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Rocky Mountain Construction

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Rocky Mountain Construction is a manufacturing and construction company based in Hayden, Idaho, United States. The company is best known for its I-Box track and Topper Track for wooden roller coasters.

History[]

In 2001, Rocky Mountain Construction was established by Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon. Fred Grubb previously had experience in the construction industry having worked on custom homes and zoo exhibits. The company has worked on several projects including the construction of roller coasters, water parks, steel buildings, miniature golf courses, and go-kart tracks.[1]

In the 2000s, Alan Schilke of Ride Centerline joined Rocky Mountain Construction.[2] He previously worked with Arrow Dynamics (later S&S Worldwide) to design Tennessee Tornado and X.[3][4][5] As part of Rocky Mountain Construction, Schilke and Grubb went on to design the I-Box track for wooden roller coasters.[6] The first installation of this tracking technology debuted on the Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in 2011.[7]

In late 2011, Schilke announced that the company would be working on two projects throughout 2012 which would both open in 2013.[8] These were later revealed to be an I-Box track of The Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and a new roller coaster designed from scratch at Silver Dollar City named Outlaw Run.[9][10] The tracking technology used for Outlaw Run, which allows a square beam of wood to be twisted, took 4 years to develop. It allows Rocky Mountain Construction to design layouts with maneuvers that are not traditionally possible with wooden roller coasters such as heartline rolls. Grubb has stated the technology could be used for new elements in the future.[11] Some new elements were realized with the announcement of Goliath at Six Flags Great America. The ride will feature a dive loop and a zero-g stall when it opens in 2014.[12]

In 2013, Rocky Mountain Construction signed a deal with Dutch amusement ride firm Vekoma. The agreement allows Vekoma to sell Rocky Mountain Construction's roller coasters outside the North American market.[13] On April 8, 2014, Kolmården Wildlife Park in Sweden announced the first Rocky Mountain coaster in Europe, Wildfire, opening in 2016.

Technology[]

  • I-Box Track (also known as Iron Horse Track) – a formation of steel track for wooden roller coasters. The first installation of this track was on the Texas Giant in Six Flags Over Texas.[14][15]
  • Topper Track – Rocky Mountain Construction's most common product having been installed on several coasters around the United States.[16][17][18] The track is designed to reduce the maintenance required for a wooden roller coaster and provide a smoother ride experience.[17][19] This steel track replaces the upper layers of laminated wood.[19]
  • T-Rex Track - A wide single-railed steel track type. Not yet used on any roller coasters.
  • Raptor Track - A narrow single-railed steel track type. First used on Wonder Woman: Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and RailBlazer at California's Great America.
  • Wooden roller coaster trains – specifically designed to run on the company's own Topper Track, however, they could be added to other wooden roller coasters as well. The trains feature steel wheels as opposed to polyurethane wheels found on most trains.[9][8]
  • Wild Moose - Family Roller Coaster [20]

Projects[]

Roller coasters[]

File:The NEW Texas Giant.jpg

The retracked Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas

Design, construction, and trains[]

I-Box Track[]

Raptor track[]

Topper Track[]

Construction[22][]
Repairs[22][]

Other projects[]

File:Silverwood wavepool1.jpg

The wavepool at Boulder Beach was constructed by Rocky Mountain Construction

References[]

  1. ↑ About Us. Rocky Mountain Construction. Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ Gordon, Leslie (19 January 2012). Box-shaped tracks let mega-coasters soar. Machine Design. Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
  3. ↑ Marden, Duane; et al. Tennessee Tornado  (Dollywood). Roller Coaster DataBase.
  4. ↑ Marden, Duane; et al. X2  (Six Flags Magic Mountain). Roller Coaster DataBase.
  5. ↑ Template:Cite patent
  6. ↑ Template:Cite patent
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 NEW Texas Giant Named Best New Ride of 2011. PR Newswire. Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Alvey, Robb (16 November 2011). IAAPA 2011 Trade Show Part 3 Orlando Florida Theme Park Review Rocky Mountain Sally. Theme Park Review. YouTube. Retrieved on July 9, 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Template:Cite qwb
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Marden, Duane; et al. unknown  (Silver Dollar City). Roller Coaster DataBase.
  11. ↑ Template:Cite AV media
  12. ↑ New for 2014 (August 29, 2013). Retrieved on August 29, 2013.
  13. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  14. ↑ Sandy, Adam (May 2011). Six Flags turns to Gerstlauer to deliver themed trains. Amusement Today. Retrieved on July 9, 2012.
  15. ↑ Steel track for wooden coasters. Park World Online (7 July 2010). Retrieved on July 9, 2012.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Rocky Mountain Construction (15 October 2010). Tremors Coaster Topper Track Installation. Photos. Facebook. Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Georgia Cyclone: A Classic "Woodie". Six Flags. Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Two Six Flags Rides Receive "Topper Track" for 2011. NewsPlusNotes (7 March 2011). Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Rocky Mountain Construction Company. Coaster-Net (16 February 2011). Retrieved on July 9, 2012.
  20. ↑ https://rockymtnconstruction.com/family-coasters/
  21. ↑ Morton, Neal (30 August 2012). Steel up for Iron Rattler. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved on August 31, 2012.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Clients & Portfolio. Rocky Mountain Construction. Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
  23. ↑ Kentucky Kingdom (July 28, 2013). Timeline Photos. Facebook. Retrieved on August 2, 2013.

External links[]

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