Wabash Cannonball (roller coaster)

Wabash Cannonball was a steel roller coaster at the now-defunct Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee. Built by Arrow Development in 1975, it was the second roller coaster added to the park following the Timber Topper.^[1][2] Located in the State Fair section of the park, the ride was built in an area previously occupied by the park's buffalo exhibit.

Wabash Cannonball
Opryland USA
Location	Opryland USA
Park section	State Fair
Coordinates	36.208864°N 86.698402°W / 36.208864; -86.698402
Status	Removed
Opening date	1975 (1975)
Closing date	1997 (1997)
General statistics
Type	Steel
Manufacturer	Arrow Development
Designer	Ron Toomer
Model	Steel Corkscrew coaster
Track layout	Custom
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	70 ft (21 m)
Length	1,250 ft (380 m)
Speed	50 mph (80 km/h)
Inversions	2
Duration	1:10
Capacity	480 riders per hour
Height restriction	48 in (122 cm)
Wabash Cannonball at RCDB

In accordance to Opryland's musical theme, the ride was named after The Wabash Cannonball, an American folk song about a mythical steam locomotive. Wabash Cannonball was one of five roller coasters at Opryland, and for its first 20 years of operation, was the only one with an inversion. Following Opryland's closure in 1997, Wabash Cannonball was disassembled and sold to Premier Parks. After being stored at Old Indiana Fun Park in Thorntown, Indiana for several years, the ride was scrapped in 2003.^[3]

Layout

Wabash Cannonball was a stock model roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, a clone of Knott's Berry Farm's Corkscrew.

The ride began when the train rolled out of the station into a short U-turn. Following the turn was the 70-foot-tall (21 m) lift hill. Once the train was at the top of the hill, the train dipped down again into a banked turn. The banked turn then took riders down toward the first drop, which gave a sensation of airtime. Following the drop, the train then ascends a small hill and goes down a turn towards the double corkscrew element.

Following the signature double corkscrew element, the train then went through another U-turn into the brake run.