Santa Clara Triple Wheel

SupermanUltimateFlightKid · Mon Sep 05, 2005 12:50 pm

steven wrote:The four images above of the Santa Clara Sky Whirl / Triple Wheel were taken in August and September of 1997. They had posted a notice that the ride would close on the 1st of September, so it didn't even get to finish out the season. In its final days, I set out to photograph the ride as extensively as I possibly could. I took several rolls of film of the ride.

Because the disassembly took place before the end of the season, each weekend offered an opportunity to view the "progress". In the upper right photo, all cabins have been removed and one wheel or "spider" has been removed and is sitting on the load/unload area. In this state, the ride was seriously out of balance, with the weight of two wheels ("spiders") in the air and an arm with no wheel at the bottom. To keep it in that position, the lower arm was tied to the central pylon by cable.

By the next weekend, all wheels ("spiders") were removed from the ride, as is seen in the lower right photo. By the weekend after that, there was nothing left to see.

Regarding the color schemes, the original scheme by Marriott had the structure all white and the cabins red and blue. After a few seasons, Marriott wanted to add more color to the park, hence the new color scheme for Sky Whirl. The central tower or pylon was painted red, white, and blue, somewhat like a US flag. The center ring on each wheel was painted red. You can see this scheme on the Gurnee ride here:

Although it's not easily seen in this photo, the bottom of the pylon is blue with white stars.

I actually preferred the original, plain white color scheme. Post-Marriott, each park made minor changes to the color scheme. In Santa Clara, the red center ring was returned to white on each wheel. The central pylon was painted blue. The cover over the motors in the center of each wheel was painted a different solid color on each wheel: red, white, and blue. This made it easier to identify each wheel at a glance, but many people remembered and missed the original star logo that had been on those covers.

Steven

Steven, what is the coaster that they are building in the backround?

aejanis · Post by **aejanis** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 7:38 pm

American Eagle

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:44 am

Here are some nice photos of the Zodiac double wheel ride at Wonderland Sydney in Australia

http://www.timmyjnr.id.au/cm/displayima ... at=0&pos=4

http://www.timmyjnr.id.au/cm/displayima ... t=0&pos=89

http://www.timmyjnr.id.au/cm/displayima ... t=0&pos=39
click on the photos for full screen view

also,views taken from zodiac:

http://www.timmyjnr.id.au/cm/displayima ... t=0&pos=90

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:27 am

Here are two photos of the Lotte World triple wheel in South Korea

looks like ice on the lake, must be one cold ride.

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:02 am

This photo shows the Gurnee Skywhirl laying in the employee parking lot after removal
http://gallery.weezil.com/index.php?gal ... fgam17.jpg

Post by **steven** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 9:55 pm

Thanks, redfishpaw, for pointing us to those photos. Some of the Wonderland Sydney URLs didn't work for me. Let's see if these work for everyone:

Zodiac (giant double wheel) --
http://www.timmyjnr.id.au/cm/displayima ... =16&pos=14
http://www.timmyjnr.id.au/cm/displayima ... =16&pos=18
http://www.timmyjnr.id.au/cm/displayima ... =16&pos=19

Also in the photo album are some views from the Zodiac and other photos of the park, including the Bush Beast roller coaster which, like the Santa Clara Grizzly, was based on the design of a wooden roller coaster that existed at Ohio's Coney Island. Although I don't know the full story of Wonderland Sydney, I understand that KECO played a part in its development. It's really a shame that Wonderland Sydney was simply shut down and is undergoing demolition. It's one more reason to be thankful that the Santa Clara park was spared that fate.

Steven

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:39 am

Thanks Steven, I had noticed issues with the links shortly after I made the post, I made some revisions and I thought that I had everything repaired. If for some reason they do not all work a person could enter the gallery and perform a search using 'Zodiac' as a key work. Five photos should appear. These are nice full screen images.

Post by **steven** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 8:19 pm

Steven

jonrev · Post by **jonrev** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 8:22 pm

wow! Great pictures.

imdaman · Post by **imdaman** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:36 pm

Steven, great pics, thanks for posting them. I know that you have many more, and I'm sure we would all appreciate any more that you would be able to post.

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 10:05 pm

I totally agree with imdaman, and I am very thankful this sight is here

Thanks again Steven!!!!!!!!

Post by **steven** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 4:28 pm

Thanks for the good feedback on the photos! I'll put up more whenever I have a chance.

Steven

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:17 pm

Steven, were you able to obtain anything else other than those Sky Whirl Cabins, was thier anything else you could take? I am especially wondering what happened to those engine covers with the old Great America logo and the star, were they there? Sorry, I am exrtremely curious

jonrev · Post by **jonrev** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:04 am

Could you post pics of your Sky Whirl Cages?

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:48 am

jonrev wrote:Could you post pics of your Sky Whirl Cages?

You should check out the tread under THE EDGE,
http://www.greatamericaparks.com/forums ... 6&start=15
where Steven posted a photo of his Sky Whirl cabin being loaded.

I suppose a much larger Ryder truck would have needed to salvage
the rest of the ride.