Talk:Harry Traver

Cleanup

I've added the cleanup tag today because as it stands the formatting needs some work and there are a lot of references need adding, I haven't the time to look at this today but I intend to come back to it at some point, hopefully somebody else will jump in first ;) --ericthefish 17:14, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Cyclone Riders Quotation

I've removed the following text from the article because it appears to me to have been taken verbatim from this website [1] without permission.

A rider of the Cyclone at Crystal Beach described his experience as thus:

"My most memorable ride in an amusement park occurred in July 1945, when I was on military leave in St. Catharines, Ontario. I had just turned 18 and had been in the Canadian Army for about 8 months. My two buddies and I spent a part of our leave in Crystal Beach, Ontario, which at that time was considered to be one of the greatest places for servicemen to have a good time. Besides, Crystal Beach was famous for having the most thrilling roller coaster ride in the Western Hemisphere. Being soldiers of course, and having been trained for all kinds of warfare, we had "no fear" of anything, except perhaps Military Police, and since we were on a legal pass, there was "nothing to fear". As soon as we entered the park one evening, we headed straight for the roller coaster, which was identified with a huge sign announcing "The Cyclone--Thrill of a Lifetime". After listening to the loud screams coming from the roller coaster, we decided that we must go on it right away, and promptly bought our tickets, which were I think about 15 cents or maybe 20 cents. We then stood in the line-up near the entrance gate, which happened to be very close to where the previous passengers got off. It was then that I first noticed the distinctive smell of vomit which was stronger as we got closer to the loading point. It was a bit disconcerting, but I was then immediately distracted by getting a whack in the face from something kind of leathery. It turned out to be a wallet which had fallen from the ride, and we opened it and it had a US Navy ID Card in it. As soon as the ride stopped, we saw the US sailor getting off the ride and called to him. He looked a bit dazed, and did not realize what had happened to his wallet.

It was then our turn to ride, and we ran to the coaster cars. Up the steep ramp we went, up, up and then up some more until we could see the entire amusement park. Just as I was enjoying the view, the car lurched forward and I looked in front of me down a steep incline that looked to me to be about an 89 degree slope. The cars then headed down the incline at warp speed, and all I could see in front of us was Lake Erie. I was sure there must have been a part of the tracks missing, and I then uttered my only two words during the entire ride... "Jesus Christ!" ...as we plunged down towards the Lake, I then saw a steep bank to the right of the incline and we changed directions in a split second, turning violently on our side as the car careened around a hairpin turn. I looked sideways and saw the earth spinning by, and from that point on, most of the ride was pretty much of a blur. The only other memorable part was as we reached a high horizontal point again, we were racing around a curve at such speed that it seemed certain that we would fly off into thin air. Very frankly, I was quite relieved to see the cars finally slowing down...even then, they approached the unloading platform at such a speed that one would think they would overshoot and go right into the spectators.

When I walked off the unloading platform, I couldn't help but smell the vomit again, and in fact, walked away from the area fairly promptly in order to resettle my own stomach." -Ed Mills, Rider of the Cyclone

--ericthefish (talk) 19:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

==

Death on the first night is true!

For the Lightning it is true that a young girl did fall out on the first night to her death, causing the park workers to close the ride for half an hour to remove her body. Source is my book "Roller Coaster" by Dave Burnett. Part of the confusion though is how she died. It turns out she fell off the coaster at the top of its lift hill and not during the ride itself. It was never said but most (including me) say she died from standing up in the coaster and looking down, lost her balance and since they didn't have the kind of restraints we have now and days, she fell. Most sources I've read from say it was the first night and not the second.

In design, Traver's Lightning at Revere Beach was sound, though not comfortable and efficient. Yet it wasn't from the twisted track that threw the girl to her death but from her own negligence. Of course, in those days, roller coaster safety was still in it's infancy.

So what is the point I'm trying to argue for the article itself? Basically she DID die the first night and that forever tainted the reputation of the coaster and Traver himself. That is a VERY important point though in the life of Traver because it established his record as a daredevil innovator and why he is considered an enigmatic legend of coasters.

So I gave the source and a short story but really all that is needed is the source because the text of the girl dying is pretty much accurate. Whether it was the 2nd day or 1st day doesn't truly matter because it happened so incredibly soon after the coaster opened.

As a side note if you ever see old pictures of the Lightning coaster you will see why it was so terrifying. The track twists like nothing seen today and the first few drops are more akin to Mindbender by Shwartzkopft then a standard John Miller coaster. It really is one of the most fascinating coasters ever made, even though it was only opened for about 2 years!

68.225.235.242 (talk) 23:05, 21 June 2009 (UTC)