Thunderhawk: ACE's Latest Landmark

Photo: Mark Rosenzweig. View full-sized image.

Thunderhawk, a vintage wooden roller coaster, first ran for the 1924 season at Dorney Park, near Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is not the tallest (80 feet), longest (2,767 feet) or fastest (45 mph) roller coaster around, but it still ranks notably in importance in the history and development of the roller coaster. From 1924 through 1988, the ride was simply named Coaster. It is a truly historic ride. Currently Thunderhawk is the seventh oldest operating roller coaster in the United States and the oldest operating wooden roller coaster designed by acclaimed designer Herbert Schmeck and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC).

When the coaster was built, the park asked PTC to use a station that originally was planned for a boat ride. The company constructing the boat ride went bankrupt and never completed the ride, so the park asked to use it as the station for the coaster instead. When the ride began, the coaster dropped into a tunnel underneath the area where the Lusse Bumper Cars operated, right next to the coaster station, before starting its climb up the lift hill. Today the original station and bumper cars have been removed, explaining why riders go through a trough before starting the ascent up the lift hill.

Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.

Coaster was originally built with an out-and-back layout, but in 1929, Central Park, located on the eastern end of Allentown, built the Skyclone coaster. Dorney Park contacted Schmeck to redesign Coaster to compete. The coaster kept its original lift hill and brake run but was redesigned to a shorter figure-eight layout. The resulting publicity enabled Dorney to gain back some of the business from its competition.

On June 9, 1974, Dr. Robert Cartmell, a renowned coaster enthusiast, wrote an article in the New York Times entitled “The Quest for the Ultimate Roller Coaster,” in which he listed his Top Ten roller coasters. The Dorney Park Coaster was listed as number 10. He described it as follows: “Experienced riders cite the first drop on this coaster as one of their favorites. It's something like being pushed off a cliff into the nearby parking lot. The coaster performs its acrobatics through picnic grounds and finishes with a roar.” In a subsequent presentation, Dr. Cartmell said that Dorney’s Coaster was a personal favorite of his.

Photo: Sue Yekel. View full-sized image.

In 1989 Dorney Park built Hercules, which was the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world at the time. To eliminate confusion, Coaster was renamed Thunderhawk.

Being a resident in Eastern Pennsylvania for most of my life, Thunderhawk is clearly the roller coaster that I have ridden more than any other. In 1983, when I moved to the Lehigh Valley, I started my own personal tradition. On the first day of each season, I would sit in the first seat for the first public ride of Thunderhawk, and then on the last day of the operating season, I made it a point to sit in the last seat for the last public ride. Literally, I can say that I was always the first one on and the last one off this wonderful ride every year. I must admit that I have not always been able to keep up this practice, due to weather or being out of town, but for most seasons, I have successfully kept this tradition going.

I have also occasionally worked at Dorney Park as a ride operator to help the park when they were short of staff. Whenever I was there, I always requested to run Thunderhawk. Until about 1993, the braking system for the ride was a manual operation, using skid brakes, which required some level of skill to stop it in the proper place. In learning from the staff, I learned to gauge bringing the coaster in without stopping it more than was absolutely necessary. It made the job much more interesting and required some concentration on the ride.

Photo: Mark Rosenzweig. View full-sized image.

Two major motion pictures were filmed at the park. In “Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows” (1968), there is some onride footage of the coaster as the students enjoyed their ride. In the original “Hairspray” (1988), Thunderhawk is displayed prominently in the final scenes of the film.

In 1988, I was featured in an article in the Allentown Morning Call newspaper about riding roller coasters. They took a picture of me, hands high in the air, in the front seat of the coaster as the ride approached the top of the lift hill. They have reused that picture several times over the years. I still use this picture on my Facebook page.

I am thrilled that ACE has chosen to recognize Thunderhawk for Landmark status. It has been a staple at Dorney Park for 97 years and one that local residents love to ride year after year. Dorney Park has done an excellent job of maintaining the ride. While there have been many modifications and changes to the ride over the years, it still has that classic wood coaster feel to it.

Whenever I am asked by the press what is my “favorite roller coaster,” my first answer is: whatever one I am riding. That rarely satisfies the reporters, so they will ask for a specific ride. It is then I will say Thunderhawk. It is my sentimental favorite, which still gives a wonderful, exhilarating roller coaster ride. In fact, I sometimes refer to it as “Cliff's Coaster.”

— Rev. Cliff Herring

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