Report: Rocky Mountain Construction orders coasters stopped

June 18, 2016, 4:51 PM · Updated throughout. Dollywood has posted on its website that it has closed its newly-opened coaster Lightning Rod due to a part recall from manufacturer Rocky Mountain Construction. The park also said that RMC has ordered all of its coasters closed until the parts can be replaced. However, that turned out not to be the case, and only a few RMC coasters have been affected by the recall.

One of those is RMC's newest coaster, Wildfire, which was scheduled to open today at the Swedish park Kolmarden. The park posted to its Facebook page today that the ride would not open due to the fact that "producers have drawn attention to a risk of a manufacturing defect on a part that's sitting in the trains." Here is a blog post from the park with more information.

Rocky Mountain Construction is known for its steel-topped wooden roller coasters, including Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England, Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City, and New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas. None of those rides appear to be affected, and the only two coasters we can confirm are closed are Lightning Rod and Wildfire, despite Dollywood's post. (A Six Flags Magic Mountain spokesperson confirmed to Theme Park Insider that they've not received a recall notice from RMC.)

Theme Park Insider reader AJ Hummel explained the situation, in a response below:

"The problem is due to a hydraulic cylinder used in the restraint system on RMC's trains. This year, RMC switched to a new cylinder design on some of their rides, particularly the wooden coaster installations. Today, a manufacturing defect was discovered in one of the cylinders on Lightning Rod (I believe), and as a result RMC has recalled these cylinders and ordered the attractions using them to cease operation until replacements can be made. It is expected to take 3-5 days for RMC to ship new parts to the parks, so the affected rides may be up and running by next weekend if all goes well."

RMC roller coaster reviews and videos on Theme Park Insider:

Replies (7)

June 18, 2016 at 4:57 PM · Bravo for being aggressive about protecting rider safety. But... yikes. I hate to see a situation get to the stage where already-opened coasters have to be closed for a problem such as this.
June 18, 2016 at 6:02 PM · Of course this isn't nice to see, but it is much better than a new ride having an incident shortly after it's opening. I assume people will forget about this pretty quickly, even though it might reduce the initial hype.
June 18, 2016 at 6:06 PM · This kind of thing happens in the Auto industry all the time. I'm glad that they spotted the problem and are fixing it right away. Unlike some moter companies do.
June 18, 2016 at 7:55 PM · Umm any chance that this is going to be fixed in say like 3 weeks when I'm going to Dollywood.... I know it's like one in a million chance but hey there is that chance......
June 18, 2016 at 8:03 PM · There has been a lot of incorrect information about this circulating around the internet this afternoon and evening, but it is clear that Dollywood's information is erroneous. Lightning Rod, Wildfire, and possibly Joker have been affected by this, but ALL other RMC coasters were operating normally today.

The problem is due to a hydraulic cylinder used in the restraint system on RMC's trains. This year, RMC switched to a new cylinder design on some of their rides, particularly the wooden coaster installations. Today, a manufacturing defect was discovered in one of the cylinders on Lightning Rod (I believe), and as a result RMC has recalled these cylinders and ordered the attractions using them to cease operation until replacements can be made. It is expected to take 3-5 days for RMC to ship new parts to the parks, so the affected rides may be up and running by next weekend if all goes well.

June 19, 2016 at 12:45 PM · Worrying if its a restraint issue!
June 21, 2016 at 8:35 PM · I'm glad they're being pro-active. I'd hate if something happened & the restraints fail & someone is killed over not catching this. So what if a coaster has to be closed for a time to fix a problem...Safety is a priority! I'd rather miss a ride due to being fixed that ride it & fall out due to negligence or bad parts.

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