Harry Traver

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Harry Guy Traver (25 November 1877 – 1961) was an American engineer and early Roller Coaster designer.

In 1919 he founded the Traver Engineering Company which created amusement rides, including the Circle Swing and the Tumble Bug. He created the Circle Swing, Tumble Bug, The Caterpillar, Laff in the dark, and Auto Ride.

However, his "Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters" were what made Traver the most famous (or notorious) of all coaster designers. His most famous coasters were the "terrible trio", all built in 1927. They were:

• "Cyclone"- Built in Crystal Beach, Ontario.
• "Lightning"- Revere Beach.
• "Cyclone"- Fort Lee, NJ.

All three shared the same twisted layout. The Prior and Church Century Flyer trains (the Great Coasters International Millennium Flyers are patterned after this rolling stock) left the station, turned 180 degrees, and ascended the lift hill. Coming off the lift, the trains dove down to the right, climbing to a sharp jog to the left. A drop and hill followed, and then a severely pitched double helix. Coming out of the helix, the train entered a figure 8 banked at 89 degrees. After the figure 8, a spiral hill led under the lift, where a jarring series of bunny-hops were placed, Aftger those, the train turned 180 degrees into the "Jazz track", which consisted of the track pitching one way then the other fast and repeatedly. The "Jazz track" was an element of all Traver coasters. After the "Jazz track", a final spiral drop led to the brakerun. The entire ride lasted 40 seconds from the top of the lift, but was more wild than almost everything nowadays.

A rider of the Cyclone at Crystal Beach described his experience as thus:

"My most memorable ride in an amusement park occurred in July 1945, when I was on military leave in St. Catharines, Ontario. I had just turned 18 and had been in the Canadian Army for about 8 months. My two buddies and I spent a part of our leave in Crystal Beach, Ontario, which at that time was considered to be one of the greatest places for servicemen to have a good time. Besides, Crystal Beach was famous for having the most thrilling roller coaster ride in the Western Hemisphere. Being soldiers of course, and having been trained for all kinds of warfare, we had "no fear" of anything, except perhaps Military Police, and since we were on a legal pass, there was "nothing to fear". As soon as we entered the park one evening, we headed straight for the roller coaster, which was identified with a huge sign announcing "The Cyclone--Thrill of a Lifetime". After listening to the loud screams coming from the roller coaster, we decided that we must go on it right away, and promptly bought our tickets, which were I think about 15 cents or maybe 20 cents. We then stood in the line-up near the entrance gate, which happened to be very close to where the previous passengers got off. It was then that I first noticed the distinctive smell of vomit which was stronger as we got closer to the loading point. It was a bit disconcerting, but I was then immediately distracted by getting a whack in the face from something kind of leathery. It turned out to be a wallet which had fallen from the ride, and we opened it and it had a US Navy ID Card in it. As soon as the ride stopped, we saw the US sailor getting off the ride and called to him. He looked a bit dazed, and did not realize what had happened to his wallet.

It was then our turn to ride, and we ran to the coaster cars. Up the steep ramp we went, up, up and then up some more until we could see the entire amusement park. Just as I was enjoying the view, the car lurched forward and I looked in front of me down a steep incline that looked to me to be about an 89 degree slope. The cars then headed down the incline at warp speed, and all I could see in front of us was Lake Erie. I was sure there must have been a part of the tracks missing, and I then uttered my only two words during the entire ride... "Jesus Christ!" ...as we plunged down towards the Lake, I then saw a steep bank to the right of the incline and we changed directions in a split second, turning violently on our side as the car careened around a hairpin turn. I looked sideways and saw the earth spinning by, and from that point on, most of the ride was pretty much of a blur. The only other memorable part was as we reached a high horizontal point again, we were racing around a curve at such speed that it seemed certain that we would fly off into thin air. Very frankly, I was quite relieved to see the cars finally slowing down...even then, they approached the unloading platform at such a speed that one would think they would overshoot and go right into the spectators.

When I walked off the unloading platform, I couldn't help but smell the vomit again, and in fact, walked away from the area fairly promptly in order to resettle my own stomach." -Ed Mills, Rider of the Cyclone

The Cyclone at Crystal Beach survived the longest of the three, lasting until 1949. An urban legend holds that on the "Lightning", a passenger plunged to their death on the 2nd night of the coaster's opening.

One of his coasters was known as the Jazz Railway. The Jazz Railway was the forerunner of the modern Wild Mouse Coasters that are built to this day.

Traver actually believed that steel would be a more durable material for the structures of roller coasters. He thought that one day, steel would be used to create roller coasters.