Canobie Corkscrew

Canobie Corkscrew was a steel sit-down roller coaster located at Canobie Lake Park amusement park in Salem, New Hampshire. Canobie Corkscrew is one of many Arrow Development Corkscrew models produced between 1975 and 1979. The coaster was removed in 2021.

Canobie Corkscrew
Canobie Corkscrew as seen in 2013
Canobie Lake Park
Location	Canobie Lake Park
Coordinates	42°47′36.43″N 71°14′59.82″W
Status	Removed
Opening date	1975 (Chicago Loop), 1982 (Corkscrew), 1987 (Canobie Lake Corkscrew)
Closing date	2021 (2021)
General statistics
Type	Steel
Manufacturer	Arrow Development
Model	Corkscrew
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	73 ft (22 m)
Speed	45 mph (72 km/h)
Inversions	2
Duration	1:30
Height restriction	48 in (122 cm)
Canobie Corkscrew at RCDB

History

Canobie Corkscrew prior to August 2012

Designed by Arrow Development, Canobie Corkscrew was first operated in 1975 as Chicago Loop at the indoor amusement park Old Chicago in Bolingbrook, Illinois.^[1] It was the second roller coaster in the world to turn riders upside down twice. It stayed at Old Chicago until the park's closing in 1980. Chicago Loop was featured in the 1978 film The Fury.

In 1985, Canobie Lake Park purchased the ride. It lay unassembled for nearly two years, because if erected it would stand taller than the town of Salem would have allowed.^{[citation needed]} In 1987, Salem gave Canobie Lake Park a waiver to put up the roller coaster. It was then renamed Canobie Corkscrew.

The ride was also used in a promotional ad for the video game RollerCoaster Tycoon 2.^[2]

In August 2012, Canobie Corkscrew underwent a repainting. The coaster's support systems were painted white and the track itself was painted blue. Previously, the ride was yellow with black supports.

The ride was removed after the 2021 season^[3] and it's second corkscrew was donated to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives.^[4][5]

Ride experience

Canobie Corkscrew stood at 73 feet (22 m). The ride featured two inversions, two back to back corkscrews. At the top of the lift hill the coaster trains made a 180 degree right turn into the first drop. The train then rises through a quick right handed turn hill that is over the ride station. The train then descends and executes the two consecutive corkscrews before turning right into the final brake run. It was painted bright blue. The total duration of the ride was about one minute and thirty seconds.^[1]