Magic Flyer also known as Percy's Railway, is a small, oval-circuit
steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
roller coaster
A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...
made by Bradley and Kaye that opened in 1971. The coaster is located in the
Whistlestop Park area of
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...
in
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. It was an unknown-named coaster at the former Beverly Park prior to operating at Magic Mountain.
History
''Magic Flyer'' was originally located at
Beverly Park in the 1940s, known as the ''Little Dipper''. It was relocated to Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1971 where it began operation as ''Clown Coaster''. In the 1984-1985 off-season the ride was renamed and rethemed to ''Wile E. Coyote Coaster'' to suit the theme of the nearby Bugs Bunny World.
In 1998, the roller coaster closed and was disassembled. In 2000, the coaster was redesigned to look like the larger
''Goliath'' roller coaster, located in the same park, and relocated near to it. The old supports were replaced with supports that resembled those found on the Goliath and the trains were rebuilt from the chassis up. It was repainted with Goliath's color scheme and given the name ''Goliath Jr.'' (Goliath Junior) to reopen in 2001.
In the 2007-2008 off-season ''Goliath Jr.'' was rethemed to ''Percy's Railway'' to match Six Flags Magic Mountain's new kids zone, Thomas Town. Similarly to the Goliath Jr. makeover, the cars were rebuilt to resemble Percy the Small Engine (the leading car) and his Troublesome Trucks (the two following cars), all from the television series ''Thomas & Friends
''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, the series was developed for ...
''.
In late 2010, Six Flags began the process of removing licensed theming from attractions. They terminated several licenses including that for ''Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional, anthropomorphised tank locomotive who originated from the British children's books ''The Railway Series'', created and written by Wilbert Awdry with his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, first publish ...
''. The Thomas Town at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...
has been renamed and rethemed to Whistlestop Park which reopened on March 19, 2011. ''Percy's Railway'' was now again rethemed and renamed to ''Magic Flyer''. The coaster saw very little change aside from Percy's face being removed and the red stripes painted over.
Ride
The train
A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
exits out of the station and directly ascends the lift hill
A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from t ...
. The track then makes a small dip before navigating a 180° turn to the left. A second small dip is followed by another ascent before making a second 180° turn to the left and returning to the station.
References
External links
Magic Flyer
at the Roller Coaster DataBase
{{SFMM Coasters
Roller coasters in California
Roller coasters introduced in 1971
Roller coasters operated by Six Flags
Six Flags Magic Mountain