By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Among the last riders of the Comet line up as Crystal Beach closes permanently in 1989.
When Crystal Beach opened for its 58th season on May 20, 1948, it was the general public’s first chance to try “the world’s newest, largest, and smoothest $200,000 roller coaster,” the Comet.
“Fast, but smooth as silk,” said the workmen on the coaster’s first trial run a week earlier.
News Reporter Mildred Spencer was there as the Comet took its first run. It was clear the craftsmen who built the ride were having as much fun testing as generations of Buffalonians and Southern Ontarians would have over the next 41 years.
“A gang of laughing, cheering workmen piled into the new Crystal Beach Comet Tuesday morning to give it a trial run. Two hours after the initial trip they were still riding, and it was with reluctance that they left for lunch when the noon whistle blew,” wrote Spencer.
The Comet was 700 feet longer than the old Cyclone coaster it replaced, and had 800 feet of track along the beach seawall for a total of 4,000 feet of steel track.
“There are no banked turns to jostle the riders and it has been hailed as thrilling, yet comfortable, for young and old,” reported The News.
“The Comet is perfectly safe for young and old alike,” said Crystal Beach General Manager F.L. Hall. “We’ve eliminated the sharp-angled banks – some as sharp as 75 degrees – that were characteristic of the Cyclone. All curves in the new ride are on the level track. The Comet is like a smooth toboggan ride, only faster, with cars going up to 65 miles an hour.”
Talking about the safety and smoothness of the Comet was not only the standard marketing talk of an amusement park operator – it was meant to reassure patrons who’d been wary to ride a Crystal Beach roller coaster since a Black Rock man plunged to his death on the Cyclone a decade earlier.
The fanfare announcing the opening of the Cyclone in 1927 sounded a lot like the opening of the Comet 21 years later.
“Thrills galore are promised by the giant cyclone coaster now being erected at Crystal Beach. It will have a sheer drop of more than 100 feet and no end of hair-raising, nerve-tingling turns, but will be absolutely safe. This new coaster is to cost more than $100,000 and is to be the outstanding feature among several noteworthy new features being offered this year,” explained the Courier-Express.
Crystal Beach’s Cyclone roller coaster, from a postcard.
“The new coaster is to rest on 600 separate concrete foundations. More than 200 tons of steel will be fabricated for its construction.”
Hundreds watched in horror on the park’s opening day in 1938, when Amos Weidrich, 22, of Buffalo, was killed when he fell from the coaster’s car at the top of a loop. He was decapitated when the car rolled over his body on the tracks below.
The News and Courier-Express accounts both provide graphic descriptions of the incident from eyewitnesses.
Park officials were quoted in newspapers around North America the next day speculating that Weidrich “must have jumped,” because the ride is safely operated.
“There was no possible way he could have been thrown out,” said park manager Hall.
Weidrich’s companion – who’d ridden the coaster with him three times that day and was sitting in the car next to him moments before his death, said that Weidrich didn’t jump.
An inquest called the death an accident and didn’t access any blame.
Within a decade, the Cyclone was replaced with the Comet.
Aside from the thrills of that brand-new Comet, a 1948 trip to Crystal Beach was reflective of a different time, according to one late summer ad promoting the beach and the park:
“Three hours of moonlight cruising on Lake Erie will be offered on the Str. Canadiana, the Crystal Beach boat, tonight at 8:15. Harold Austin’s 12-piece orchestra will play for listening and dancing. The steamer departs from the terminal at the foot of Commercial St.
Str. Canadiana, from a postcard.
“Many Buffalonians have been riding the Canadiana to Crystal Beach and back just for the relaxing trip. By taking the 8:15 boat, passengers can be back in Buffalo by 10:15.
“Amusement devices to tickle the fancy of young and old will be found at Crystal Beach. They range from thrilling rides on the Comet Coaster, the Flying Scooters and the Octopus to the carrousel, the Old Mill and the miniature railway. All are tested regularly for safety features.
“As summer rears a close, bathing is more and more popular. The patrolled beach insures against rowdyism and ample lifeguard service prevents accidents in the water.”
Riders on the Comet in the 1980s.
