Harry Traver

Harry Guy Traver (November 25, 1877 – September 27, 1961) was an American engineer and early roller coaster designer. As the founder of the Traver Engineering Company, Traver was responsible for the production of gentle amusement rides like the Tumble Bug and Auto Ride. However, Traver's coasters became legendary for their unique twisted layouts and thrilling, swooped turns. At a time when most coasters were built from wood, Traver was the first coaster builder to utilize steel for the primary structural material.

History

Traver was born in Gardner, Illinois. In 1919, he founded the Traver Engineering Company in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, which created amusement rides, including the Tumble Bug, The Caterpillar, Laff in the Dark, Auto Ride, and the Circle-Swing, a ride similar in concept to the earlier Captive Flying Machines ride popularized in the United Kingdom by American-born inventor Sir Hiram Maxim. He died at New Rochelle, New York in 1961.

Notable roller coasters

Traver's "Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters" were what made him the most famous (or notorious) of all coaster designers. His most famous coasters were the "terrible trio", all built in 1927. They were:

• "Cyclone" – Built in Crystal Beach Park, Ontario, Canada.
• "Lightning" – Revere Beach, Massachusetts.
• "Cyclone" – Palisades Amusement Park, New Jersey.
• While not part of the trio, "Zip" at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon was a more compactly-designed Giant Cyclone.

All three shared the same twisted layout and utilized trains based on a Prior and Church design: The Great Coasters International Millennium Flyers are patterned after this rolling stock. After leaving the station, the trains would turn 180 degrees and ascended the lift hill. Coming off the lift, the trains dived down to the right, climbing to a sharp jog to the left. A drop and hill followed, and then a severely pitched double helix. Coming out of the helix, the train entered a figure-eight banked at 89 degrees. After the figure-eight, a spiral hill led under the lift, where a jarring series of bunny-hops were placed, After those, the train turned 180 degrees into the "Jazz track", which consisted of the track pitching one way then the other fast and repeatedly. The "Jazz track" was an element of all Traver coasters. (Wood coaster company Custom Coasters International would later make a similar element to "Jazz track" called the "trick track", which would be featured on Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure and the now-defunct Villain at Geauga Lake.) After the "Jazz track", a final spiral drop led to the brake-run.

The Cyclone at Crystal Beach survived the longest of the three, lasting until 1949. On May 30, 1938, Amos Wiedrich was riding the Crystal Beach Cyclone, when he either jumped or otherwise fell from the lift hill and was hit moments later by the coaster's train.

One of his coasters was known as the Jazz Railway. The Jazz Railway was the forerunner of the modern Wild Mouse coasters that are built to this day. One such coaster existed from 1925-1927 at Rocky Glen Park in Moosic, Pennsylvania

In 2001, Disney California Adventure opened, featuring Golden Zephyr, a modern-day replica of the Traver Circle-Swing.

Patents

• US patent 830687, Harry G. Traver, "Circle-Swing", issued 1906-09-11 
• US patent 1805266, Harry G. Traver, "Amusement coaster railway", issued 1931-05-12  – Cyclone design
• US patent 1806102, Harry G. Traver, "Amusement ride", issued 1931-10-13  – Cyclone design
• US patent 1827303, Harry G. Traver, "Amusement ride", issued 1931-10-13  – for the Tumble Bug

Literature

Robert Cartmell (1987). "Chapter X. Traver, Prior and Church". The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster. Popular Press. pp. 153–166. ISBN 0-87972-342-4.