The Downfall of Kennywood’s Former Record-Breaking Coaster

This article is a continuation of the history of Steel Phantom at Kennywood Park. READ PART I or READ PART II

Records Bumped

Regardless of its criticisms, Steel Phantom was still a record-breaking coaster, but not for long. By its fourth season in 1994, Steel Phantom had to share its claim to fame of being the fastest coaster and having the longest drop when another Arrow hypercoaster, Desperado, opened at Buffalo Bill’s Hotel and Casino. The drop record was officially bumped in 1996 by Fujiyama, a Japanese hypercoaster by TOGO, which unofficially broke the speed title as well.

Steel Phantom lost its records.

The coaster industry passed it by in just half a decade. Before long, rides like Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain shattered the structural height record, surpassing 400 feet; parks like Cedar Point and Nagashima Spa Land were on track to surpass the 300-foot barrier by the new millennium, which was unheard of for a continuous-circuit coaster.

Kennywood—lacking the space and budget—had no way to match or beat the astronomical coaster records being set at the time. The novelty of Steel Phantom was slipping away, and the hometown park was struggling to pull in crowds beyond its local base.

The park, as expected, still took good care of Steel Phantom. The coaster added a second train in its sophomore season, bringing its capacity to 1,100 riders per hour. By the mid-‘90s, the two trains were updated with a blue finish and yellow trim.

Regardless of the maintenance, ridership for Steel Phantom declined as the years went on. Its roughness was well known by then, and most riders found it too intense to enjoy, especially on repeat rides. Though it kept a loyal following, the coaster lacked wide appeal, took up a lot of square footage, and was no longer making an impact at the gate.

Kennywood needed to make a change, and Steel Phantom’s future was in jeopardy.

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The Future of Steel Phantom

Realistically, Kennywood was a landlocked park that had been fully developed by the mid-‘90s when the Lost Kennywood section opened. To add a new attraction, the park had no choice but to sacrifice an existing one.

Kennywood would never consider removing one of its historic wooden coasters; something else had to go.

“…If they would have said they were doing anything with the Thunderbolt, everybody would have cried.”
William Linkenheimer Jr., American Coaster Enthusiasts member, Tribune Review, 2000

With a rough reputation and declining ridership, Steel Phantom was on borrowed time.

Announcing Steel Phantom’s Closure

In March 2000, Kennywood announced Steel Phantom would be retired at the end of its 10^th season.

Park chairman Carl Hughes stated the once-record-breaking ride would be torn down for a new coaster, scheduled to open in spring 2001.

“To stay competitive with places like Cedar Point, we need new roller coasters. But given our landlocked situation, the most logical thing was to take out the Steel Phantom. We couldn’t take out any wooden ones because they are classics.”
Mary Lou Rosemeyer, park spokesperson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2001

Steel Phantom’s predecessor, Laser Loop, was sold and relocated after its closure. Steel Phantom, however, could not be relocated because of its custom dimensions; at best, it was expected to be sold for scrap or parts.

It was a sad fate for one of the few hypercoasters in existence—a ride still consistently ranked among the world’s best and a point of pride for the Pittsburgh area.

Fans React

While some may have predicted the announcement, it still came as a surprise to many. Steel Phantom was a polarizing coaster to say the least, so different folks took the news in different ways.

Many in the public were excited about the possibilities of what might replace Steel Phantom. For others, the loss of a one-of-a-kind local coaster was disappointing. The thought of never hurtling down the ravine through Thunderbolt again was hard to accept.

Fans were upset and made their feelings known.

“Did we get any feedback when we announced that the Steel Phantom was coming out? We got tons of feedback. We got emails. We got phone calls. We got hate mail. We got tons of letters saying, ‘How could you do this?…How in the world can you take out the Steel Phantom, a top 10 coaster?’”
Keith Hood, Kennywood director of marketing, 2002

Kennywood received many letters expressing concern over the decision. The efforts continued online as devoted fans launched SaveThePhantom.com. The fan-run website featured a message board for discussions, info about the ride, and a countdown clock leading up to its inevitable closure.

To fans, Steel Phantom defined the park and was just as important to Kennywood as its historic wooden coasters. The park had a habit of preserving its long-running coasters for historical and practical reasons; outspoken parkgoers believed Steel Phantom deserved the same respect.

If nothing else, the outpouring of support for the ride proved how beloved it was by parts of the community.

Kennywood assured the decision was made carefully with the park’s best interest in mind, but it was final. They had nowhere else to build a new coaster. Steel Phantom was definitely being torn down at the end of the 2000 season.

“There’s always a time for change, and we know we can change, and we know it will be better.”
Mary Lou Rosemeyer, park spokesperson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2000

Planning Steel Phantom’s Replacement

Planning for the replacement began as early as 1999, but no details were shared early on. Park officials were exploring design options, focused mainly on the idea of a thrill ride with broader appeal than the ultra-intense Steel Phantom.

Kennywood spokesperson Mary Lou Rosemeyer told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Just about anything is on the table at this point.” The park had not yet partnered with a manufacturer.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette questioned the president of Intamin, a leading coaster manufacturer, whether they would take on the job of replacing Steel Phantom; he replied with a smile, “Let me put it this way: We would be more than glad to do it.”

Intamin was developing a first-of-its-kind gigacoaster, the first complete-circuit coaster over 300 feet tall. The price tag for such a coaster was hefty, making it well beyond Kennywood’s reach. Whether or not Kennywood contacted Intamin about a similar gigacoaster is not publicly known.

Park management likely received bids from several manufacturers; however, with limited space and budget, Kennywood had a short list of realistic options.

One rumored possibility was Vekoma’s suspended looping coaster model, which was a reasonably affordable, high-thrill option.

Perhaps the tried-and-true Arrow Dynamics was in the running as well, but that remains purely speculative. As a quick aside, times had changed for Arrow by the new millennium; the legendary manufacturer was falling behind in the modern amusement industry and filed for Chapter 11 within a few years. The company might not have had the capacity to take on the assignment.

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The Arrow Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

While Arrow was out of the picture, its legacy still played an interesting role in the solution. Kennywood reached out to Dana Morgan, the son of Arrow Development’s co-founder.

Morgan had a long history with Arrow, working with the manufacturer since he was 10 years old. He left the company and started his own in 1983. D. H. Morgan Manufacturing—as the company was known—started off building new trains for wooden roller coasters.

By the ‘90s, Morgan manufactured its own roller coasters, having a similar track style to what Arrow had pioneered. Despite the company’s brief portfolio, Morgan manufactured an impressive series of successful hypercoasters as well as Steel Dragon 2000; this Nagashima Spa Land gigacoaster broke the height, speed, and length records at the time of its debut.

The Decision

Back at Kennywood, park management weighed their options and reconsidered the idea of a brand-new coaster.

In partnership with D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Kennywood reached a solution that would save the coaster while making it more enjoyable for most guests. This approach involved significantly modifying Steel Phantom instead of entirely removing it. The plan was practical—likely being an affordable alternative to a new coaster—and could satisfy upset fans.

Kennywood, at this point, had been open for just over 100 years and had a history of preserving and occasionally reinventing longstanding rides.

For the 1968 season, Kennywood renovated and extended its Pippin wooden roller coaster, which had operated since 1924. It reopened as Thunderbolt with improved sections of the original layout plus 1,000 feet of a new expansion. Thunderbolt, formerly Pippin, was a hybrid of old and new designs that collectively stood among the higher-rated coasters in the U.S., making the overhaul worthwhile.

Ironically, the layout of Steel Phantom passed through the structure of that transformed wooden coaster. Likewise, the ambitious Arrow coaster would soon get the Pippin-Thunderbolt treatment.

The basic concept was to keep Steel Phantom’s best moments—its large drops—and remove the painful inversions.

While Kennywood originally planned to hold off announcing the ride until winter 2001, the restlessness from fans led the park to break the news earlier than expected.

“While we did not intend to release details of the new coaster until January of next year, there has been such an outpouring of concern and interest about the decision to remove the Phantom—we decided not to wait.”
Harry “Henny” Henninger, park president of Kennywood, 2000

CONTINUE TO PART IV