Thrill seeking with southern pine

DENEWED interest in wooden

.[Loller coasters is providing plenty ofthrills for southern pine suppliers.

A typical order for a roller coaster normally runs half a million bd. ft., but sometimes orders can be much larger. Last month, Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, Ca., unveiled GhostRider, the West's largest "woodie." The 4,533-ft.-long coaster consumed 2.5 million bd. ft. of treated longleaf southern pine-in all, 85 truckloads shipped from Alabama (larger pieces) and North Carolina (shorter pieces).

Wooden coasters usually are bigger and give longer rides than steel ones, which were once more popular. Beginning in the 1980s, the wooden coaster industry underwent a renaissance, said Amusement Business magazine's Tim O'Brien. Coaster fans who had abandoned wood in favor of steel in the '50s, '60s and '70s began to rediscover the wonders of wood.

Traditionalists prefer a wooden to a steel coaster because of wood's inherent flexibility, making each ride slightly different. Riders actually sway with the giant wooden structure. The ride also changes as the temperature rises each day. "People like wood because it gives you a different ride each time," O'Brien explains. "In the morning, when it's cold, it gives you a firmer ride. When the afternoon sun warms the tracks, you get a faster ride."

Coaster aficionados also lean toward wood because, although it can't offer the speed or upsidedown flips of steel, it offers unique sound effects, whose rattle and roll add a psychological dimension to the experience.

Southern pine is the most common choice, mostly due to its strength. "It is the strongest softwood, which is extremely important for a roller coaster. Also important are its workability and its ability to be CCA pressure treatod," says Alan Antonides, senior account mgr. for Universal Forest Products, Hamilton, Oh., which supplied the wood for GhostRider and about 15 other coasters over the last three years.

Universal gets the jobs predominately through word of mouth. Selling coaster projects, explains Antonides,

"requires significant expertise. They require a lot of special sizes-some of which we don't sell for anything elseincluding 3x6s, 4x8s and 6x6s. They need all #l grade, and in incredible quantities."

So, not many companies can fill the bill, says Stan Isom, sales coordinator for Rayonier Wood Products, which has teamed with Hoover Treated Wood Products to supply about a dozen coasters. "We are one of the few companies that has the flexibility of cutting everything from standard 2" dimension and I " boards to a whole range of custom sizes, including 3" and 4" timbers and 514 radius edged decking," he says.

"Roller coaster builders need high volumes of non-standard, treated southern pine lumber, and the quality has to be absolutely top-notch to pass rigid safety requirements," Isom says.

Rayonier's custom mills produce 3x6, 3x8, 4x6, or 4x8 lumber from 8 feet to 20 feet in length.