Corkscrew (Silverwood)

This article is about the roller coaster at Silverwood Theme Park, originally installed at Knott's Berry Farm. For the roller coaster at Cedar Point, see Corkscrew (Cedar Point). For other roller coasters of the same name, see Corkscrew (disambiguation).

Corkscrew
250px At Knott's Berry Farm, circa 1980
Silverwood Theme Park
Coordinates
Status	Operating
Opening date	1990 (1990)
Cost	US$1 million
Knott's Berry Farm
Coordinates
Status	Relocated to Silverwood Theme Park
Opening date	May 21, 1975 (May 21, 1975)
Closing date	1989 (1989)
Replaced by	Boomerang
General statistics
Type	Steel
Manufacturer	Arrow Development
Designer	Ron Toomer
Model	Corkscrew
Lift/launch system	Chain lift
Height	72 ft (22 m)
Drop	62 ft (19 m)
Length	1,250 ft (380 m)
Speed	32 mph (51 km/h)
Inversions	2
Duration	1 minute, 15 seconds
Capacity	600 riders per hour
Height restriction	48 in (122 cm)
Corkscrew at RCDB Pictures of Corkscrew at RCDB

Corkscrew is an Arrow Development prototype roller coaster located at Silverwood Theme Park. Ten exact replicas of this same design were produced 1975–1979 at other scattered parks. This corkscrew previously operated at Knott's Berry Farm from 1975-89. Developed by Ron Toomer of Arrow Dynamics, a Utah-based design firm, the "Corkscrew" was the first steel inverting roller coaster open to the public.

Ride Experience

Inversions

	Inversion
1	Corkscrew
2	Corkscrew

The ride

The ride starts when the train is rolled out of the station into a short U-turn. Following the turn is a 70-foot-tall (21 m) lift hill. When the train reaches the top of the hill, the train speeds down again into a banked turn. The banked turn then takes the riders down toward the first drop, which gives a sensation of airtime. Following the drop, the train then ascends a small hill and goes down a turn towards the double corkscrew, the train then travels through another U-turn into the brake run.

Historical achievements

When Corkscrew first opened at Knott's Berry Farm, it achieved two things of historical significance. Corkscrew was not only the first modern inverting coaster in the world, but it also was the first roller coaster to take riders upside down twice. Corkscrew was actually a prototype originally built on site at Arrow Dynamics in Mountain View in Santa Clara County, California (before Arrow Dynamics' relocation to Utah). Once Arrow Dynamics completed reviewing the design, members of the Knott's family personally opted to purchase the prototype. Ten exact replicas were produced 1975–1979. In 1989 Knott's Berry Farm sold the Corkscrew to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho for $250,000 to make room for Boomerang.

References

Preceded by Centrifugal Railway

First Roller Coaster With 2 Inversions May 1975–May 1976

Succeeded by Corkscrew