Thunder Road Carowinds Classic Wooden Roller Coaster POVs

Описание: Thunder Road was a wooden roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park on the border between Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. The design of the ride was based on Rebel Yell (now Racer 75), a wooden racing coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia.

Opened: 1976
Closed: July 26, 2015
Height: 93′
Max Speed: 58 mph

History:
Thunder Road was named and originally themed after the 1958 movie, Thunder Road. NASCAR celebrities Bobby Allison and David Pearson, along with major newspapers from around the country, were at Carowinds for the grand opening. Thunder Road was originally painted red, white, and blue. Two moonshine stills were originally placed at the entrance but have since been removed.

The ride originally featured trains from the Jetstream, a roller coaster at Chicago's defunct Riverview Park. For use on Thunder Road, the trains were themed to resemble a Sheriff's car and an Outlaw's car to fit the coaster's original theme. The Riverview trains were retired in 1980 and replaced with new, higher-capacity Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters trains.

Thunder Road's trains all faced forward until one side was reversed in 1995 to run backwards. During the 1995-96 off season, the air conditioners and decorative memorabilia in the waiting area were removed. In 2008, all trains were turned to face forward once again. Portions of the track were also refurbished in 2008 and 2009. In May 2015, Carowinds announced that they would be closing Thunder Road permanently on July 26, 2015, to make room for future expansion. The roller coaster was demolished in August 2015.