In 2008 Gerstlauer celebrated a decade of their wooden coaster trains running throughout the world. What started as a unique project turned into an entirely new product line for the German company.
“Our idea was to bring steel coaster engineering to the traditional wooden coaster car,” said Siegfried Gerstlauer, the company’s managing director. “We designed the ride with individual lap bars, molded seats, rubber bushings, and other elements to make our vehicles stand out from the competition.”
The first Gerstlauer wooden coaster trains opened on Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom’s “Twisted Sisters” (now “Twisted Twins”) in the spring of 1998. The unique dueling/racing coaster had two independent tracks that wove in and out of each other throughout the course of the ride.
The growth continued over the next ten years. Improvements were made, such as the first Gerstlauer three-bench wooden coaster train, which debuted on Faarup Sommerland’s “Falken” in 2004. In 2007 Kings Island changed the rolling stock on its “Son of Beast” roller coaster to Gerstlauer wooden trains. They bought used trains from a closed park. Gerstlauer worked with Kings Island staff to custom-engineer the trains to fit “Son of Beasts’” unique track gauge and lift angle. The ride re-opened to a popularity it had not seen since opening year.
In 2008 the company debuted their first project in conjunction with Ing.-Holzbau Cordes, a wooden roller coaster. The new coaster, “Mammut”, opened at Eblebnispark Tripsdrill in Germany. This was a fun ride that targeted the park’s main market- families. The vehicles on “Mammut” sported three benches each, but also had custom theming, open fronts, new L-shaped individual lap bars, and thicker seat upholstery. All of these things combined to make the Gerstlauer train ride smoother and more comfortable for riders.
As for the future, Siegfried Gerstlauer is optimistic as to what he sees. He noted, “We have had a lot of interest in our vehicles for new wooden coasters. In addition, there are a lot of parks throughout the world, particularly in the U.S., with older wood coaster trains that are almost ready to be replaced. As parks look for new options the Gerstlauer train, which generally requires less maintenance hours and investment money each year, is a great option for them.”