Caterpillar (ride)

The Caterpillar ride is a vintage flat ride engineered by the inventor Hyla F. Maynes of North Tonawanda, New York, who dubbed it the Caterpillar when it debuted in Coney Island, New York in 1925. It generates a significant amount of centrifugal force, causing the riders on the inside of the seats to crush the riders on the outside of the seats. It was once found at nearly every amusement park around the United States, but is now so rare that an original Caterpillar ride can only be found operating in two parks today. Though only two Caterpillars are known to be operating, there have been reports claiming there are additional Caterpillars in storage or standing (but not operating) at a few other parks.

Caterpillar
Caterpillar at Canobie Lake Park as seen from overhead in 2019
First manufactured1925
No. of installationsAt least 7 originals; 2 are still operating
Manufacturers
  • Traver Engineering
  • Allan Herschell
  • Spillman Engineering
DesignerHyla F. Maynes
One of the cars of Canobie Lake Park's Caterpillar as seen in 2021; the centrifuge, rods, wheels, track and furled canopy are also shown here.
Canobie Lake Park's Caterpillar in motion with its orange-striped green canopy unfurled, covering its riders

The ride features a complete circuit of motorized vehicles which are connected end-to-end all the way around the ride, in a manner similar to a Music Express. Also, the cars travel a circular, undulating (wave-like) track very similar to that of a Tumble Bug. This ride is famous for its usually green canopy (one previously located at Geauga Lake had a yellow and black canopy) that automatically, or manually in the case of Heritage Park's, begins to slowly surround the cars and fully encapsulate them once the ride reaches its maximum velocity, though DelGrosso's indoor version called Space Odyssey operated without it. When covered with the canopy, the ride tends to look like a caterpillar, which is probably how Mr. Maynes got the name for his ride. A high powered fan located at one point under the carriage of the ride, was traditionally used to surprise riders with a blast of air as the cars go around the track.

The Caterpillar most likely served as Moser Rides' inspiration for the popular Music Express (sometimes Musik Express or Himalaya) style ride.

The Amor Express is a caterpillar/Music Express hybrid variant made by SDC. Dubbed "The Love Machine", it has the appearance of a typical Music Express, but features a manually operated canopy that is striped similar in fashion to the traditional caterpillar.

Manufacturers

Caterpillar rides were manufactured by several old amusement ride companies including:

Maynes, the inventor of the Caterpillar and owner of the patent, was paid a royalty by the companies that built the ride, or sometimes the buyer of the ride.

Locations

The only two original Caterpillars still known to be operating are at:

Original Caterpillar rides either in storage or in collections (may be occasionally operating) are at:

Modern remakes of the classic ride exist at:

Other versions:

  • DelGrosso's Amusement Park, until 2011, had a caterpillar ride called Space Odyssey which was situated inside a wooden dome-like building. The ride was purchased in the 1980s from the nearby Lakemont Park, which was having financial issues at the time. The ride was moved to Delgrosso's and enclosed with many special effects like a spinning disco ball that lowered from the ceiling, an alarm that went off at the start of the ride cycle, and blacklight neon posters. The ride did not have the mechanical closing canopy, but the special effects made up for it.

References
  1. Folly Farm Pembrokeshire, A look at the past
  2. Knobels.com
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