Today in Coney Island history, on November 17, 2000, the original Thunderbolt roller coaster, built in 1925 and in operation until 1982, was demolished by the City. Listen to the Coney Island History Project's oral history with Meg Feeley about a renegade ride on the Thunderbolt on a February night in the 1980s, a few years after the roller coaster had closed down.
In a pair of interviews recorded in 2016, cousins Linda Kramer Evans and Harold J. Kramer share childhood memories of visiting their great-aunt and great-uncle in Coney Island in the 1950's. Molly and George Moran owned and operated the Thunderbolt and lived in the house under the roller coaster, which was later immortalized in Woody Allen's 1977 film Annie Hall. The kids loved it when the house shook as the coaster coursed overhead, recalls Evans.
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Old ride from the 70s and before
There was an old ride in Coney Island where people stood with their backs against the wall in a round column and it revolved faster and faster until the floor dropped out from below their feet until they were stuck to the wall by centrifugal force. I'm sure it's gone today. I don't remember the name of this ride. There's a ride that the band REM sings about called "The Wall of Death" and it may be the same type of ride, but the one in Coney did not have that name.
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