Coney Island Extras

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Coney Island Extras

These are Coney Island locations outside the three great amusement parks. Some of these attractions live on today, but most of the grand hotels, restaurants, bathhouses and piers are lost forever.

THE CYCLONE

"The climbing chain grates, grips the cogs. Jerkily the car climbs the incline out of the whirring lights, out of the smell of crowds and steamed corn and peanuts, up jerkily grating up through the tall night of September meteors." John Dos Passos.

"Hi, I'm the Cyclone, think you can take me? Oh yeah? Come over here and say that!"

THE THUNDERBOLT

I was fortunate enough to view the surreal, vine covered ruins of the Thunderbolt in July, 1999.

Update: Sadly, the Thunderbolt Rollercoaster was demolished November 20, 2000. The coaster stood at Coney Island for 72 years.

February 8, 1995 "For Joan Boadway - Welcome to the mysterious thrill this all but vanished place still has the power to exert. I got to Coney early enough to get a ride on the Steeplechase horses, and to go on the Drop the Dips, which ended its life as the Tornado Coaster, and was genuinely terrifying - not so much for the ride, as for the fact that in its later years it seemed to hover perpetually on the very edge of total disintegration. All gone now, but the Cyclone still runs and the Wonder Wheel, so follow the ghostly millions and - Come To Coney!" - Richard Snow. - dedication from my edition of Coney Island: a postcard journey to the City of Fire by Richard Snow, Brightwaters Press.

There are some great websites dedicated to the history of Coney Island and also it's future. Please visit them!

Rare nighttime film of Luna Park at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/coney/sfeature/videos.html

Coney Island History at http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/coneyisland

More on Luna Park at http://www.amusementhistory.com/luna.htm

Coney Island U.S.A. http://www.coneyislandusa.com

Read these books!

Sodom by the Sea: an affectionate history of Coney Island by Oliver Pilat and Jo Ranson.

Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century by John F. Kasson

and see the documentary:

The American Experience: Coney Island, directed by Ric Burns, written by Richard Snow

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	Vanished History \| home An introduction \| Coney Island History \| Luna Park \| Steeplechase Park \| Dreamland Park \| Coney Island Extras \| Wentworth By The Sea \| Saltair \| Sutro Baths & Cliff House \| Contact Me - History Polls \| Gif Coney Island Extras These are Coney Island locations outside the three great amusement parks. Some of these attractions live on today, but most of the grand hotels, restaurants, bathhouses and piers are lost forever. THE CYCLONE "The climbing chain grates, grips the cogs. Jerkily the car climbs the incline out of the whirring lights, out of the smell of crowds and steamed corn and peanuts, up jerkily grating up through the tall night of September meteors." John Dos Passos. "Hi, I'm the Cyclone, think you can take me? Oh yeah? Come over here and say that!" THE THUNDERBOLT I was fortunate enough to view the surreal, vine covered ruins of the Thunderbolt in July, 1999. Update: Sadly, the Thunderbolt Rollercoaster was demolished November 20, 2000. The coaster stood at Coney Island for 72 years. February 8, 1995 "For Joan Boadway - Welcome to the mysterious thrill this all but vanished place still has the power to exert. I got to Coney early enough to get a ride on the Steeplechase horses, and to go on the Drop the Dips, which ended its life as the Tornado Coaster, and was genuinely terrifying - not so much for the ride, as for the fact that in its later years it seemed to hover perpetually on the very edge of total disintegration. All gone now, but the Cyclone still runs and the Wonder Wheel, so follow the ghostly millions and - Come To Coney!" - Richard Snow. - dedication from my edition of Coney Island: a postcard journey to the City of Fire by Richard Snow, Brightwaters Press. There are some great websites dedicated to the history of Coney Island and also it's future. Please visit them! Rare nighttime film of Luna Park at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/coney/sfeature/videos.html Coney Island History at http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/coneyisland More on Luna Park at http://www.amusementhistory.com/luna.htm Coney Island U.S.A. http://www.coneyislandusa.com Read these books! Sodom by the Sea: an affectionate history of Coney Island by Oliver Pilat and Jo Ranson. Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century by John F. Kasson and see the documentary: The American Experience: Coney Island, directed by Ric Burns, written by Richard Snow =======