Mine Train (Six Flags Over Texas)

Infobox roller coaster
name = Runaway Mine Train

---

caption = The station of the attraction
location = Six Flags Over Texas
type = Steel
manufacturer = Arrow Dynamics
designer =
model = Mine Train
track =
lift = Chain
status = Open
opened = 1966
height = 35
drop =
length = 2484
speed = 35
duration = 3:00
angle =
inversions = 0
capacity = 2000
cost = 1,000,000
acceleration =
gforce =
restriction = 42
rcdb_number= 30The Runaway Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located in the Boomtown section at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. Built in 1966, the Runaway Mine Train is the oldest roller coaster in the park.

The ride was the first of many Mine Train Roller Coasters built across the United States in response to the development of tubular steel rails. The Arrow Development Company, with Ronald Toomer, Karl Bacon, and Ed Morgan, advanced the steel roller coaster and roller coaster technology into a new era. [Plaque at ride location. See photo at [http://www.aceonline.org/census/PhotoDetail.aspx?ID=4080] ]

In September, 2006, the Runaway Mine Train was designated an ACE Coaster Landmark by the American Coaster Enthusiasts. [Plaque at ride location. See photo at [http://www.aceonline.org/census/PhotoDetail.aspx?ID=4080] ]

Ride

The ride features a three lifts. The ride begins with the trip up the first and highest lift. From there it travels around the track to the second lift. The second lift is housed in a building designed to look like a rock crusher. The final lift emerges into the "Ace Hotel and Saloon". The "Ace Hotel" was named in 1974 for John 'Ace' Cocharo, a Mine Train Foreman turned ride supervisor. After the lift, the ride drops riders into a tunnel through Caddo Lake emerging just outside of the que-house. [ [http://parktimes.com/sections/boomtown/minetrain.php 'Mine Train' at Parktimes.com] ]

Design

The "Runaway Mine Train" utilizes tubular steel rails, similar to those used on the earlier Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland. This particular coaster has three lift hills and two tunnels. The ride's climax is the final drop after the third lift hill where the track dives into a 150 foot long curving tunnel below the park's Caddo Lake. The old style Arrow Dynamics cars are made so the ride operator has to open them up manually.

References