Comet

One of the greatest preservation success stories of any roller coaster in history, the Comet originally ran in Crystal Beach Park in Canada before the park closed forever in 1989. After standing dormant for several years the structure was purchased by Great Escape Park in New York and reopened in 1994. The structure stands about 95 feet tall with a first drop of 89 feet making it the tallest coaster ever designed by famed PTC engineer Herbert Schmeck. Like many of his coaster designs, Comet follows a double out and back path with more than a dozen hills filled with strong moments of airtime. The unique steel structure has bents and ribbon beams both spaced 9 feet apart on the straight sections of the ride.

The original Crystal Beach Comet opened in 1948 and had used a large portion of its steel from a legendary roller coaster called the Cyclone that ran from 1927 to 1946. Built by renowned builder Harry Traver, the 96 foot tall Crystal Beach Cyclone had a series of extremely twisted drops and turns that had never been attempted before on a wood coaster including a figure 8 double helix with banking that reached an unprecedented 78 degrees.