Magic Mountain Colossus Rollercoaster Press Day Preview 1978
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Magic Mountain Colossus Rollercoaster opened in 1978. These are some TV news clips taken on press day before the ride opened to the public. Clips are from Los Angeles TV stations KABC-7, KNXT-2, and KNBC-4. Television was my hobby, and major in college back then, and this was recorded on umatic and 1/2 B&W video tape.
![COLOSSUS: From Wooden Beams to Thundering Screams [DOCUMENTARY]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/y1miHmuu9_A/mqdefault.jpg)
1:40 that made me mad -.-
rollercoastersarelife yeah that pissed me off too
this reporters a moron
I rode the Colossus shortly after it was opened and it was a kick ass ride! I loved it!! So fast and so fun!!!
I have nothing but fond fun memories of Colossus. If someone were to ask me to name a period in my life where I felt pure unbridled joy I would say when I was riding on Colossus.
Colossus!! The glorious roller coaster of my youth! I miss the classic you but I love the twisted version! It has the classic’s DNA and heart and soul so it literally is the beloved Colossus… with a twist… or two! ❤️❤️❤️🎢🎢🎢
Chuck Henry should ride and review Twisted Colossus when it opens.
Krillinish2 I got a V.I.P. kinda thing because we are such big Six Flags Magic Mountain customers so they showed us everything we need to know about Twisted Colossus.
It's Unbelievable.!!!!!!!!
I rode Colossus a few months after it opened. After Six Flags bought the park, they took out some of the camel backs that made you weightless. It was better with the extra "air time"
I agree, the camel back drop was major air time. It was worth waiting in line for the front seat because it gave you the chance to lean over the front of the train with arms up giving you a flying sensation that the other coasters couldn't provide at the time.
I would have loved to have ridden Colossus in it's original form when it opened, before they bastardized it. I'm not talking about the Twisted Colossus conversion, which was a great replacement and much needed. I'm talking about the park's mismanagement and neglect of this ride.
The original trains restrains had a single lap bar which went across both riders, which went across both riders. Unfortunately, this was a major flaw, because it meant that different sized riders may cause the bar to not completely secure one. Just a few months after opening in December 197, a woman was ejected from the hill at 1:01 and 3:57. The park then reprofiled that hill and probably many others which greatly reduced the amount of the airtime and negative Gs on the ride. In 1991 one of the double dip hills was flattened out and replaced with a brake run, and while that did allow them to add another train, it also slowed the rest of the ride down. When the ride first opened, they would run both tracks and once and let them race. In the later years that never happened, and I only ever remember them running one track at a time.
The result of all this is that the Colossus in its later years was a slower, crappier, lamer version of the original. The park could have managed the ride much better than they did. For one, the restrains flaw could have been fixed with a better design and better trains without messing with the track, in fact, this is exactly what they did when they added new trains in 1978. Adding another block to allow more trains was just an unnecessary change when the ride's popularity was already dropping as faster newer rides were built, when simply keeping both tracks running would have maintained a decent capacity. I really think the park just cheaped out and stopping caring about Colossus, only keeping it barely working.
Great way to put it, but that's Six Flags for you. I'll never understand why they flattened out the double down and put a brake run there because the train crawled around the final turnaround after that. I never got to ride Colossus but IMO they should have left the PTC trains on the ride and never added the mid course brakes. I heard they added the Morgan trains to lighten the load on the structure, not sure if that's true. The airtime looked INSANE on that speed hill with it's original design so I'm not surprised they had to reprofile it.
If Magic Mountain had kept PTC trains with buzz bars, left the double down alone, and most importantly MAINTAINED the coaster, it could still be around today in it's near original form. I just hate to see iconic wooden coasters like this neglected and then redesigned. That could very well have never happened if a smaller company owned Magic Mountain.
You have your history wrong about Colossus. It opened in June 1978. The Train were from National Amusement Devises ( NAD ). When the young Women was ejected from the Train, the Trains had the same kind of restraints found on the Revolution. Her larger size is the reason she was ejected from the Train. After her untimely death, Magic Mountain went as far by adding a thin steel cable that was attached on the side of the lap bar and the riders had to clip it onto a loop hook that was attached to the outside base of each car along with a seat belt. But the main fault lies on ride operators for allowing her to ride Colossus when the induvial lap bar couldn't lock down far enough on her and the overall bad engineering of Colossus. When Six Flags purchased Magic Mountain and knew all of the problems with Colossus, it was shut down immediately to undergo the major reprofiling. Colossus had far to many negative that was literally putting far to much stress on the Track, Structure, and Trains. Colossus was down more than 50% during it's 1st year in operation. I don't understand why some of you out there thinks this makes a Rollercoaster great. It doesn't. Now when Colossus reopened in December of 1979 and had been reprofiled to eliminate the excessive wear, tear and stress, Colossus was fitted Trains from Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. (PTC ). These are the Trains that had the Single lap bar that went across both riders in which with the PTC Trains, NO RIDERS fell out from. With the reprofiling and new Trains, Colossus was Better, Faster, Smoother than ever. The new PTC Trains provided an Abundance of airtime without being painful. For many years the rebirth of Colossus was very popular. Now for some reason, in the late 80's and beyond, Magic Mountain stopped giving Colossus the TLC it deserved. They replaced the PTC Trains with Trains by Morgan Mfg. They were Fiberglas and they were very uncomfortable and they didn't travel as fast. Then the Double Down on the east end of the ride was flatten over with a block brake. This is when Colossus went to CRAP. Colossus went into despair for the simple fact they stopped caring for what was once a Great Rollercoaster after it was reprofiled. Twisted MEHlossus is ABSOLUTE RMC GARBAGE!!!
Colossus backwards during the month of October's FrightFest is now a classic tradition. Best ride during that month!
If you went during the week back in the 80’s crowds were sparse during the day and you could stay on the ride when it finished and keep going until someone else showed up.
I was 7 1/2, 8 years old when I rode this ride!! Scared the hot hell out of me😂😂 Then my parents and I went to see a concert; Tavares..I cannot believe I remember that...memories of 1978.💞
Chuck Henry doesn't know a DANG BIT about roller coasters! Colossus was amazing and he is an A-HOLE! And on a nice note, Patty Ecker's reaction to the ride was AWESOME! "I have no idea what to say," The whole time stuttering "I don't think I can stand up." Classic.
It probably wasn't broken in yet. Wish I could have ridden it before the 3rd and 4th hills were reprofiled, thay look awesome ejector.
-Cries-! R.I.P Colossus a.k.a my dad's first ever roller coaster! 1978-2014. Hopefully an Iron Colossus will come. =)
I meant Cries!
There is a new one coming it's over 5,000 feet of track and it's coming in spring 2015 and it's called the twisted colossus and has many many inversions.
Maddie M It only has two inversions, but on both sides. ***** Indeed. But at least RMC saved the classic!
Look how clean it looked back then
It was brand spanking new! You expect it to look clean
Like duh right lol
MOST EXCELLENT!! I had been looking for original Colossus footage with the NAD trains. This is before the 1979-80 reprofiling. In memory of Carole Flores who popped out and was killed 12/26/78. The point in which she was ejected was 4:00, 5:26 and 5:42. My favorite era was the 1980-86 PTC train era.
Just read your comment on Colossus. I was at Magic Mountain just 1 day before Carole Flores left this Earth Way To Soon😔I was in the Marine Corps at the time. Just before deploying to Japan in December 1979, I had the opportunity to ride Colossus when it reopened after the major reprofiling and the addition of the PTC Trains. YES!!! This also was my favorite version of Colossus that I sorely miss. Funny how the park can manage to upkeep Twisted MEHlossus with so much TLC. Why couldn't that been done with the Best Ever Version of Colossus 🎢🎢💖💖
It looks so new and sounds too!!! It looks so smooth
It was a very very smooth and wild ride back then. I can remember the zipping sound it made as it glided on the tracks and those turn around had some powerful laterals as if you would fly off the tracks, not to mention the views. I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience the majestic Colossus and what it was supposed to do. A lot of enthusiasts never got to experience Colossus in its infancy and gave a wild ride. I remember the double down camel back hill before the block break was installed. I remember when it raced all the time. I remember the long lines and getting to decide what side you were going to ride on. I remember when it ran backwards BEFORE there was a Fright Fest and BEFORE they used trains from Psyclone. In fact they used one of the PTC trains and it was maybe 1984-85. I remember the airtime and the floater airtime. I remember the pure unbridled joy. Yes I know… if I remember Colossus when it was at its finest then I’m old! It was 1980 and I was 12 years old the first time. It already had a stigma because of the fatality so Colossus has blood in its tracks. There was much to be intimidated by and I was scared shitless! But then after the first time you couldn’t wait to do it again. I used to dare people that were afraid of it to ride it. Most of my friends were afraid of Colossus and refused to ride or were told by their parents not to ride it. But they would ride with me and then wondered why they were afraid to begin with
Back then it was the tallest in the world. To think how poor it looks in comparison to today's coasters...
I can't believe it's closing this August.
***** not refurbished. Completely rebuilt with new tracks and a new expierence. At this point its all speculation but it wont be the same type of ride it is today.
It closes at august 16 I think
***** Twisted Colossus.
Its almost Finished.
When I found out it was closing I cried so hard I loved it
You guys probably never heard of Twisted Colossus
Ok lol yeah it's awesome
I was part of the opening crew..remember pushing the trains out of the station
Hahaha "There will never be anything like this." that guy would freak if he saw what magic mountain has now
I can remember recording Chuck Henry's report on my tape recorder when I was 15 years old (VCR's hadn't yet become affordable) and listening to it over and over again..
So someone found or saved all those videos from 1978. Amazing. It was good to see Chuck, Jerry, Christina and even Pat Sajak at the very end.
When Patty Ecker talks about her fear of the giant hunk of wood, I almost thought she was talking about Chuck Henry.
I remember that summer of 1978 - I spent two weeks doing yard work so I could earn the money to go. Admission to Magic Mountain (pre-six flags by the way) was only $8.95 for adults, $7.95 for kids.
Songs on the radio that take me back to those weeding days: Kiss you All Over (Exile), Life's Been Good to Me so Far (Joe Walsh), Love is Like Oxygen, (Sweet) and Grease had just opened in movie theatres.
Worked at MM in 81 back when Collosus was still fairly new. Had a blast. Collosus was one of my favorites besides Roaring Rapids (we opened it up that year). Ha... I bet if Chuck Henry rode Viper or X2 he would change his mind real quick about Collosus!
Colossus was operating with the PTC Trains during the time🎢🎢💖💖
Who’s watching this with the ride known as: Twisted Colossus
love this ride.when it first open!
I can remember when I was at Magic Mountain in 1976~1977.... they had a contest to name the new coaster they were building. I remember I voted for Star Streak, or it might of been Silver Streak, I don't remember but I do remember Colossus being one of the choices. I asked my dad what a "Colossus" was. I didn't know what it meant.
It's sad knowing that my first ever coaster is leaving august 16 💔
Look up Twisted Colossus
Holy crap that’s smooth
Edit: literally makes me laugh how gp Chuck Henry is
Yes, the good old days of recording on audio and video tape. Don't you feel old now? Chuck is still on the air not on KNBC. A time when you could record anything and not worry about copyright laws, files, memory files and glitches.
wow can't believe thats chuck henry lol
Wooden coasters forever!!
I actually cried!!! I live down the street too and they have a craine already!!! :'(
they are redoing it
***** somebody told me they had a craine already they dont there making into twisted collouous ( i have rlly bad speeling dont judge ) and there keeping it just adding more onto it and thats cool you live down the street too :)
Oh ok well we drove by it the other day to get my braces there was no craine so maybe its true ot msy be gone now ;)
ThePetLife4Life Channel I rushed to Six Flags Magic Mountain and they told me they're gonna rebuild it.
This was after taking their Bus and they announced it would most likely be rebuilt months before doing so.
The fire was from a torch cutter.
They were cutting off the track and spraying water on the wood to prevent a fire but a part that wasn't wet enough ended up catching fire witch made much more of the wood burn.
But luckily there were some good things and the fire solved a few problems for them.
I know Musical Ears
What a fun ride, sad to see it go
man it was smooth back then...and faster
now we have x2
Glad she didn't burn down.. but damn..
Early Chuck Henry! I loved his Eye On LA shows.
@bobz299 Cool! Let him know that he has fans that go far back in the day!
3:01 look at those finishing touches!
The great Colossus in it's initial badass years!
It was bad alright. It was down more than 50% in it's 1st year of operation. That doesn't make a Rollercoaster great and surely wasn't good for Magic Mountain when a young Woman met her untimely death just after Colossus opened.
#HISTORYwasborn
i remember when i first road it i was scared but i loved it ❤️
I still have a button from this period featuring the coaster that was toned down not long after its debut.
Colossus was only reprofiled which only made it much smoother and faster with the addition of the PTC Trains.
They should not have taken down Colossus
+Laila Abid They didn't. They just gave it a new track layout, trains and a modern design. This ride was in a pretty shabby state and needed to be re-built and modernized anyway.
xygomorphic44 Twisted Colossus is absolutely awesome...Original Colossus was good but way past its time by the time it was retired.
You mean had it ruined by RMC? I agree
@@xygomorphic44 It was in bad shape because Six Flags don't know how to maintain wooden Rollercoasters. Look at Jackrabbit at Kennywood just outside of Pittsburg PA. It opened in the 1920's and still runs like a Swiss Watch. Blue Streak at Cedar Point opened in 1964, long before there was a Cedar Fair. It to runs like a Swiss Watch. I could go on and on about how many Classic Wooden Rollercoasters are WWAAAAAAAYYYYY OLDER than Colossus was. The main problem with Colossus was Carpenters and Maintenance crews were FLAT OUT LAZY!!! When Colossus was reprofiled in 1979 ( the same year the Beast opened at Kings Island ) and Colossus had the PTC Trains added, that version should still be up and operating to this day. Twisted MEHlossus is GARBAGE!!!
@@noname-jh3bd 100% AGREE WITH YOU!!!! RMC Destroyed Colossus.
Another spot where she was ejected is at 1:02, the first dip after the 2nd drop.
Shame on him for not putting his microphone in a paid locker
Wow Chuck Henry was the anchor back then.
5:40 is the place where Carol Flores popped out 12/26/78
On the speed hill after the 2nd drop. Too much negative g's. The engineering on Colossus was all wrong from the start. The main reason for the major reprofiling which honestly made Colossus SO MUCH BETTER, and with the addition of the PTC Trains made the Coaster faster.
lol. "there will never be anything like this." look at the rest of the roller coasters magic mountain has now.
@therollercoasterguy1 yup june 29th
Chuck Henry fight me! 🧐
Wow this is some retro footage, I wonder how all these people reacted like that guy or that scared asf woman if they still alive, probably all old and they see TWISTED COLOSSUS, what will they think then?
Six Flags destroyed Colossus by letting RMC turning it into Twisted MEHlossus. They should have preserved and maintained the Best Version of Colossus after it was reprofiled in 1979 and fitted with the PTC Trains. Twisted MEHlossus is GARBAGE!!!
@magicjmp really? do you remember how sixx flags was b4 all the renovations?
Close your eyes through the second one
That's what she said : -
"a good steel loop roller coaster"
ITS LOOKS INTIMIDATING BUT FEELS LIKE SHIT
LOOPS ARE NOTHING
WHAT THE HELL DID HE EVER RIDE A WOODEN ONE!?
You probably never rode rides like Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa or Mindbender at Galaxyland
Uriel Galindo Ive rode a ton, i have not rode those they may be different, But i rode all the rides in universal, and the coaster at playland, an insane classic woodie. The fact is, most steel coasters are hyperrestrictive, and smooth. It not scary.
***** For me and most roller coaster enthusiasts, coasters don't have to be scary to be good. For me they have to be smooth, intense and with airtime if it's an RMC or if it doesn't have inversions
Uriel Galindo The fact is, Its not fun if its smooth and has nothing going for it. RMC's aren't hyper restrictive, but they are not to intense either. The thing is, REPLACING A CLASSIC, ICONIC WOODIES WITH ONE, is a retarded idea, And should NEVER happen. And Goliath looks amazing, but its not a woodie. Its metal supports, and 90% metal track, with wood spacers. That's like trying to call a Vekoma Corkscrew a woodie because its station, and the platform its on is wood is made of wood, and that's even more wooden than Goliath, or any other "wooden" RMC. RMC is overrated.
***** You know everyone has different tastes and in the Theme Park Review forums everyone seems to love RMC and smooth coasters
and if you look.. you'll see that he was right .
@wendileona More than 30 years later, I now work with Chuck Henry at KNBC in Los Angeles
@PHAEDRIDER ?
not as crazy as the Texas cyclone!
I rode the thing as a kid. It had a lot of vibration. Way to rough.
Patty Eckert knows how to do a good roller coaster story for the press! Chuck Henry doesn't.
01/11/2023