Psyclone (roller coaster)

For the amusement ride at Canada's Wonderland, see Psyclone (ride).

Psyclone
Promotional image for Psyclone
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Location	Six Flags Magic Mountain
Coordinates	34.420985°N 118.600252°W / 34.420985; -118.600252
Status	Removed
Opening date	March 23, 1991
Closing date	January 2007
Cost	$5,000,000
Replaced by	Apocalypse: The Ride
General statistics
Type	Wood
Manufacturer	Dinn Corporation
Designer	Curtis D. Summers
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	95 ft (29 m)
Drop	77 ft (23 m)
Length	2,970 ft (910 m)
Speed	50 mph (80 km/h)
Duration	1:50
Max vertical angle	53°
Capacity	1200 riders per hour
G-force	3
Height restriction	48 in (122 cm)
Trains	2 trains with 6 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 24 riders per train.
Psyclone at RCDB

Psyclone was a wooden roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Opened in 1991, it was patterned after the legendary Coney Island Cyclone. The Psyclone featured 11 hills, 5 high-speed banked turns, and a 183-foot (56 m) long pitch black tunnel. It also had the only wooden roller coaster trains ever built by Bolliger & Mabillard.

The ride sustained structural damage after the Northridge earthquake in 1994 and though repaired to operate safely again, the ride dynamics suffered greatly in regard to vehicle tracking. Major modifications happened, including adding trim brakes that slowed the trains down to the point of making the trains crawl through each turn. The heavy trains took their toll on the track structure, and the coaster became very rough. Because of this, ridership at the attraction had drastically declined, in part because it earned a poor reputation among park visitors and also because ride operators at the ride were required to load a minimum of 17 passengers in the train prior to dispatch. This policy was enforced to reduce the chances of the vehicles from stalling mid-ride due to lack of momentum. Because of this policy, during low attendance periods, the ride, while technically operational, would go for extended periods of time without dispatching a train as the operators waited for 17 riders to arrive. A 2006 poll of roller coaster enthusiasts ranked Psyclone 178th out of 179 wooden roller coasters worldwide.

On January 23, 2007, the park announced that Psyclone would be demolished for future expansion, following the closure of another roller coaster in the park, Flashback. The coaster closed at the end of the month. That spring, Psyclone was torn down and the location was blocked from guests' view with a sign stating that the land would be reserved for future attractions.

Psyclone was dismantled and scrapped during the last week of February 2007. The area of the park where Psyclone once stood is now occupied by another wooden coaster, Apocalypse.

Trivia

Psyclone is one of the two final coasters made by the Dinn Corporation, with the other being Mean Streak at Cedar Point.

Two of the original B&M trains are still used in seasonal operation on the park's classic wooden roller coaster Colossus. The trains are traditionally run backwards during the month of October for the park's Fright Fest attraction. The trains generally sit throughout the year on Colossus' transfer track. They were used again during spring 2014, as part of a promotion where both Colossus and Batman: The Ride ran backwards from March 22 through mid June.

However, with the closure of Colossus on August 16, 2014, the future of these trains is unknown.

External links

• Psyclone Photos at Ultimate Rollercoaster.com