UNSOLVED CT - West Haven, Man killed in roller coaster accident, Jul'39

I am an amusement park nut and stumbled upon this while launching a campaign to save a ride at my local park believe it or not. This is a very bizarre story. Don't know if it's solvable (if it hasn't been already). Might be a good one for someone with a newspapers.com account (I don't have one).

A few things to note:

This article is from the New London Day 7/17/39. THE DATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 2nd PAGE IS WRONG.

Savin Rock was a very large amusement park in West Haven, CT that closed in the 1960's. Surprisingly, there was VERY little info online about it until recently. It had MANY coasters, probably over a dozen at one time or another during its existence. I am not sure which coaster is being referred to in the article. The only racing coaster I am aware of that the park had was believed to have closed in the 1920's.

Oh I never heard of this. Really odd and stranger that the 2 women the guy was with Simply just disappeared.

hewinkedatme! said:

I am an amusement park nut and stumbled upon this while launching a campaign to save a ride at my local park believe it or not. This is a very bizarre story. Don't know if it's solvable (if it hasn't been already). Might be a good one for someone with a newspapers.com account (I don't have one).

A few things to note:

This article is from the New London Day 7/17/39. THE DATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 2nd PAGE IS WRONG.

Savin Rock was a very large amusement park in West Haven, CT that closed in the 1960's. Surprisingly, there was VERY little info online about it until recently. It had MANY coasters, probably over a dozen at one time or another during its existence. I am not sure which coaster is being referred to in the article. The only racing coaster I am aware of that the park had was believed to have closed in the 1920's.

Click to expand...

Hi, interesting case. What makes you think the date on the article isn't right? It would fit more into your finding that the only racing coaster closed in the 1920's.
Never knew what a racing coaster is, so I looked it up...I think, based on the story it must have been something like this.

Racing roller coaster: consists of two separate roller coasters that travel along parallel or mirrored tracks to simulate a race between the trains. The coaster trains travel along tracks just a few feet apart from one another. They often get close enough for riders to reach out and slap hands with riders on the opposite train, though this is extremely dangerous. These coasters are usually old wooden coasters.

Some history...still don't know if things match up. I wonder what attraction (roller/racing coaster) they are talking about in the accident article.

Roller Coasters in Connecticut | Lake Compounce | Quassy Amusement Park

In 1900, Savin Rock unveiled a figure-eight roller coaster, and the Racing Coaster shortly after, though both were short-lived, replaced by the White City Flyer in 1914. Several years later, a fire there swept it away along with other attractions. But in 1922, another pier was erected called Liberty Pier on Beach Street, and it included The Devil, and Thunderbolt, the latter Savin Rock’s most famous coaster, which opened in 1925. Riders of the 85-foot tall Thunderbolt swore that during its big drop, they felt certain that the coaster train was heading straight into Long Island Sound.

The Red Devil fell victim to a raging 12-hour fire in 1932 and most of Thunderbolt was washed out to sea on September 24, 1938, when a hurricane with 88- mile-per-hour winds lashed at the coaster and other attractions. Its successor, the Thunderbolt Giant Flyer, operated until 1956. It was never considered as exciting as the original, according to historians and coaster fans, and was torn down in 1957.

I think this could be the same man (date of the accident was 16 July 1939) ....his name was Stephen Haze, fell out a seat with a friend sitting next to him...this story is different but even weirder! The guy sitting in the same seat as Haze but couldn't explain what happened to investigators...didn't even noticed that his buddy had fallen out or noticed the accident until he turned his head to speak to him. UHHH?
Man Falls Out Of Roller Coaster and Dies at Savin Rock. Hartford Courant July 17 1939 (1) - Newspapers.com

I think dates and circumstances of the accidents are mixed up. Maybe there was indeed another accident in August 1918 (the date of the first paperclipping upthread)

Ha, I looked for a while this morning on chroniclingamerica.loc.gov and couldn’t find a thing.

A possible accident in 1918?

Historian’s corner
Savin Rock’s Outstanding Roller Coaster “The Thunderbolt” was built in 1925. So this couldn't be the roller coaster mentioned in the accident (if there was indeed an accident in 1918)

"Great stories have been passed down in our folklore, but there has never been any confirmation or proof, or evidence of any kind, riders on the Thunderbolt flew out of their cars to meet an untimely demise in the dark and scary Long Island Sound. There were two accidents resulting in death on coasters built by Traver Engineering, (the builder of our Thunderbolt) one at the Cyclone in Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada, and the other at the Lightning in Revere Beach, Massachusetts."

Same for "The Devil" that was located near Grove St, between the years 1922 & 1932. Could not be the roller coaster mentioned in the accident.

In 1900, Savin Rock unveiled a figure-eight roller coaster, and the Racing Coaster shortly after, though both were short-lived, replaced by The White City Flyer in 1914. This is the White City Flyer in 1921. Possible this was the one but personally I don't see how you go from one seat to another...or even think of it.

In 1917 and 1918, two fires did over $100,000 in damage to Savin Rock’s buildings and amusements. Historian’s corner There is no mentioning what was left at the time.

Reconsidering the accident situation. Could it be the cars where behind each other and that was the situation when he tried to get over from his to the other? There was a Louis Trelle (according to the clipping a bystander thought his name was Thrall) killed in a roller coaster in july 18, 1913, but the tekst is behind a paywall (Ancestry) accident Louis Trelle Killed on Roller Coaster at Savin Rock. Hartford Courant Friday July 18 1913 - Newspapers.com

I think that's the one!

Refreshing the thread...