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

The Steel Phantom Ride Experience

Riders boarded the 28-passenger train, pulled down their over-the-shoulder restraints, and prepared for the record-breaking drop and four inversions ahead. Once dispatched, the yellow train with a teal side stripe rolled out of the station, dipping into a small right-hand turn and up a slow ascent to the top of the 160-foot lift hill.

At the peak of Kennywood’s tallest coaster, the track curved into its prominent turnaround drop, banking at 63 degrees. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described the sensation of the 157-foot drop as “stunning as a blast of cold water in the face.”

Though a thrilling way to start the ride, this wasn’t even the coaster’s biggest drop—that element was still ahead. After the first drop, the train coasted through a section of straight track to maintain momentum for the rise up the next hill.

Its Record-Breaking Drop

Atop the 110-foot hill, riders had a brief moment to catch their breath and take in a view of the Monongahela River before diving into an unprecedented sight: a 225-foot drop down the natural ravine. No coaster on Earth had a longer drop at the time, and few were even close. Between the lift hill and the deepest part of the second drop, Steel Phantom had a whopping 280-foot total height difference.

“It wasn’t 200 feet; it was a thousand feet to the river, so it gave you a tremendous visual—illusion—that just added to the sensation.”
Harry “Henny” Henninger, via an American Coaster Enthusiasts interview, 2017

The train barreled down the plunge, which was recognized by Guinness in 1993 for holding the world record for the fastest, longest, and steepest drop.

The bottom of the drop was hidden by part of the neighboring Thunderbolt roller coaster from yesteryear, which the newcomer, Steel Phantom, raced through with needlepoint precision. This was a head-chopper moment as the train zoomed through the narrow keyhole, briefly creating illusion it might not fit.

As a fun side note about the record-breaking drop: Universal Orlando borrowed a quick clip of it in a commercial years later to promote Islands of Adventure.

Once at the bottom of the record-breaking dive, Steel Phantom hit its advertised top speed of 80 mph, made possible by the height and momentum of the unique layout.

Most coasters released into their biggest drop directly from the chain lift at about 5 mph. Steel Phantom, however, entered its largest drop with more momentum. The train crested the hill at about 15 mph, diving into the drop with more speed than most and with no chain that would otherwise hold it back.

At the ride’s fastest point, the track snapped into an abrupt left turn, which was a harsh element for a high-speed coaster with over-the-shoulder restraints.

Steel Phantom was a coaster of two halves: The first focused on drops and speed down the ravine, while the finale brought inversions and intense elements on the hillside.

Steel Phantom’s Four Inversions

The train carried its extreme pacing into an upward transition that whipped into a vertical loop. The upside-down element curved into the next set of inversions known as the boomerang, which twisted the track through a butterfly-shaped knot.

After a turn to the right, the coaster spiraled through one of Arrow’s famous corkscrews—the final of four inversions. The layout meandered through a few right-hand turns until hitting the brake run and entering the station.