Texas Cyclone

Statistics
Length (feet):	3184'
Height (feet):	93'
Inversions:	0
Speed (mph):	65
Duration (m:ss):	2:15
Manufacturer:	William Cobb
Height restriction:	48"
Date Opened	6/12/1976

The Texas Cyclone’s 29 year history has been documented from its opening day, reprofiling, changing of trains, incidents and its tragic destruction, but the details of how this magnificent ride came to life have been obscured by the ride itself. The story is a fascinating one, with twists and turns and one event that very nearly stopped the project in its tracks. Recently ACE has come into possession of some of the documents that detail the trials and tribulations of creating the legendary Texas Cyclone.

In the Early 70’s, Bill Crandall (General Manager of AstroWorld under the The Great Southwest Corporation) heard the story of how the condemned Coney Island Cyclone was going to be demolished, a move being pushed for by its neighbors, The New York Aquarium and Developers. Bill Crandall saw an opportunity with this situation...bring the Coney Island Cyclone to AstroWorld!

As the project was researched a couple of things became clear. First, the Coney Island Cyclone would be virtually impossible to move. Second, local politics were making the Cyclone an issue as a number of parties were looking to get what they could out of any deal. These included Norman Kaufman doing business as (DBA) Steeplechase; Silvio Pinto DBA The Cyclone Roller Coaster; the New York Zoological Society DBA as the New York Aquarium; John Zuccotti, Chairman of the City Planning Commission; Edwin Weisl, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Administrator; and Dewey and Jerome Albert DBA Astroland. Astroland had given up on saving the Cyclone and was considering letting it be demolished and they would install an Arrow Corkscrew across the street where the bumper cars were. The Alberts had four ideas they were trying to execute:

Buy the Cyclone and move it to their property.
Form a coalition of ride operators in Coney Island to lease and run the Cyclone on a non-profit basis.
Get the Aquarium to pay the $127,000.00 needed to repair the ride.
Get the city of New York to pass a resolution that the city should not own or operate an amusement attraction.

Six Flags’ interest in the Cyclone changed everything. It gave the Alberts the leverage they needed to secure a lease and funding to operate the Cyclone. A letter dated May 5, 1975 spelled out these issues to Bill Crandall along with several suggestions including “payments” (or donations) that were referred in this letter as kickbacks. No payment was to be given to the Alberts stating:
“Nothing, not even one cigar, to the Alberts. They’re coming out of this deal smelling like a rose and, if anything, they should be “contributing” to us.”

Undeterred, Bill Crandall decided to build his own version of this classic ride. The ride was measured, photographed and documented extensively. This data was given to legendary coaster designer Bill Cobb who designed a mirror image that was slightly larger than the original.

So the plans were in place and in the summer of 1975, guests riding the train at AstroWorld wondered about all the concrete pilings springing up on the northwest side of the park. The plans called for a completely new themed area, Coney Island. The area would consist of the Texas Cyclone, a flat ride (The Black Dragon would be moved from Oriental Corner and named Razmataz), a shooting gallery, a snack stand and a theater called the “Bubble” as it would be structure held up by being inflated by air.

Construction of the lumber for the Texas Cyclone began on December 12, 1975. The building went smoothly as documents indicate a steady supply of Douglas fir lumber was being delivered as expected. The coaster’s south bend was completed first and excitement started to grow as AstroWorld's new coaster, then being referred to as Astrocoaster, started to change the skyline.

Then at 2:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, January 7, 1976 disaster struck. High winds toppled the incomplete north bend of the structure. Fortunately no one was hurt in the accident but disaster control was needed immediately. Meeting notes recall much commotion and confusion at first, but Bill Crandall took charge. Cleanup began immediately, but the damage was done. Bents 17 through 32 were destroyed in the collapse. They would need to be completely replaced. In a letter to Mr. Crandall, Bill Cobb urged that every piece be replaced and nothing be salvaged from the destroyed section.

Building continued on the south bend and then workers started replacing the broken section. The north bend, which had been under construction for five weeks, was replaced in two and a half weeks, a real achievement by the Frontier Construction Company. This still left the construction almost 8 weeks behind schedule. Despite the best efforts of everyone involved the April opening would be put off until June.

In the investigation it was determined that high winds were the main culprit, citing the fact the winds were recorded at Hobby Airport at 25 to 30 miles per hour. Internal notes state that the structure was supported in a temporary fashion to trees and nearby railroad ties. The insurance company ended up paying about $50,000 on the claim, which appears to have more than adequately covered losses by AstroWorld in materials and labor.

Evidently this matter was an insurance nightmare and documents show that primary insurance coverage, while covering the accident was cancelled a week later. Engineers had determined that actual construction did not meet the construction needs determined by the policy as an “A” Frame was not used. Paper work on subsequent insurance is missing from these files but evidently more than one insurance company was needed after the accident.

To keep the public’s interest up, a model of the Cyclone was built and shown in several shopping malls. A name the coaster contest was formulated and I can even remember the tree topping ceremony shown on all the local news stations as a pretty young female hostess waved an American Flag from the top of the lift.

Construction was completed at a cost of $1,143,345 and the coaster opened to rave reviews on Friday, June 11, 1975. George Plimpton was invited to open the coaster and elaborate parties were thrown in the Burger King Airena Theater. A number of dignitaries were invited including Bill Cobb, Robert Cartmell, the managers from a number of theme parks, astronauts, Judge Hoffienz and his son Mayor Fred Hoffienz, and the “Who’s Who” of the Houston social scene. Every local radio and TV station was there along with newspapers and network television coverage.

Mark Brown was on hand to perform his magic show in the new Burger King Airena Theater.

History shows us what happened from that point; a new number one rollercoaster was born.

In these documents are some fascinating items that will be added to the museum’s collection. Notes, correspondence, and spreadsheets with costs of building and the project management that it took to complete such a ride. There is a note to Bill Crandall that includes a photograph from the August 14th 1975 Houston Post of a young Mike Boodley making one of his record breaking ride sessions on Coney Island’s Cyclone. The note states “Let ‘em get it this year, we will break theirs (record) in 1976.” There is also a mysterious memo comparing “Cyclone Coasters” for Georgia and Mid America dated August 4, 1975.

So Bill Crandall’s dream was realized, and a new generation of wood coasters was born based on the past. Today, numerous Cyclone copies grace parks around the country, but none were like the Texas Cyclone.

-- Mike Robinson
Printed in the Holiday 2006 Issue of the ACE South Central "Queue Line Chronicle"