Figure Eight Toboggan

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Figure Eight Toboggan
Other Name(s) Figure Eight Toboggan
Figure 8
Type Roller Coaster
Track Rides
Park Section North
Built 1902
Opened 1902
Closed 1928
Manufacturer Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC)
Designer Henry B. Auchy
Materials Wood
Vehicle Type Car

The Figure Eight Toboggan was the first track-based roller coaster built at Olentangy Park and the first mechanical ride built after the Dusenbury Brothers bought the park in 1899.[1] It cost $15,000 ($561,680 in 2024) to build.[2] Opening in July 1902,[3] "roller coaster" was a new term for rides where riders coasted on rollers inside their toboggan "cars."[4][5] The ride was in the shape of a figure-eight and was located on the north plateau south of the location of Fair Japan, the original Miniature Railway, and Swimming Pool.[6][7] The ride started to suffer from "nonsupport" by 1916,[8] appears damaged sometime after the Band Shell was built in 1919,[9][10] and was operational until it was partially removed 1928 to make way for the Tumble Bug.[11][12][13] Despite its unusable state, the structure remained standing and is visible in a photo about the park's closure in 1937.[14]

Description

The ride had a wooden frame and was described as a "figure-eight" design[15] and, at times, a "three-way figure eight toboggan slide."[7] This described how the riders go around the loops three times. The cars would travel freely on a multi-level track, and wooden side rails were included to keep them on track.[16]

The Roller Coaster Database says it was designed by Henry B. Auchy and manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC).[17] The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Columbus made the Spur Haul Up Chain used to power the ride.[18]

Injuries

A person fainted on the ride in August 1902, landing the term "roller coaster" in quotation marks in its reporting in the Columbus Evening Dispatch.[4]

On September 21, 1902, Albert Jenkins received several broken ribs and a broken leg on the ride. He was released from the hospital on October 30.[19]

In May 1906, Thomas Callis, a pipe organist and insurance salesman, was spooked by the flashing lights and accidentally stepped off a nearby platform and injured his right ankle bad enough that amputation was considered. He was sent to Grant Hospital for treatment.[20]

References

  1. "Olentangy Then and Now." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, May 3, 1914. Page 46.
  2. Advertisement, Sunday Columbus Dispatch, July 27, 1902. Page 17.
  3. "Olentangy Park—Tassin's New Comedy." Friday Columbus Dispatch, August 1, 1902. Page 7.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Brevities." Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 18, 1902. Page 8.
  5. Clay Record, 1903. Clay Record Publishing Company. Accessed through Google Books https://www.google.com/books/edition/Clay_Record/c6pPAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
  6. "Geisha Girls are to be Attraction." Columbus Evening Dispatch, January 2, 1905. Page 5.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Columbus Railway & Light Co." Street Railway Review., 26 (2): 70.
  8. "Park in Full Operation." The Columbus Evening Dispatch, May 1, 1916. Page 16.
  9. "Olentangy Park swimming pool." Ohio History Connection Selections, Photograph from the William Roy Lawrence Collection. Added to database on August 3, 2011. Last modified on May 2, 2012. Accessed through OhioMemory.org https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p267401coll32/id/11697
  10. "Swimming Pool at Olentangy Park, photograph." Columbus Metropolitan Library, Photograph from the Columbus Metropolitan Library Collection. Accessed through the Columbus Metropolitan Library's Digital Collections https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/memory/id/12923
  11. "Figure Eight Gives Way to a 'Bug'." The Columbus Dispatch, April 5, 1929. Page 5.
  12. "Bathrooms and Rink." The Columbus Dispatch, April 14, 1929. Page 85.
  13. Barret, Richard E. 1984. "Olentangy Park: Four Decades of Fun." Columbus and Central Ohio Historian No. 1, April 1984. Page 11.
  14. "$2,000,000 Housing Project to Replace Olentangy Park." Columbus Evening Dispatch, April 1, 1938. Page 1.
  15. Postcard, "Olentangy Parks' Figure Eight roller coaster, postcard." Columbus Metropolitan Library, Image from the Columbus Metropolitan Library Collection. Last modified on January 6, 2021. Accessed through the Columbus Metropolitan Library's Digital Collections https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/11430/
  16. "Olentangy Park." Sunday Columbus Dispatch, May 10, 1903. Page 6.
  17. "Forest Toboggan." Roller Coaster Database, Last modified in 2016. Accessed on July 22, 2021. https://rcdb.com/3156.htm
  18. "Jeffrey Chain Used in Amusement Park Ride." Ohio History Connection Selections, Photograph from the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company Collection. Added to the database on September 14, 1910. Last modified July 29, 2011. Accessed through OhioMemory.com https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p267401coll32/id/9127/rec/381
  19. "Jenkins Leaves Hospital." Thursday Columbus Dispatch, October 30, 1902. Page 6.
  20. "Peculiar Accident." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, May 20, 1906. Page 6.