Welcome to My Hometown Coasters Page

I grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. During the early part of my life, there were 7 wooden roller coasters in that metropolitan area. These were located at 5 amusement parks: Nay Aug Park (Scranton), Angela Park (Hazleton), Hanson's Amusement Park (Harvey's Lake), Rocky Glen Park (Moosic), and Sans Souci Park (Wilkes-Barre). There had also been an active history of other area amusement parks and numerous roller coasters that were already defunct by the time I was born. To live in an area with 7 coasters means that these rides were very accessible. I believe I was destined to love roller coasters, but having that many available certainly helped. It was only natural that trips to amusement parks were common. Whether it was for a family outing on "bargain" night, church picnics, other group events, whatever - everyone went to the amusement parks then. That gradually changed, and ultimately all 5 of those parks closed. Northeastern Pennsylvania, with its history of perhaps 10 amusement parks, now has none.

Certainly, the type of coasters one grows up riding influences opinions. I grew up with wooden coasters. The area's largest (only part of which was still standing during my earliest recalled visit to Rocky Glen) was the Million Dollar Coaster. The wildest ride, though, was the Sans Souci Bear Cat. Of the 7 coasters I grew up riding, I have photos of only 5. Following are selected pictures of these 5, along with brief descriptions, and descriptions of the 2 for which I have no photographs.

Let's start with Nay Aug. The Comet Coaster (Comet, Jr.) is identical to various coasters built around the United States. The only surviving model is the Little Dipper at Camden Park in West Virginia. Do note the first-rate sign department!

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Next we come to Angela Park. The roller coaster there (later called the Valley Volcano) was essentially a mirror-image of the Junior woodies now found at various Paramount Parks. There were a number of these rides built in the 1950's. The original models had a short, somewhat flat section after the last turn and just before the final rabbit hop into the brake run.

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Now we can take a look at Hanson's coaster. I have learned that this coaster was named the Speed Hound. The park was a small lakeside picnic park. It was later named Don Hanson's Amusement Park. The coaster was an out-and-back, with the station and brake run nearly parallel to the rest of the ride. From the air, it would appear as a reversed candy cane. This ride was built so that it wasted the land. The station was on the lowest land level, with the top of the lift hill above that level. At the top (which featured a wonderful view of scenic Harvey's Lake), it turned about 160 degrees, and the first drop fell to a higher land level, so the drop was somewhat shorter than the lift. This also meant that a very bizarre downhill brake run was necessary with a rather primitive squeeze brake system to slow the train. In its later years, this coaster was very difficult to ride. Attendance at all these parks was fairly poor towards their closings, and they wanted a certain number of riders in order to operate a ride. At times, they did not have the needed number of riders present in the park! The pictures on this page showing trains in operation show the bleak future then facing these parks. Hanson's also had a small kiddie wooden coaster. I did ride that. In later years, only the station survived. This unique coaster was an out-and-back, and had a third rail for power! It had no lift hill. Even as a young child (I was around 3 years old), I recall realizing that it dropped out of the station, featured no lift, and was able to ascend to
the station (a minimal height, to be sure). I did not understand how it worked, but I recognized that it was unusual. It was only later that I was told that it was a third-rail coaster. And I've now learned from a
much better informed Hanson's fan than I am that the kiddie coaster was called the Moonlight Express.

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The next park is Rocky Glen (for a while, this park was named Ghost Town in the Glen. While that was a colorful description, I am convinced that the company that operated it and other parks contributed to its demise). Rocky Glen had various coasters in its history. Surely the most famous was the Million Dollar Coaster. The two I rode, though, were the Jet Coaster (later called the Mighty Lightning) and the Comet Jr., which was identical (except for Rocky Glen's rather wild rainbow color scheme) to the coaster at Nay Aug which was only about five miles away. The Mighty Lightning replaced the Million Dollar Coaster in the mid 1950's, and was a somewhat larger version of a junior woodie, or a smaller version of the Phoenix now at Knoebles. A copy of this coaster can now be found at Stricker's Groves in Ohio.

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Finally, there was the Sans Souci Park Bear Cat. While this coaster would probably not be a top-ten ride for most enthusiasts, it was a fine ride. Typical of late 1920's PTC coasters, it was rough and wild, providing an out-of-control ride. The ride experience was much like Elitch's Mr. Twister, Idora's Wildcat, The Six Flags Texas Giant, or the Paramount's Kings Dominion Grizzly. Note that the original designs for the Grizzly, Idora Wildcat, and Bear Cat all came from Herbert Schmeck within about a two-year span. The Bear Cat was basically an out-and-back, but didn't seem like one. Due to an extended approach tunnel (which formed a large oval) and slight jog to the right after the first drop, and a spiral finale, it just did not "ride" like an out and back coaster. This ride set the standards for my tastes. While I do not generally find out and backs appealing, I appreciate swooping and diving turns, and tunnels. The tunnels (two) on the Bear Cat remain the best I have found yet! The first was long and dark, getting faster and faster as it progressed. I know of no similar approach tunnel now. The coaster had a decent first drop (about 75 feet?), a hard jog to the right, wonderful swoop curve, good second drop, a double dip, one more larger hill, and a fabulous ending. The finale featured a 540 degree spiral; the first 180 degrees was downhill, the second was flat on the ground (banked), and the third featured a brief straight section into the last tunnel, which turned sharply and abruptly!!!, suddenly rising and ending in a curving brake run. I believe all enthusiasts would respect this
ride, and would love those tunnels! I regret that I have only two decent photos of this beloved coaster. However, it closed in 1969, before I had any good camera equipment.

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