OCTOBER 2006 / VOLUME 58 / NUMBER 10 ➤ BY Mike Princi pat o

Enjoyingt h e rid e After surviving a near-fatal fall, Clair Hain envisioned a manufacturing business to help people fall for fun. In the fifth installment of CTE’s Made in America Miraculously, Hain has reached age 40, 12 years series, Mike Principato visits a U.S. manufacturer after freefalling 55' from a roller coaster track he of wooden roller coasters to get a seat-of-the-pants was helping construct at an Indiana amusement perspective on how modern metalcutting technol- park. In the tiny town of Sunbury, Pa., Hain pre- ogy has made a great ride even better. sides over the business he dreamed about during 100 days in a hospital, where he struggled to re- Clair Hain, a builder of wooden roller coasters, cover from paralysis, punctured vital organs and shouldn’t even be alive. more broken bones than most of even know we

GCII’s Lightning Racer wooden coaster at Hersheypark. GCII have. It was this hospital bed vision of Typical of the roller his company-to-be, he said, that kept coaster industry, the com- him alive—a company that would ul- pany operates with a limited timately build the kind of amusement roster of full-time employ- ride that almost killed him. ees, staffing up only when Fortunately for Hain, Great Coasters there is a coaster to build, International Inc.’s steady climb since refurbish or relocate. This its 1994 birth has been as thrilling and is a business that measures rewarding as a ride on one of the com- projects by the number of pany’s famed wooden roller coasters. seats on roller coaster trains and the board feet of lumber Wooden Coaster Mastery used (a board foot is equal to Novice riders of wooden roller coast- the volume of a 12"×12"×1" ers often have two questions when they board). Hain gives an ex- get to the top of the first hill on their ample, noting, “One of our M. Principato first ride, during that agonizing second Track brackets produced by Ashland Technologies. coasters will ride on 500,000 between the end of the clickety-clack to 750,000 board feet of of the chain lift and the first glimpse a sunny, amusement park-perfect lumber costing $600,000 to $700,000,” of the abyss: “Am I nuts?” and “Did August afternoon. That seemed fitting, just the first of many cool tidbits of the guy who built this know what he since GCII’s lobby and offices—filled information CTE learned about GCII’s was doing?” with roller coaster models, posters, even cooler finished products. If you’re on one of Hain’s coasters, press clippings and memorabilia— the answers are no and yes, respec- resemble a miniature roller coaster Twisted Genius tively. When it comes to designing and theme park. Hain’s specialty is manufacturing manufacturing wooden roller coasters, Hain, youthful looking despite par- “twisted” coasters featuring multiple GCII is an acknowledged master in the tial paralysis on his left side (a rem- hills paired with contorted wooden amusement park universe. nant of his 1994 injuries), introduces track overlaid with steel plate, over Tune in to a “Top 10 Roller Coast- himself and GCII’s go-to guy, Chris which the coaster’s train rolls. GCII’s ers” cable television special or search Gray, who handles everything from expertise in the design and on-time in- the Internet and you’ll likely find sev- building GCII’s famed Millennium stallation of twisted coasters has helped eral GCII rides listed among people’s Flyer coaster trains to overseeing pur- the small firm establish a reputation as favorite roller coasters. These rides chasing. “the Rolls-Royce of wooden coast- include Lightning Racer at Hersheyp- ers,” according to Hain. He credits his ark, Hershey, Pa.; Gwazi at Busch Gar- A classic wooden roller former business partner, Mike Boodley dens, Tampa Bay, Fla.; Thunderhead coaster by the numbers (“a genius”), and GCII designer Jeff at Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.; Pike (“a great designer who’s really Lighting Racer at Hersheypark is and, most recently, Kentucky Rumbler, a little kid inside”), with helping him considered one of the best wooden opened last May at Beech Bend Park, capitalize on his talents. (Boodley left roller coasters in the country. Here’s Bowling Green, Ky. the firm for health reasons.) the recipe: All of these rides have been cele- “We’ve delivered 100 percent of our n More than 700 pages of CAD brated by coaster enthusiasts as among projects on or before the scheduled drawings; the best of the wooden coaster breed. completion date, at or below budget,” n more than 1 million board feet These projects, along with five others said Hain, no small feat consider- of southern yellow pine; built by GCII since its founding in ing that GCII’s small staff supervis- n 185,000 bolts; 1994, have vaulted the company to a esevery aspect of the track con- n 3,800 yds. of concrete; leadership position among manufac- struction, from wind ratings to rip n 48 cars in 12 separate trains, turers of this icon of American amuse- sawing, while installation is performed 1,300 individual components ment parks. Interestingly, GCII’s suc- by subcontractors. and hardware pieces per car; cess in producing a product that draws The basic elements of a wooden n 187,000' of rebar; heavily on nostalgia has been made coaster include a track, train, station, n 1,000 boxes of nails; possible in part because of modern chain lift system, restraint system, n 250' of lift chain, machine tool technology. brakes and controller. GCII designs, weighing about 5,000 lbs.; To learn how, CTE met Hain manufactures or assembles every one n approximate ride time: and his East Coast team (the com- of those components. 2 minutes, 20 seconds; and pany has satellite offices in Kentucky Hain’s twisted track designs are n approximate cost: and California) at GCII headquar- complex and require detailed engi- $12.5 million. ters in north-central Pennsylvania on neering to ensure a safe and smooth CTE roller coaster critics rate Lightning Racer “two arms up!” ome fathers and sons bond while fishing, others by the trains—named “Lightning” and “Thunder” to drive home Sshooting hoops in the driveway. the racing theme—for the balance of the ride. And what a My 14-year-old son, D.J., and I prefer waiting in long lines wild ride it is. in the August heat for our opportunity to scream in terror, The crowds were mercifully light and our wait for the laugh hysterically and exchange high fives before, during and traditional front car was brief. Stepping into the Thunder after a front-car ride on the world’s best roller coasters. train, I was immediately impressed by the comfort and safety So you can imagine how excited I was that D.J. accom- features of the car, which slickly merges modern materials and panied me on the research phase of this manufacturing processes with a classic story. Our mission: To ride and report retro look. The older I get, the more I on our experience on Great Coasters appreciate comfort—a characteristic International Inc.’s Lightning Racer roller usually in short supply in lesser wooden coaster at Hersheypark. Armed with two coasters that pinch my growing derriere park tickets and a light breakfast, we and twist my skinny neck in the turns. sallied forth to do our duty for CTE. Ah, Seconds later, we were on our way the things I do for this magazine. up, up, up, until for a long second I We’ve seen and ridden a lot of coast- was able to take in an aerial view of ers, wooden and steel, seated and stand- the coaster that was about to hurtle ing, medium- and mega-height. And al- everything but my stomach at 50 mph though we prefer the speed and altitude down a 60º angle. that only steel coasters deliver, there’s It’s a blessing to have ridden so nothing more beautiful or fun to ride many coasters up to this point; the ab- than a well-designed wooden coaster. On sence of newbie terror meant I was able those two scores, Lightning Racer hits a to admire the work of GCII. The coaster home run. is intimidating in its immensity and For starters, it’s absolutely beauti- sprawl, just as a good wooden roller ful. From its double serpentine tracks coaster should be. to GCII’s clever Millennium Flyer trains, D.J.’s arms left the safety bar to wave GCII Lightning Racer is one of the focal points GCII’s Lightning Racer coaster at in the air, signaling the beginning of of the Hersheypark landscape. It’s con- Hersheypark, with two “racing” trains, our first screaming downhill and the sidered a “hybrid” coaster, combining Thunder and Lightning. official start of our bonding ritual: He the cyclonic features of a pure “twisted” keeps his arms up throughout the entire coaster with the “out and back” design of a traditional ride, as usual; I yell at him in vain to hold the safety bar, also coaster (an out-and-back coaster climbs a lift hill, races out as usual. Fifteen drops, 3.6 Gs, a rushing waterfall, a dark tun- to the far end of the track, performs a 180º turn and then nel and almost 2½ minutes later, we roll back into the station, races its way back to the station). grinning from ear to ear in between yells of “Awesome!” But Lightning Racer is also a racing coaster. Two trains Lightning and Thunder repeat this race about 240 times carrying 24 riders each leave the station house simultane- a day, roughly 35,000 times per operating season. Who won ously and duel each other for almost 2½ minutes, beginning this time? A dad and his son. with a 100' drop that provides the gravity needed to propel —M. Principato ride. Too much lateral or downward Flexible Flyer and thrills, according to Gray. “When force on the ride produces premature The Flyer is essentially an alumi- we’re building a coaster train, I feel a wear and an uncomfortable experience num-bodied car without an engine or little like Dr. Frankenstein,” he joked. for park guests, which in turn creates steering mechanism and features a “The whole place is filled with weld- unhappy park owners. unique trailer design and independent ments, bolts and machined parts.” “We’re [part of] a very small com- suspension system. A typical roller The Flyer is a GCII exclusive, munity in the amusement ride busi- coaster train includes a dozen cars, designed and assembled at GCII head- ness, and we get most of our inquiries each of which contains 650 welded, quarters. Individual components are by positive word of mouth,” noted fabricated and/or machined parts held outsourced to local machine and fabri- Hain, who fields eight to 10 requests together by more than 650 pieces of cation shops for just-in-time delivery, for proposals for new coasters every hardware. including Ashland (Pa.) Technologies year. GCII wins a lot of those RFPs The finished product sticks to a Inc., a contract shop located just half based as much on its Millennium Flyer coaster track like glue and provides an hour from GCII headquarters. GCII train as on the track design. an unbeatable combination of comfort isn’t Ash-Tec’s only amusement ride customer, but, according to Bill Wydra, president of Ash-Tec, it is one of the Nothing retro about wooden roller coaster technology most prominent. he smooth ride, stability on crazily Ash-Tec’s 25,000-sq.-ft. facility in- twisted wooden tracks and long- cludes separate CNC milling (verti- T term dependability of Great Coasters cal and horizontal), turning, grinding, International Inc.’s signature train, Mil- finishing and fabrication departments, lennium Flyer, are the results of highly all supported by a climate-controlled advanced engineering and manufactur- inspection room (see sidebar on page ing processes. 72). When GCII gets an order to build The feast-or-famine nature of a or refurbish Flyer trains, 25 program- roller coaster building business makes mers and operators, working two GCII the ideal customer for a sophis- shifts a day, produce a steady stream M. Principato ticated contract manufacturing shop of critical parts, including plasma-cut Weldment mounted to coaster train such as Ashland (Pa.) Technologies, letters like the ones adorning GCII’s chassis. which produces machined and fabri- new roller coaster, Kentucky Rum- more precise, with each part ensuring cated components. bler. Parts are produced from drawings a proper fit, of course,” said Bill Wydra, Ash-Tec’s two-shift crew of 30 ma- created by GCII’s designers and president of Ash-Tec. “But building a chinists, programmers and welders drawn in AutoCAD, Microsoft Excel coaster is much more about craft and produce many of the high-precision or a coaster-specific design program art than the science of CNC machining. components that make up a Millennium called “No Limits.” Our guys are not only at the top of their Flyer train, holding 0.002" relational It’s this skillful blend of parts out- respective crafts—they’re passionate tolerances, even on weldments, which sourcing and in-house design that has about building roller coasters.” are made on a Messer MG plasma table, allowed Hain and his team to be a The business relationship between AccuPress CNC press brake, Eroclina total turnkey provider of wooden roller GCII and Ash-Tec is mutually beneficial. pipe benders and Miller welding ma- coasters—and to control costs. When GCII receives an order for a roller chines. The weldments are checked Hain said he’s learned a lot since coaster, Ash-Tech’s 25,000-sq.-ft. plant in-house before their ultimate Magna- building his first coaster as the then- quickly makes available the needed flux testing and final inspection by an co-owner of GCII. Back then, he and capacity to produce the thousands of independent testing agency. Boodley built Hersheypark’s Wildcat, machined and fabricated components Precision-turned parts are produced still considered by aficionados to be one that make up the coaster’s train. in small batches, a few hundred at a of the best cyclonic wooden designs in Said Wydra, “Coaster trains are com- time, on barfeeder-equipped Haas and the world. When asked how much it plex. We take the time to deal with the Daewoo lathes; milled parts on Haas cost, Hain laughs and replies, “about front end of the business and create CNC vertical mills and, more recently, a million dollars too little!”, quickly processes that provide, among other on Ash-Tec’s newly acquired Haas HS-1 adding that Hersheypark became and things, proper project management.” horizontal CNC machine. remains one of his best customers. —M. Principato “CNC machines allow us to be much “When customers in the U.S. or Europe consider adding wooden coasters, we’re usually on the list of in the world.” q industry consultant and former owner suppliers they seek bids from,” said of a midsized CNC and EDM shop in Hain. “We’d like to grow to build About the Author: Pennsylvania. He can be e-mailed at four coasters a year—the best coasters Mike Principato is a metalworking [email protected].

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