The Tornado at Coney Island

[@edwinromandotcom]

It's amazing that you have the footage of the ride in action from the passenger's POV!

[@jukingeo]

I know right? Amazing someone took video footage of it. It was on the cusp of VCRs though before the coaster was destroyed by fire. However, seeing the layout, this must have been one helluva ride. Certainly looks on par with the Cyclone. Lots of twisting turns going over and under itself. Very impressive layout. The tight turns required the use of Prior and Church's snake trains (trailered cars), similar to what GCI uses on their wooden twister coasters.

[@edwinromandotcom]

@@jukingeo Exactly! Decades before the GoPro!

[@realSamAndrew]

@@jukingeo obviously this was with a film camera, not video. I'm guessing the film footage was well before the 1977 end date and closer to the beginning or the middle of its lifetime. Seems like around the 1940s or 1950s.

[@rutheliz75]

What an amazing ride ! So much action in such a compact space and even supported businesses underneath . It must be rebuilt ! Thanks for posting .

[@lisk3822]

Agree. Those old wood coasters were compact and multi-leveled and ran so fast.

[@theperfectgiftny]

Rode with my Dad when I was in 1974. If only I could go back in time. ❤

[@jayducharme]

I’m amazed that they were able to shoehorn so much coaster into so small a footprint.

[@fuhry]

I rode this coaster! In June of either '76 or '77, my older brothers, one of their friends, and I went to Coney Island instead of going to the last day of school. I remember that we rode the Cyclone, the Tornado, and the Thunderbolt, and I always remembered how, instead of going straight down like the cyclone, the tornado whipped around. I knew that the Tornado and Thurnderbolt were no longer there, but only recently realized that the Tornado was gone very shortly after I rode it.

[@nothumbbowler1802]

Wow, didn't know this existed, and I was born in Brooklyn in 76. Happy we can not go on all the modern rides, but wished we had more classic coasters. Been on Clycone lots of time. Also Santa Cruz Giant Dipper and Dragon Coaster, and think these rides have an experience that newer ones don't. Cyclone is the best.

[@kelliceswaggerty7662]

I got to ride this when I was 9. Brings back memories. Thanks for posting.

[@StamfordBridge]

Kellice Photography & Original Music Nine is very young, but do you have any memory of how it compared with The Cyclone?

[@victormalyar9200]

what year and did you like it more them the cyclone and(or) thunderbolt?

[@brandontylerproductions2202]

Kellice Swaggerty lucky

[@dlevine9999]

This was my favourite coaster in my childhood and teen years. Then life got busy and by the time I was settled enough to make time for coasters again it was gone. I have always wished that I had made time for one last ride.

[@guymandudely324]

The Tornado had that sweeping turn off the first climb, unlike the Cyclone that had that seat-lifting straight down fall. My favorite ride was next to the Tornado - the Bobsled. I must have ridden the Bobsled 50 times in my life, and it wasn't as expensive as either the Cyclone or the Tornado.

[@johnfoy2840]

For what it's worth, the Bobsled was my favorite ride as well.

[@mattman237]

That is a damn good POV for its age.

[@kaydub0623]

petition for GCI to remake this

[@Shinyarc]

Too bad Zamperla has a monopoly on rides at Coney Island. It could be an amazing park but only having 1 ride manufacturer is preventing it from reaching its former heights

[@JunkyardKid]

All in the Family was filmed before a live studio audience.

[@mattglumactheautisticgolfe1608]

I wish I could have been in one of those audiences. It was just the perfect song for the video.

[@japola5]

HaaHaa ! LOLOLOLOLOLthat's right !

[@Slickmickyoyo97]

@@mattglumactheautisticgolfe1608 Perfect 70's NYC music!

[@orangecat5036]

I expected archie and edith's picture.

[@klindquist44]

Meathead

[@djsugarc1075]

the laterals look amazing

[@msharp138]

Wow...Big ups to finding this...

[@nataliebulling9350]

I still miss the old thunderbolt!

[@nataliebulling3491]

Love it! Love the thunder bult! Miss them all! The forgotin rollercoaster was rockway pay land!!!

[@eyestoenvy]

The ATOM SMASHER

[@samattj]

Great footage brings back fond memories having worked there in the 70's

[@eyestoenvy]

This would make for a hugely successful remake addition at Coney Island

[@kennethestes4741]

I worked at the pirate ship ride in 1981 it was set up on the tornadoes original site along with a few smaller rides at the times I didn't know the history of our famous spot 😂 learned years later of the tornado

[@fncz]

The photo at 0:51 is one I took in 1974. It has been credited to a variety of people, but it is mine. Unless those same people walked those streets daily. I surely would have noticed another photographer next to me when I took it. In fact, it is slightly cropped from my original. We early enthusiasts used to trade packages of photos, info, etc. in the early -late 70's, before there were clubs and Internet.

[@fncz]

IN fact, I see Mike Boodley, my friend given credit for it. I probably sent it to him around 75-77. I never labeled the back of my photos.....few did.

[@MATTHEW3438]

Frank Czuri If we had known that prior I would have provided you credit for the photo. It's a wonderful photo by the way.

[@fncz]

Really no problem....just setting it straight where I can. Cartmell's pic of Racing Whippet in his book is also mine. Again, we traded packages and I didn't write my name on it. Happy to contribute.

[@GodsMan500]

That looks like it might be the legendary Tumbler in the background. I know the Tumbler moved from Rye Playland (I lived right next door to Playland) and then it was moved to Coney Island and ran for either one or two years, then they took it apart and let it rot. Only one was ever made, and it was indeed a legendary ride. It had lots of technical problems and therefore excessive down time. They could make a new new today without those problems, but it also has a very slow load and disembark time, so it's not financially viable. You may have inadvertently captured the Tumbler there. There are very few pictures of it in existence.

[@cynthiapickett7403]

Great footage!

[@StamfordBridge]

Whenever I hear of arsonist acts against a coaster, I assume it was an inside job from someone who was losing money on the coaster or who thought they could gain money by the coaster’s destruction. Whatever the case, it is so frustrating and infuriating to think someone took this step as a short-term solution thus denying all future generations the joy of this public asset.

[@warreneckstein453]

Animals who destroyed this should burn in hell!!!

[@michaelbrewder6498]

@@warreneckstein453 I wonder if it was the Homicides street gang

[@michaelbrewder6498]

They had arsoned the Steeplechase Gift Shop during the seventies and other properties around Coney Island during this time period

[@michaelbrewder6498]

There are people in Cleveland who would be driven to tears listening to this music and seeing video of Euclid Beach don't mix this music with that

[@kurtbrigandi]

​@@michaelbrewder6498 It wasn't. The owner of the ride at the time felt the land was worth more then the ride made at that point annually. It was never pegged to him, but the first fire was in the maintenance room and second, which destroyed the ride, started in the chain motor room. These were areas not accessible from the street at all, the Tornado was sealed up for the winter with no ways into the building it sat on.

[@rutheliz75]

So it is true . Necessity is the mother of invention . small lot brillant coaster !

[@mdteletom1288]

How many wooden coasters were there at Coney Island? So far I know of the Cyclone, the Thunderbolt and this one, with only the Cyclone surviving.

[@arizonadoowopper148]

In the early 50s there also was the LA Thompson that ran from Surf Ave northwards. It skirted what would have been the east side of Luna Park which went up in flames in the mid 40s. The LA Thompson was torn down about the time all of West 8th street's west side buildings were demolished, around 1954-55 or so. Steeplechase also had a roller coaster. There were others but they were before my time.

[@elsiegon7118]

They had a whole lot of them..since 1889-1940s, maybe 20.. you can look it up it shows them all by name and year..

[@elsiegon7118]

If you can see in the beginning of this video you can see the top hill of another coaster on your right, it’s not the cyclone, nor the thunderbolt, I think that one was called Drop the drips.. something like that, it got burned from the 1944 Luna Park fire. If you google the fire you can see images of it.

[@Mrbeahz1]

The Cyclone: Never. The Tornado: Several times.

[@AngelasJoys]

I rode that so many times as a teen, I lost count. It wasn't scary like the Cyclone.

[@edreid7872]

My first roller coaster ride.. I lost a pair of glasses...😁

[@laurelcook9078]

Wait, isn’t that the roller coaster background on photo booth on Mac?

[@tolatalyrealvillan139]

Now we know where gci got its inspiration

[@MATTHEW3438]

Yes. GCI was inspired by the coasters and trains built by Fred Church and Frank Prior.

[@tolatalyrealvillan139]

Historic Coaster Foundation That's kind of cool seeing a company honor old coasters and their manufacturers

[@lamellasjiminian5082]

yes those were the days never to return

[@victormalyar9200]

it gets worse.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

How appropriate a song: "Remembering You."

[@fncz]

I think one of my photos is in it

[@twistedcheese1]

Wow

[@eightintheblock]

14 drops !

[@nightisright1873]

What park was it apart of .

[@MATTHEW3438]

Independent Vendor #5.

[@nightisright1873]

Historic Coaster Foundation cool so that was the area right of steeple chase park

[@sweinstein99]

@@MATTHEW3438 i

[@joeyouknowthejoke1057]

Those look like millennium flyer trains

[@mattglumactheautisticgolfe1608]

Trains like these from Prior & Church inspired GCI to create the Millennium Flyer trains.

[@ArrowThrills]

Lol

[@moogooguypan2514]

Thunderbolt was a much better ride than the cyclone

[@matthewbrownridge4370]

Shame it's gone

[@ArrowThrills]

Why was it removed??????

[@MATTHEW3438]

Because it was damaged by 3 arson attacks and the owners felt that it would be arsoned again if they repaired it. They felt it was possibly a local competitor who arsoned the ride.

[@ArrowThrills]

@@MATTHEW3438 why burn a rollercoaster that's my question

[@MATTHEW3438]

@@ArrowThrills To ease competition with nearby vendors. Coney Island had tons of independent ride vendors back then.

[@ArrowThrills]

@@MATTHEW3438 I don't get what your talking about ride vendors

[@eyestoenvy]

F-cking people, ruin shit for others in the name of greed .......

[@JoshB333]

Wwoooowww

[@dashiellwhite2903]

And now it’s the cyclone

[@MATTHEW3438]

It's not actually. The Cyclone is a completely different ride. It was built a year after the Tornado.

[@reggierodriguez6546]

The Tornado and thunderbolt were both destroyed by arson

[@MATTHEW3438]

The Thunderbolt was not destroyed by arson. It was demolished by the mayor of New York City.

[@reggierodriguez6546]

@@MATTHEW3438 I remember seeing it burnt in the 80’s and 90’s. I don’t understand help me understand

[@MATTHEW3438]

@@reggierodriguez6546 if you're referring to the turnaround over the house, that was just paint.

[@reggierodriguez6546]

@@MATTHEW3438 I thought that the thunderbolt rollercoaster was demolished by Michael Bloomberg back in 2000 because it was burnt and abandoned since 1984???

[@reggierodriguez6546]

@@MATTHEW3438 Ok so you’re conveying that Thunderbolt rollercoaster was never destroyed by fire. It just became dilapidated after decades of neglect. But I remember when I was a kid I would see the thunderbolt rollercoaster in a dilapidated condition in the 1980’s. There’s no way that a rollercoaster would decay almost overnight. I need someone to explain the dilapidated conditions. If it wasn’t destroyed by fire then why did the rollercoaster became defunct in 1984??

[@ThJstrcoWn]

Now a days its called the cyclone

[@MATTHEW3438]

Arctic foxes in snow Wrong. The Cyclone is a completely different ride than this. The Tornado was torn down in 1978 and it opened a year before the Cyclone.

[@ThJstrcoWn]

Oh! My mistake!

[@ThJstrcoWn]

It just looks alike with the letters on the side of it like the cyclone

[@victormalyar9200]

you fool! the cyclone's a different rollercoaster.

[@ArrowThrills]

Why was It removed