What is: Steel Curtain
Steel Curtain is a steel roller coaster located at Kennywood in Pennsylvania USA.
The ride opened to the public featuring the most inversions on any roller coaster in North
America, nine in total.
If you’re familiar with where Kennywood is located, near the town of Pittsburgh, you
might recognise the attraction’s name, theme and aesthetic.
All were the result of a collaboration with NFL football team, The Pittsburgh Steelers.
In fact, the design of Steel Curtain has been directly influenced by both the history of
roller coasters and the history of the surrounding area.
Pittsburgh itself is a significant city in regards to Pennsylvanian history.
Thanks to its many rivers, the city became a port in the early 1800s, shipping products
to the states in the west.
A whole range of factories opened up along the rivers, including one of the regions most
famous steel tycoons.
By the late 1800s, Pittsburgh had become the leader in steel production, with its 14 steel
factories producing close to 75% of the nation's total output.
As a result, Pittsburg was given the nickname “The Steel City”.
Skip forward several decades, to the 1930s, and Art Rooney was beginning to establish
an american NFL football team in the very same city.
In 1933 he submitted an application to the NFL to create a franchise, and later that
year, his new football team debuted.
Originally, Rooney’s team was named the “Pittsburgh Pirates”, leeching of the
popularity of the similarity named baseball team.
However, in 1939 Rooney wanted a fresh start and a brand new name.
A contest was held in the ‘Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’, which led to the name “Steelers” being
chosen - a reference to the city's steel industry.
Many years later, in the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in a bit of a winning streak.
The team’s defensive squad were credited as being the force that led them to win multiple
super bowls, causing them to be nicknamed “The Steel Curtain” in the process.
The Steel Curtain was a force to be reckoned with, and would go on to leave a lasting legacy
for the Steelers.
Only a few miles away, and at the same point in time, Kennywood amusement park was building
a new ride.
Log Jammer, an Arrow Dynamics Log Flume, opened to guests in 1975 featuring a unique spillway drop.
While on the other side of the United States, Arrow Dynamics were also constructing the
world’s first modern day looper roller coaster.
In the same year, the company debuted Corkscrew at Knott’s Berry Farm, the world’s first
modern day roller coaster to feature two inversions.
Naturally, this sparked other parks to build similar, bigger rides.
A year later, Arrow built Corkscrew at Cedar Point, a ride with three inversions.
From here on out, Arrow Dynamics would become responsible for constructing rides with an
ever increasing number of loops, for a whole range of theme parks.
The late 1980s saw the amusements manufacturer debut what they called the ‘Mega Looper’,
feature 6 inversions.
In 1991, Kennywood themselves would join this trend, constructing a mega looper of their own.
Steel Phantom opened to guests as the world’s fastest roller coaster, featuring the world’s
longest roller coaster drop at the time.
On top of this, it also boasted four inversions as well as major terrain utilisation.
Sadly though, Arrow Dynamics weren’t always known for building smooth rides.
By the late 1990s, Steel Phantom had become unbearably rough and uncomfortable, causing
ridership to decrease rapidly.
As a result of this, Kennywood originally planned to close the ride at the end of the 2000 season.
However, instead, the park commissioned Morgan to redesign parts of the roller coaster, removing
the inversions and making the experience more enjoyable.
As a result, Phantom’s Revenge opened to great reviews in 2001.
Fast forward to 2017 and the park’s log flume, Log Jammer, was removed due it’s
old age and to make room for a future new expansion.
At this point in time, Kennywood had been producing an assortment of concepts for a
new major roller coaster.
The park earmarked Log Jammer’s old site as the plot of land for this upcoming ride.
Several roller coaster manufacturers designed attractions for the area, but it was ultimately
S&S Sansei Technologies that would go on to catch the eye’s of park directors.
To remain within the tight space and still provide a thrilling experience, S&S designed
a ride which took advantage of height.
It used a steep 50 degree lift hill to climb high quickly, while multiple parts of the
attraction’s layout utilised the same support structure, further saving space.
On top of this, from the start of the project, Palace Entertainment, the parent company of
Kennywood, were interested in breaking the inversion record in North America.
However, they also wanted a ride that could be enjoyed by the masses, something comfortable
and re-rideable.
To create this, the designer of the roller coaster, Joe Draves of Ride Centerline, took
inspiration from a range of other attractions.
One of the most notable elements of Steel Curtain is its inverting drop, said to be
inspired by Drachen Fire, a previous Arrow Dynamics looping coaster located at Busch
Gardens Williamsburg.
Drachen Fire featured its first inversion, a corkscrew, built straight into the design
of the first drop - like Steel Curtain.
Draves also looked to other rides at Kennywood to inspire the choice of elements for the new coaster.
He noted that Sky Rocket, the park’s launch coaster, features a thrilling Zero-G roll.
As a result, his design didn’t include one.
Furthermore, to ensure the ride wasn’t too intense, Draves also incorporated calmer sections
into the layout, giving guests a chance to breathe between the multitude of inversions.
Impressed with the ride, Kennywood signed the contract with S&S in 2017.
Though Steel Curtain’s layout had been designed, its theme was still in question.
The idea of the Pittsburgh Steelers entered the discussion during meetings about the new attraction.
Being located near Pittsburgh, locals that visit Kennywood would have a connection with
the team, and the park thought it could be a unique collaboration.
They got in contact with the Steelers and secured a deal with the team, making it the
first major collaboration between an amusement park and sports team in the world.
As a result of this, Steel Curtain and its surrounding area pay homage to the Steelers
and the game of football as a whole.
Firstly, the rides’ name, Steel Curtain, is a reference to the team's iconic defense
back in the 1970s.
While the ride’s two trains each feature a different number on the front car, 19 and
33, a reference to 1933, the year in which the Steelers were originally founded.
On a more broad scale, the roller coasters’ colour scheme matches that of the team; while
the headrests on each ride vehicle resembles footballs.
Though, initially these details weren’t revealed to the public.
Instead, Kennywood began to tease their new ride in June of 2018, starting with a codename
“Project 412”.
Over the next few weeks, the park slowly began revealing numbers relating to their new attraction.
Things like 220, the height of the ride in feet, or 9, the amount of inversions featured
during the layout.
Finally, on the 19th July 2018 Steel Curtain was revealed to the public.
Kennywood announced their partnership with the Steelers, the new for 2019 roller coaster,
and the brand new 3 acre football themed area of the park: Steelers Country.
In addition to Steel Curtain, the park planned to open the ‘End Zone Cafe’ and ‘The
Steelers Experience’ - a one of a kind indoor, multi-level training facility with Steeler
themed activities.
In the time immediately after the reveal, construction was running smoothly.
However, 2018 turned out to be one of the wettest years the area had seen in years,
preventing aspects of the construction, slowing down progress.
During the build phase, the team also discovered problems with the wind 200ft up in the air.
This once again slowed down construction, delaying the ride further.
Though, on the 13th July 2019, a year after it was formally announced, Steel Curtain opened to guests.
But what does a ride on this record breaking roller coaster actually look like?
Once guests have navigated through Steelers Country, towards the attraction’s station,
the experience begins.
Riders are greeted by the voices of Bill Hillgrove, the former Steelers play by play broadcaster,
and color commentator Tunch Ilkin, as they spiel the rides safety and boarding instructions.
Riders are told to place their “Terrible Towels”, loose articles, in the bins before
players, the riders, take their position, seat, on the field, train, and are checked
by safety officials, ride attendants.
Visitors then board one of two ride vehicles, both of which feature 6 cars, seating guests
in two rows of two.
This leads to a total of 24 riders per train.
Once they’re ready, the ride begins.
Guests slowly begin to climb the 50 degree lift hill.
The trains rise 67m 220ft into the sky, making steel Curtain the tallest roller coaster in
the state of Pennsylvania.
Before they have time to look across the park, guests are already traversing the ride’s first inversion.
The train dips towards the ground and whips through the fake-out inverting drop, raised
60m 197ft above the park below.
In fact, this element of Steel Curtain currently holds the record of the highest inversion
in the world!
Though, it isn’t long before guests plummet face first towards the ground, reaching their
top speed of 122kmh, 76mph.
The trains then bank to the left and begin to enter a banana roll over the ride’s lift
hill - inversions number 2 and 3.
Guests fall towards the floor, speed over an airtime hill, and complete a sea serpent
roll - inversions 4 and 5.
The trains then navigate a second airtime hill, followed by inversion 6, a dive loop
down towards the lake below.
A straight piece of track later and riders enter a top gun stall - inversion number 7.
The trains then traverse a step up into inversion 8, a corkscrew, before completing a downward
banked turn to the right.
The ride comes to an end with inversion 9, a cutback, followed by a quick upward left
hand turn into the final brake run.
During the 53 second experience, measured from the top of the lift hill to the final
brake run, guests navigate 1219m 4000ft of track.
Fortunately for Kennywood, it seems that their first new roller coaster in 9 years has been a success.
In fact, the ride went on to win the Golden Ticket Award for the Best New Roller Coaster of 2019.
This was good news for the park’s parent company, Parque Reunidos, as Steel Curtain
and the Steelers Country as a whole was their biggest investment to date.
Though sadly, delayed construction, and recent events, meant that the Steelers Experience
is still yet to open to the public.
Nevertheless, Steel Curtain itself is an impressive ride.
Upon debut, it became one of the biggest roller coasters ever built by S&S Sansei Technologies,
and marked the return of large scale inversion based roller coasters to North America.
Would you like to see more rides like Steel Curtain be built in the future?
Let us know in the comments down below.
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