riders benefit from a coaster, that while being wooden, is nearly steel smooth. However, some roller coaster enthusiasts may find that aspect to take away from the ride since it would not have the same character as a traditional wooden roller coaster. Three other prefabricated wooden roller coasters have since been built, Balder at Liseberg, El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure, and T Express at Everland in South Korea.
Panoramic of Colossos
References
External links
Categories:- Wooden roller coasters
- Intamin roller coasters
- Roller coasters in Germany
- Merlin Entertainments roller coasters
- Roller coasters that opened in 2001
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