Hybrid roller coaster

First Drop of Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point.
Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point

A hybrid roller coaster is a category of roller coasters where the track is made out of one material, either steel or wood, and the support structure is made from another.[1][2] Early hybrid coasters include mine train roller coasters from Arrow Development, which feature a steel track with a wooden support structure.[3] Becoming increasingly more common are hybrids with wooden tracks and steel supports,[3] such as The Voyage at Holiday World.[4][5]

Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is well-known for their I-Box track design, commonly used to retrofit existing wooden coasters with a new steel track. Such designs provide several benefits, offering smoother rides and reducing maintenance costs.[6] Hybrid coasters can also add inversions, similar to Mean Streak's conversion into Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point in 2018. Newer hybrids also tend to be taller, faster, and feature steeper drops over their wooden coaster counterparts.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Weisenberger, Nick (2012). Coasters 101: An Engineer's Guide to Roller Coaster Design (Paperback) (1st ed.). United States: Createspace Independent Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 9781468013559.
  2. ^ Throgmorton, Todd H.; Throgmorton, Samantha K. (30 April 2016). Coasters: United States and Canada (E-book) (4th ed.). McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. pp. 21, 49, 116, 223, 231. ISBN 978-1476622118.
  3. ^ a b "What Is A Hybrid Roller Coaster?". coastercritic.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  4. ^ Marden, Duane. "The Voyage  (Holiday World & Splashin' Safari)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  5. ^ "What Is a Hybrid Wooden and Steel Roller Coaster?". TripSavvy. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  6. ^ Glaser, Susan (13 October 2017). "Meet the man behind Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point's newest record-breaking roller coaster". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.