Arrow’s 700-Foot-Tall Fish-Hook Roller Coaster
I was recently contacted by a television production company doing research on roller coasters. They wanted to know if there were any strata coasters currently being built. Strata coasters are over 400′ tall and currently there are only two in the World in that lofty category. Kingda Ka & Top Thrill Dragster.
I told the producer that there was nothing (that I knew of) that was being built or even in development that would set a new height record. His inquiry reminded me of a proposed 700-foot tall roller coaster designed by Arrow Dynamics in 2001.
Six-seat cars would hoist riders up the southern face of the 1,149-foot tower, Stratosphere spokesman Mike Gilmartin said. At 740 feet, the cars would drop off a ledge, plunge down the east side of the tower and across the street, where they would rise to a height of 415 feet.
The roller coaster was heavily opposed by locals and was eventually scrapped. Soon after, Arrow went bankrupt. One has to wonder if the proposed fish hook coaster was built, would Intamin & Cedar Point have still teamed up for Top Thrill Dragster. They may have still been able to claim a speed record, but height would have been far out of reach, unless they touted the “Tallest Complete Circuit Roller Coaster” title.
X at Magic Mountain was Arrow’s final gasp as the company went bankrupt working on the prototype 4th dimension roller coaster. Later S&S moved in and purchased the company. I’d love to see S&S take up where Arrow left off and find a way to reliably and safely execute the fish hook coaster concept. Imagine a record-breaking drop that had a roller coaster train plummeting down the side of a skyscraper or the wall of the Grand Canyon.
What’s Your Take?
What do you think of Arrow’s proposed fish hook roller coaster? Image courtesy of Las Vegas Sun.
Coaster Critic 
29 responses to “Arrow’s 700-Foot-Tall Fish-Hook Roller Coaster”
It`d be cool if they actualy made it, but if they scrapped it before they`ll probably scrap it again. i wish they would though.
this is a cool idea, but how long would they stay? and weather conditions? good idea but it would be closed more than open. and being an Arrow, it would probabbly be rough the whole time
how would it get to the top, and after that how would it stop from flying off?
It would probally have a cable to pull it up and it would be connected to the track.
P.S. ALL roller coasters are connected to the track.
if they were connected they wouldn`t be able to move, they`re held on by wheels.
No, they are connected to the track. Most roller coasters these days have one wheel on top, one wheel on the side, and one wheel one the bottem. Most of the time there are to sets of these on each car. Look at this link: http://www.rcdb.com/628.htm?p=24250
If you look carefully you can see the wheels connected to the track the way I discribed. Also, if TTD or kingda ka arn't connected to the track how come they don't fly off the track every time they go down?
there are 3 sets of wheels:
1. side friction wheels- keep train on track
2. speed wheels- ones normally seen
3: some others- idk wat they are called
From Busch Coaster Tour Part 1:
"The three types of wheels that standard roller coasters have are the: upstop (the wheel below the track, not present in the picture), the running wheels (on top of the track), and the side friction wheels (inside the track)."
I see the need to keep expanding the Coasterology 101 section this off-season.
I knew that. that`s not being connected, that`s being held on, and JaMeS, the third type of wheel that you couldn`t name is called the upstop wheel. if it WAS connencted, it wouldn`t be able to move, seeing as it would be fused to the track.
how fast would this be?
This old Associated Press article mentions it would have gone 120 mph. There's also another article below it giving you some insight into how the locals opposed the ride.
Only 120 m.p.h.? Remenber, TTD has the exact same speed, and is around 300 feet shorter. Sure, it's a launched coaster, but it still barely makes it over the top. How can a 700+ foot coaster go that? Does terminal velocity play a role here?
They could line the drop with trim brakes, so it will accelerate up to a certain seed then be kept at that speed by systematically using trim brakes
Maybe the train is lifted on an elevator cable like the deamon drop or the pilgrims plunge?
CFC, if my guess was right about the elevator cable, they could of put brakes down the track heading tords the fish hook, just enough not to fly off. that means it would be slowed while going down the drop, not getting past say, 120mph.
but there`s still one thing i`m wondering about. if my theory is right, how would the riders get off? i didn`t see any station.
they would figure that one… maybe jump off the ride, do 3 back flips, then land perfect and get a score from a judge? that would be fun!
I know this is late, but I recall a show on one of Discovery's stations (Travel Channel?) with Michael Boodley loosely proposing a ride starting at the top of a San Franciscan skyscraper and cresting the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge…yes, a steelie.
Most assuredly a "What!?!" moment.
I saw the show that you're referring to. Yes, a Golden Gate Bridge coaster would be completely insane! It was probably a concept that emerged from the fish hook coaster as it could have theoretically used any standing structure as its base. Like the Grand Canyon, existing skyscrapers, etc.
if you guys are talking about "XTREME Roller Coasters: buckle up, enjoy the ride", then i knowwhat your talking about. i think i`ve also een the same show. Sunday every morning, right?
I read this articale when it came out but, I didn't bother to comment on anything at the time. But anywho, Arrow doesn't have the balls to do anything near that. They used to have all their inversions at the same dimentions, only higher/lower above the ground. Arrow is too cowardly. The Stratosphere got rid of the Let it Ride High Roller, why would they want another coaster to break down. They're spending enough on the employees checks, so I don't want to see the rest of their bills.
darn! high roller looked prettey darn cool.
Seriously, even if they build that monster, there will not be a lot of people riding this.
built the ride!!
next year and opened 2013
I can't find any news on the subject. If this is true, please leave a link to whatever site you learned this from.
I would deffinently ride this!!! It is a brilliant idea, they need something to replace the KK because they copied TTD, so they need to blow it over the top!!
This would come close to 200 MPH might even reach 200 MPH, Cause its really TTD Doubled the height
@RC Lover, Kingda Ka didn’t copy TTD… they were both made by the same company. That company just wanted to see if they could top themselves and make it a little better (adding the second hump featured in Kingda Ka) and they did.
thats a shame it looks very cool
That is cool but to ride that in real life would be scary as heck
Obviously you are pretty misinformed; actually, Prof. BAM. Arrow was ANYTHING but cowardly.
-They were responsible for the inversions coming in other shapes than a standard loop (corkscrew, sidewinder, batwing, bow tie, etc.).
-Designed AND built the WORLDS FIRST log flume.
-Worlds first interlocking loops.
-Designed/built suspended coasters(first to ever do so).
-Built the first coaster EVER to be 200+ feet tall, and remained the only ones to do so for quite some time.
-They designed/built the first multi-dimension coaster (X at six flags magic mountain), which is probably the most ballsy move by any company, EVER.
-and last but not least, THEY WERE THE FIRST TO USE TUBULAR FOR STEEL COASTER TRACK! thought of it, and did it. all your favorite “ballsy” companies nowadays, owe ARROW. since they basically created the steel coaster.
Give them a little credit, you know, since they like, changed the game, and/or designed it…?
p.s why do you say it would “break down” all the time? There are 40+year old arrow coasters STILL going strong.