Doc Searls Weblog

I just discovered that the original Cyclone roller coaster at Palisades Amusement Park has its own Wikipedia article, and that the two photos in it are ones I posted on Flickr in 2008 with a permissive license that encouraged re-use. Above is the first. Here is the second:

George W. Searls, at the bottom of the shot, is my grandfather. He was, as the story goes, a (or the) foreman of the crew that built the Cyclone. One of the workers was his son, my father, Allen H. Searls. Grandpa would have been 67 when this was shot in 1927, as the coaster was being completed. Allen would have been turning 19.

George’s name on the photo is in Grandma’s handwriting. The photographer might have been Grandma, Allen, older sister Ethel or younger sister Grace. I seem to recall hearing that Ethel shot it. If so, it is possible that one of the two guys at the top of the coaster was Allen.

There is a family story that sister Ethel talked Allen into swapping his ass for some sandbags when they were testing the coaster. That must have been fun. Wikipedia:

Construction of the Cyclone ran into difficulty when dealing with the uneven, rocky terrain and limited space^[4…quite near the cliff edge of the Palisades.^[5]…As with the other Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters, the first Cyclone at Palisades was notorious for a rough ride. Although no fatal incidents were reported, park operators reported occasional broken ribs and collarbones.^[6] It is thought that this coaster may have been the roughest of the “Terrifying Triplets”.^[2] The steel structure of the coaster on the unforgiving Palisades terrain and the design adjustments needed to accommodate it are thought to be partially responsible.^[5][4] The spiral element common on Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters was the tightest on the coaster,^[2] as were the turns.^[5] The ride incorporated the rapidly undulating “Jazz Track” common amongst steel-framed, Traver-designed coasters.^[2]

About the Terrifying Triplets:

The Terrifying Triplets was a nickname given to three roller coasters which were opened or built by Traver in 1927.^[1] The Crystal Beach Cyclone was the first to open, followed by the Revere Beach Lightning and then the Palisades Cyclone.^[3] Each coaster had the characteristic steel-frame structure with wood-laminated steel track typical of Traver-designed coasters. The rides were relatively short in duration but notable for their lack of straight track.

The Triplets were in a family called the Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters. They were, um, innovative:

The geometry of Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters was extreme compared to their contemporaries, featuring very tight turns, spirals, and figure eights.^[3] These elements drew inspiration from the swoops and spirals of earlier Prior and Church roller coasters like The Bobs. Curves on Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters were often banked to much steeper angles, with some approaching 85 degrees.^[7] Beyond the many curves, another element common to the steel-framed Traver coasters were undulating “jazz tracks”, meaning that Traver’s Cyclones had almost no straight track in their entire course.^[3]

I’ve also read somewhere that, while the Terrifying Triplets had an identical design, the Palisades version had to fit the same height onto a smaller footprint, requiring steeper drops and more highly banked turns, making it the most terrifying of the three. It also had the shortest lifespan, and was demolished in 1934.

For what it’s worth, Pop didn’t report any problem with that first ride. But then, he was kind of a thrill seeker, following his employment on the Cyclone with rigging cables at altitude for the George Washington Bridge. Later he built trestles for the Alaska Railroad (where he met my mother), and re-enlisted in the Army at age 35 to fight in WWII. Ballsy dude.