the american harry g. traver designed some of the scariest
and questionably safe roller coasters in history.
he has been accused by some of using riders as guinea pigs
and labeled a genius by others, but what is agreed upon was
that his coasters were terrifying.

after starting the traver engineering company in 1919, traver
set himself to work designing several amusement park rides.
his first was inspired by seagulls he'd seen circling a boat
mast. the circle swing, a mast with several arms from which
cars hung and swung, quickly became popular. other rides
were to follow including the 'tumble bug' - which can still
be found in american amusements parks - but it was for his
roller coasters that traver became renowned.

his first two coasters 'the cyclone' and 'jazz railway' were
built for the philadelphia sesquicentennial exposition in 1926
but were nothing compared what would follow in 1927.
nicknamed 'the terrible triplets' the 'cyclone' and 'lightning'
at revere beach and the 'cyclone' at crystal beach became
traver's three most revered and notorious coasters.

the 'cyclone' at revere beach was the world's largest and
fastest coaster at the time. it reached speeds of up to 45 mph,
(75 km/ h) the top speed of the average car,
and its first vertical drop was 100 feet (35 meter).
it was accompanied on the beach by the
'lightning' coaster an all steel construction whose only straight
and level track was at the station. it had steep grades and
banked curves making it the most unique coaster in the world.
the 'cyclone’ wasn't dismantled until 1969 but the 'lightning'
didn't last nearly as long being dismantled in 1933 because of
high maintenance costs.

the 'cyclone' at crystal beach was the most famous of the triplets.
an estimated 75,000 people went to see it on its opening day
with many of those who rode it losing consciousness.
its first drop is renowned as the best ever.
it was so steep it appeared that the riders would end up in
lake eire. though the entire ride lasted only 40 seconds the
'cyclone' at crystal beach is still considered by many coaster
enthusiasts to be the most thrilling coaster ever built.
it was dismantled in 1946.

despite being a coaster visionary, traver didn't have the
greatest safety record. his coasters were sarcastically
referred to as ‘rib-ticklers’ because of the bone rattling ride
they provided. two people died. a woman either jumped or
fell out of the 'lightning' on its second day open.
a man who stood up to take his coat off also died on the
crystal beach 'cyclone' in 1938.
the deaths and tales of fainting riders only made the coasters
more popular.

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harry g. traver
was born in 1877 in the united states of america.
he was educated in nebraska and new york and became a
mechanical engineer. though the 'terrible triplets' were
incredibly popular and profitable, they didn't provide him with
enough money to avoid the great depression.
his company didn’t survive and he became an anthopologist.
none of the coasters he designed remain today though pieces
of the crystal beach cyclone were used to create a later
crystal beach coaster the 'comet'.
after being described as a saint, charlatan, visionary, schemer,
showman and as a man who lost many fortunes he died in 1961.

for more information on harry traver’s coasters see:
http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com
http://www.coasterglobe.com
http://www.reverebeach.com
(images are copyright of these publications)