Aftershock
ACE Day at Silverwood 2008

Coaster
Coaster's 50th Birthday Event
ACE 2001 Regional Event

Coaster Thrill Ride
Rebuilt Project 2009
Puyallup Spring Fair 2009
Puyallup Spring Fair 2006
ACE 2004 Summer Conference
Puyallup Spring 2003
Puyallup Spring Fair 2001

Corkscrew
ACE Day at Silverwood 2008

Dragon
Riverfront Park 2008

kersplash
Puyallup Spring Fair 2009

Monster Mouse
Puyallup Spring Fair 2009
Puyallup September Fair 2003
Puyallup Spring Fair 2003

Timberhawk
Opening year Summer 2003

Timber Terror
Coaster Alley Convergence 2005
Summer 2003
Summer 2002 and 1999

Tiny Toot
Coaster Alley Convergence 2005

Tremors
Coaster Alley Convergence 2005
ACE Summer Conference 2001
Tremors opening year 1999

Wildcat
ACE Summer Conference 2004
Puyallup Fair 2003

Windstorm
Fall 2005
Summer 1999

Zillerator
Evergreen State Fair 2005

Coaster Thrill Ride ~ Rebuilt Project 2009
Scroll down to read about the project

Currently, the Puyallup wooden roller coaster (Coaster Thrill Ride) is undergoing a major rebuilt process where the old Douglas fir is being replaced with Southern yellow pine.

John P. Hinde President of J.P. Hinde Enterprises, Inc. was hired by Funtastic Traveling Shows to lead the project. The rebuilt started around 2004 with reconstruction of the transfer station as well as parts of the structure underneath the first and second turn around.

Within the last five or six years, all three coaster trains have also been refurbished. Part of the work was done on site (underneath the coaster) and in Portland, Oregon. I asked Hinde if the oilers (oil cans) are stilled used to grease the tracks. Both are located on the left and right side on the front of each train. He told me they don't use them anymore because they ruin the wood. The grease would soak through the lumber. So, they use a grease gun instead.

Hinde also told me he hopes to get a proximity switch for each train. This also means a new chain lift would be installed as well. Whatever the speed that each train is traveling at (after leaving the station) is the same speed as the chain lift. Once the train enters the lift, the transition will be smooth. This will keep track of the amount of revolutions of each train. So, each train will be running at the same speed.

I also asked about how each train got its name. Hinde laughed and told me he didn't know how they got their names Orn'ry Orange, Blazin Blue, and O'l Yeller. He jokingly commented that the names could have been inspired when some Playboy bunnies had visited the fair and took a spin on the coaster. In photos I have seen it appears that the trains names were not added until the last decade or so.

Throughout the reconstruction, the ride will remain operational for both the Spring and September fair. Hinde hopes the coaster will be completed by 2012 with a new look, new name and newly rebuilt trains similar to the vintage Prior and Church ones that currently operate on the coaster.

Resource information:

John Hinde - Puyallup Spring Fair 2009 (interview)
Web site: J.P. Hinde Enterprises, Inc.

Lee Sherry - Photos of rebuilt