The Clipper is a recreation coaster and it was located at Coney Island, Cincinnati, Ohio on Kellogg Avenue, next to River Downs race track. Coney Island is still open but without the big roller coasters because they were torn down when they moved all the rides to the new park called Kings Island. Yes, Coney Island was the reason that Kings Island exists today. The Merry-Go-Round at Kings Island was located near the Shooting Star at Coney Island. It's a PTC model with a real Whirlitzer Band Organ. Back to the Clipper. The Clipper was not very popular and it also competed with the Wild Cat coaster at the other end of the park. When the Clipper was first built it was smooth but soon developed into a bone jarring nightmare. So around 1940, Coney management decided to tear it down and build the Shooting Star. They called in Herbert Schmeck to do the job. Herbert Schmeck was in charge of the demolition of the Clipper and saved the Clipper's lift hill and the final enclosed tunnel of the Clipper to be part of the Shooting Star. Herbert Schmeck wanted the Shooting Star to be a smooth roller coaster, unlike the bone jarring Clipper so when he designed the track on the Shooting Star, he had it built with 9 layers of 2 inch thick boards. That's a track that's 18 inches thick. You can imagine how strong the track was. When the train rolled over it, it didn't budge a millimeter. Of course with a track that strong the Shooting Star was as smooth as GLASS! I rode the Shooting Star many times and I can say that no coaster today can compare in smoothness to the Shooting Star. The Shooting Star soon became the most popular ride at Coney and finally the Wild Cat was the roller coaster that was demolished in 1964 to make way for the Sky Ride.
Personally I don't like the Clipper either, but I thought I would upload it so you could see a little history of Coney Island, Cincinnati, Ohio, not to be confused in any way with Coney Island in New York. The 2 parks were never associated in a business way.
Can not believe that this coaster is being rated so low. I have seen original film and negatives of the ride in action and when sized up to the angle and image on the screen, they line up perfectly. This is how the coaster was, every spec of the ride is correct, and this is a textbook example of a perfect recreation.
Technical- Didn't like the sharpness of the lift hill and the trains had to stop while on the lift waiting for the other train to get out of it's blocking. Other than that a pretty good built design. Really loved the custom station you created.
Adrenaline- I can see why this coaster wasn't a favorite lol. While im sure it will give good fun rides it wasn't for a airtime junky. But I would still ride it because it seemed fun.
Originality- I have never seen the original version but the way you interpeted it seems to be a good rendition of coasters from back then.
Overall I liked the coaster but it wasn't something to make a commercial about lol! Good job!
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