Thunder Road (roller coaster)

Infobox roller coaster
name=Thunder Road

---

caption=The coaster from the parking lot
location=Carowinds
section=County Fair
type=Wood
type2=Racing
status=Open
opened=1976
manufacturer=Philadelphia Toboggan Company
designer=Curtis D. Summers
model=custom
track=out-and-back
lift=Chain lift
height=93
drop=88
length=3819
speed=58
inversions=0
duration= 2:10
angle=
capacity=
cost=
acceleration=no launch
height restriction=48
gforce=3.4
rcdb_number=84

Thunder Road is a wooden roller coaster located at the Carowinds theme park in Charlotte, North Carolina. It opened to much media attention in 1976.Fact|date=June 2008

Thunder Road is a racing roller coaster, featuring two individual tracks that parallel each other. The design of the ride was based upon Rebel Yell, another wooden racing coaster at the Kings Dominion theme park in Doswell, Virginia.

The coaster is built across the Carolinas state line. The coaster begins in South Carolina and then crosses into North Carolina.

History

The ride was named and originally themed after the 1958 movie, "Thunder Road".
NASCAR celebrities Bobby Allison and David Pearson along with major newspapers from around the country were at Carowinds for the grand opening.Fact|date=June 2008 It opened in 1976.

Thunder Road was originally painted red, white, and blue. Two moonshine stills were originally placed at the entrance but have since been removed.

The ride originally featured trains from the Jetstream, a roller coaster at Chicago's defunct Riverview Amusement Park. Upon arriving at Carowinds the trains were themed to resemble a Sheriff's car and an Outlaw's car, in accordance with the coaster's original theme. The Riverview trains were retired in 1980 and replaced with new, higher capacity Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters trains.

Thunder Road's trains all faced forward until one side was reversed in 1995 to run backwards. In 2008, all trains were turned to face forward once again.

In 2008, Thunder Road faced about two months of downtime during the summer, due to track maintenance and testing. During testing in late June-early July, it was run with test dummies in the seats. It is now open and running much more smoothly.

Ride Layout

The brakes release the trains and the riders are taken on a gentle downward turn. The turn goes back under the brake run and meets with the backward- or forward-facing train. The chain soon latches on and the trains are carried up 93 feet. As you are lifted up the hill, there are four signs that make the sentence "Grit your teeth, bear the load, enjoy your ride on Thunder Road." The drop of 88 feet is followed by several small to medium-sized "bumps" giving riders the feeling of air-time. Following the small bumps, a large hill with a turn begins the train's journey back to the station. The tracks diverge and cross more small and medium-sized bumps. A tunnel covers the last drop and hill, which is immediately followed by a long brake run where the tracks meet up again.

Construction data

*500,000 board feet (1200 m³) of treated wood
*60-70 tons of nails, bolts, and track
*5,500 US gallons (21 m³) of paint (most parts with paint have been replaced)

External links

* [http://coasterimage.com/pictures/carowinds/thunderroad.htm Thunder Road Pictures]
* [http://www.urbancharlotte.com/ptx2/carowinds/thunder1.jpgAn Original Thunder Road Train]