The Record-Setting History of Kennywood’s Steel Phantom, The Phantom’s Revenge

How Kennywood Built a Record-Breaking Coaster

In the midst of the coaster wars, one unlikely park joined the contest.

The family-owned Kennywood Park, just outside Pittsburgh, carried a spirit rich with history and memories. However, the hometown park overshadowed giants in the 1990s by summoning the record-breaking Steel Phantom. At the time, it was the world’s fastest coaster and had the longest drop ever built.

Steel Phantom, nonetheless, lasted only one rough decade of operation. Its massive, twisted layout was partially scrapped, but not entirely removed. The infamous looping coaster was resurrected and rebuilt into a legendary airtime machine, haunting thrill-seekers to this day.

This is the story of Steel Phantom and The Phantom’s Revenge at Kennywood Park.

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The Classic Atmosphere of Kennywood Park

Western Pennsylvania’s Kennywood Park is a timeless amusement park with a living history unlike most others.

This time capsule feels like a step back in time because its beginnings date back to 1898, being among the countless trolley parks across the nation during that era. Through the decades, many trolley parks closed for one reason or another; Kennywood, however, has thrived as a hometown park. It’s a leisurely escape from the industrial day-to-day life of the Pittsburgh area, honored as just one of two U.S. amusement parks with a National Historic Landmark status.

Kennywood preserves a traditional atmosphere through a collection of historic rides—from vintage mechanical attractions to century-old wooden roller coasters. Some are the last of their kind, with the park featuring attractions of essentially every decade from the 20^th century and beyond.

The park has held onto these rides and its legacy by being careful in choosing which attractions to remove or replace; such decisions have lasting impacts. That thoughtful selectivity has allowed Kennywood to preserve classics like the Old Mill boat ride and the Jack Rabbit roller coaster—dating back to 1901 and 1920, respectively.

Many parks have removed aging rides to make room for new-fashioned attractions; Kennywood, uniquely, has done both. Despite its history, Kennywood has embraced modern thrills to stay up-to-speed in an ever-changing industry.