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Jumbo Jet (Morey's Piers)
Defunct steel roller coaster From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Jumbo Jet was a prefabricated steel roller coaster at Morey's Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey. Jumbo Jet was a Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster built by noted roller coaster designer Anton Schwarzkopf.[1] In 1975, the Morey brothers traveled to Germany and purchased the Jumbo Jet for $400,000.[2][3] Morey's Surfside Pier had to be extended a total of 250 feet (76 m) to make room for the Jumbo Jet.[2] Despite the expense, however, Jumbo Jet became one of the most popular roller coasters on the Jersey Shore, and was credited for increasing attendance at Morey's Piers.[2] It was the second and final Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster to be built in the state of New Jersey.[4]
Although multiple sources support the purchase of the Morey's Piers Jumbo Jet as occurring in Germany,[2][3] some sources persist in the rumor that this coaster may have been the relocation of the ill-fated Jumbo Jet from Great Adventure (now Six Flags Great Adventure).[5][6]
Regardless of the ride's origins, Jumbo Jet was sold in 1987 to a German broker. It was rumored that the broker traded the coaster to Gorky Park in Moscow for two railroad cars of ketchup, as the ruble was not a widely accepted currency outside of the Soviet Union at the time.[2][7] The coaster was actually sold to Alton Towers, which operated from 1988 to 1997 before ending up in Mexico and Colombia, where it last operated in 2017. [8]
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Ride layout
Like other coasters of the Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line, the Jumbo Jet did not utilize a chain lift or launch mechanism to reach the top of the lift hill. Instead, small wheel motors drove it up the incline of a tight helix.[9] The track was also different on Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet roller coasters than on most later steel roller coasters. The former has much thinner track rails than the tubular steel of the latter.[10] Riders on the Morey's Piers Jumbo Jet cited its high-speed, banking turns as a noteworthy element.[2]
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See also
References
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