Virginia Reel roller coaster

The Virginia Reel roller coaster was an older style of coaster characterized by spinning circular "tubs" that zig-zagged down a flat-bottomed track.

Description

Virginia Reels used a side friction-like track resembling a trench. The tubs, which had inward-facing seats built around the perimeter, spun freely on their chassis as they traveled around the track. Instead of big hills or banks, Virginia Reels featured many unbanked turns and switchbacks to spin their tubs as much as possible. Near the end of the ride were a few helices and a relatively steep drop into a tunnel. [cite book
last=Rutherford
first=Scott
title=The American Roller Coaster
publisher=MBI Publishing Company
place=
year=2000
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=NoeG5n87dWQC&pg=PT22&lpg=PT22&dq=%22virginia+reel%22+coaster&source=web&ots=_DZyFqcwFr&sig=RfObGa0UAIhaZWWzXdhsVpwIcNg
accessdate = 2008-02-28 ]

History

The Virginia Reel was designed by Henry Elmer Riehl, who named the ride after his daughter, Luna Virginia Riehl. The first Virginia Reel was built in 1908 at Luna Park, Coney Island, [cite news
last =
first =
title =Luna Park Goes Through a Little Extra Housecleaning
pages = SM6
publisher = The New York Times
date = 1908-04-26
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A00E3DD1631E233A25755C2A9629C946997D6CF
accessdate =2008-02-28] where Henry Riehl was superintendent.

The last full-sized Virginia Reel was located at Pleasure Beach Blackpool in England until it closed in 1982. [cite web
last =
first =
title = Pleasure Beach Postcards — Virginia Reel
url=http://www.pleasurebeachpostcards.org/virginia-reel.html
accessdate = 2008-02-28 ] The modern equivalent is the Spinning Wild Mouse roller coaster.

A similar ride around the same time, the Tickler, consisted of curved rails and posts forming a zig-zag route down an incline surface. Wheeled circular tubs freely rolled and spun down the incline, guided by the rails and bounced about by the posts.

See also

* Spinning roller coaster

External links

* [http://www.pleasurebeachpostcards.org/virginia-reel.html Pleasure Beach Postcards - Virginia Reel] - Many pictures of the Virginia Reel at Pleasure Beach Blackpool
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xQEhYv0KfE YouTube: The Pleasure Beach, Blackpool 1920s] Footage includes the Virginia Reel
* [http://www.joylandbooks.com/themagiceye/articles/endofthereel.htm The End of The Reel] - On themagiceye at Joyland: An interview with Ian Beech who operated The Reel at Blackpool Pleasure Beach during its final years of operation.
* [http://www.joylandbooks.com/themagiceye/galleries/virginiareel.htm The Virginia Reel Gallery] - Images documenting the destruction of a classic Blackpool ride on themagiceye at Joyland

References