First I want to tell what inspired this project!
On May 23rd, 2015 Carowinds Amusement Park on the NC/SC state line made an announcement that shook Carowinds Enthusiasts to the core. After 39 seasons the park would be closing the historic Thunder Road wooden roller coaster, my favorite wooden roller coaster and third favorite roller coaster in park(1st favorite until 2011). Carowinds opened in 1973 but sagging attendance caused the developer to declare bankurpty and the park came under new owner in 1975. New for the 1976 season was Thunder Road, a racing wooden coaster themed to the 1958 movie of the same name; Thunder Road was the first attraction added to the struggling amusement park that resulted in an increase in attendance. Many Carowinds fans would argued that Thunder Road saved Carowinds from closing forever.
I took my first ride on Thunder Road in 1992 at the age of four(I was born September 1987), and was instantly one of if not Thunder Road’s biggest fans. I remember days when I was older that the ride operators got tired of seeing me because I would ride up to a dozen times per visit before moving on the next ride. I worked as a ride operator at Carowinds during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, on my days off I would stop by Thunder Road and ride. Between 1995 and 2007 Thunder Road operated one track forward, the other backwards; I always thought the backwards side was iconic to life(Not being able to see where you are going, but knowing where you have been.)
The announcement of Thunder Road’s closure hit me hard, so hard that every chance I got I drove to Carowinds, and on several trips rode nothing but Thunder Road. I normally go to the park 5 times a year, but I made it to 11 this year before my favorite wooden coaster closed forever. I have only been once(grand total of twelve this season) since Thunder Road closed and I waited until Carowinds removed all of the ride’s structure. I don’t believe I would have been able to see Thunder Road in process of demolition; seeing the empty site where my favorite wooden coaster was left me glazing with a broken heart for minutes. All that is left is four pieces of wood that decorated the bottom of a signpost and memorial signs that Carowinds put up to calm irate fans and visitors.
Now one of the ways I have chosen to honor Thunder Road is my HO scale model amusement park, which of course has a model wooden coaster that I have dubbed “Thunder Road”. I created a website to document the park’s construction, and to provide other modelers with hopefully useful information to them.
http://www.carowindszone.net/csamusement
I named the park to match my garden railroad and N scale railroad, Calm Springs.
Oh and here is a link to a few photos I took since 2004 of Thunder Road:
http://www.carowindszone.net/photos/thumbnails.php?album=13