Repurposed Coach from Original Colossus

June 8, 2021 — New arrival at Heritage Junction Historic Park: A repurposed coach from the original Colossus roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Fiberglass body with steel tube (lap bar fitting), mounted on plywood with (4) large casters and (2) wheel chocks. Width 48", length 56" (as cut), height 28½" (excluding casters).

Colossus was the world's tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster when it opened in 1978. It closed in 2014 and reemerged in 2015 as the hybrid Twisted Colossus coaster. This coach, made by Morgan Manufacturing (then) of Scotts Valley, Calif., has an "earliest" date of 1987, when Morgan started providing rolling stock for Colossus, and a "latest" date of 2001, when Morgan ceased production.

The Morgan trains were the last of three train types used on the original Colossus ride. The lead coach had a rectangular piece of fiberglass bolted to the front, bearing the logo. Click to enlarge.

This particular coach was transformed into the base of a Christmas tree that Six Flags California (Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor) donated to the Santa Clarita Valley Boys and Girls Club's inaugural Festival of Trees fundraising auction in November 2003. The tree, along with its coach-base, was purchased by local philanthropists Harold and Jacqueline Petersen, who donated the coach back to the SCV Boys and Girls Club for its June 2021 Benefit Auction, where it was acquired for the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

According to Six Flags Vice President Tim Burkhart (pers. comm. 2021), the Christmas tree was inserted into the steel tube "where the lap bars would fit into when pulled down." The coach originally had a second row, making it a 4-seater, and the fiberglass shell sat on a steel chassis. For the Festival of Trees, the shell was removed from its chassis, cut in half, and mounted on a plywood base with casters for mobility on the auction floor and for subsequent transport.

Morgan's Colossus trains had six coaches. The front end of the lead coach had a flat front with a cast Colossus logo. According to Burkhart, "this was an intermediate coach from the center of the train."