The second RMC transformation announced today might not be one of the biggest hybrid transformations, but it’s certainly one of the most compact and thrilling done to date.
Wicked Cyclone takes William Cobb’s Riverside Cyclone layout and lets famous roller coaster designer Alan Schilke have his way with it, rebuilding the entire element layout, and managing to fit 3 inversions on an already compact support structure.
“We take great pride in creating incredible, one-of-a-kind experiences for our guests here at the Thrill Capital of New England,” said John Winkler, Six Flags New England Park President. “This project has been years in the making, and the addition of Wicked Cyclone enhances our commitment to delivering world-class thrills to Six Flags New England every year.”
Locals were hoping for a blue-on-white color scheme back when the rumor came around that Cyclone was getting the “RMC treatment” to match the New England colors of red-white-blue, but when the orange track arrived not long after deconstruction started, those rumors were snuffed out and the orange-on-white colors make the track stand out much more now that there’s a complete picture of the layout.
The former Cyclone being stripped of its wooden track to make way for the installation of the new I-Box track.
Work began on stripping Cyclone the day after the July 20th closing of the coaster. Majority of the wooden track has already been removed, with most of the remaining support structures waiting to receive reinforcement and installation of the new steel track. Since the New England area can see some of the harshest winters, work pretty much has to start immediately so that the coaster isn’t delayed beyond the normal Six Flags summer opening time frame.
New I-Box track waiting installation
Wicked Cyclone is also the second wood-to-steel RMC transformation that has not had its track layout drastically shortened. The transformation is stripping out less than 300ft lenth of track, which is not much considering it follows around a similar figure-8 layout. The lift hill is shorter, from the original 112ft to 109ft, but the drop is going lower than even the original 1983 drop on the Cyclone.
Here’s the press release video showing off what Wicked Cyclone has to offer:
Facts: Wicked Cyclone
- 3,320 feet of track
- 10 stories
- Speeds of up to 55 mph
- 24 seats climbs the 109 foot hill
- First coaster of its kind to have a 200 degree stall and two Zero G Rolls
- The world’s only Double Reversing Bank Airtime Hill
- A coaster with more airtime than any coaster in New England
You can check out construction pictures and more info at the Wicked Cyclone website: https://www.sixflags.com/newengland/attractions/wicked-cyclone/overview
Even though another classic wooden roller coaster is being lost to Six Flags, Alan Schilke, and Rocky Mountain Construction, the results of the transformation should help bring a much needed new coaster experience to Six Flags New England. We can expect Wicked Cyclone to open sometime in the summer of 2015. Share us your thoughts about this new coaster below!
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Now all they have to do is get rid of the trash that is Mind Eraser for a nice B&M invert (preferably a custom one and not a Batman clone) and the park’s lineup is solid, they have the ONLY remaning roller coaster in the world that the legendary Harry Traver worked on (infamous for the Crystal Beach Cyclone, worked with Fred Church on the famous Airplane Coaster at RYE, and the Revere Beach Cyclone as well for those of you who don’t know that much about defunct coaster history), what is one of the best steel coasters in the world (Bizzaro) with other rides. This is likely my favorite Rocky Mountain coaster to date. But Wildfire in Sweeden could trump that being a terrain coaster.