[chargercrazy]

I probably did in 1977 when I was part of a group making a commercial on White Lightnin' & Thunder Road. What a fun day that was! Got an excused absence from school and non-stop rides on both coasters all day long!

Now that sounds like a fun day, with an excused absence from school and everything. Did this commercial air on TV and were you in it? Do you have any footage of this commercial? That would be something cool to see.

[swampfox43]

You know, I would give anything to have a copy of that commercial. Yes, it did air on TV and I was clearly visible in the White Lightnin' shots. I was going to Olympic High School (75-78), which was just a few miles from the park. A lot of people from that school worked at Carowinds then and Carowinds use to have job fairs at our high school too so they were in pretty good cahoots with each other. I don't think any school would give an excused absence for something like that today.

Now you've got me thinking......does a copy of that commercial even exist somewhere? Maybe I need to investigate this.
:huh:

[chargercrazy]

Glad I brought it up then. If you somehow find a copy of it, I'd love to see it. Maybe it could be hosted on this site if you found it (and converted to digital of course).

[CoasterChris]

Thats how i started at Carowinds in 1994. I was attending Olympic and Carowinds still had job fairs there.

[bgwfreak]

Is it just me or do those orignal trains look a lot like Millenium flyers!

[swampfox43]

Very good observation bgwfreak. The Millenium Flyer trains that Mike Boodley designed were based on the old Prior & Church trains that ran on many of their old coasters in the 20's & 30's. The Western Washington Fair (Puyallup Fair) & Playland (Vancouver) each have trains from that era.

I'm not 100% sure of this but I believe the Jetstream trains (which came to Thunder Road) were built in house by Riverview Park but were built based on the old Prior & Church blueprint for coaster trains. They also used a flanged wheel assembly (like Scooby's...umm FOC), which gave it excellent tracking. And the seats were the most comfortable, cushy seats I have ever sat in on a coaster.

[Trev32]

Well, the reason this coaster holds a special place in my heart is because it was my first backwards coaster.

I'll never forget the first drop on the backwards side. I was at the very back of the train (what looks like the front) and got sooooo much airtime.

I can't wait to ride that thing again. hopefully i'll actually get to come again this year. The last time i came to Carowinds was in April of 2004.

[montumax]

Personally, I think we all need to dress up like g-men and hillybillies/moonshiners and take over each train to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the coaster.

I'm sure I can find a still here in Cleveland County. Hell, it might even work.

[RollerBee]

I like that idea, I think we should do something for Thunder Road's birthday and someone else's.

[montumax]

Mine's in August so start planning!