Tallest roller coaster model-world record set
by Branden Moyer
SHILLINGTON, PA,
USA-- Branden Moyen, 18, has build a 36 feet tall, 50 feet
long free-standing roller coaster model, setting the world
record for the Tallest roller coaster model.
Photo:
Branden Moyer, 18, constructs a record-setting free-standing
model roller coaster model out of thousands of K'NEX toy pieces.
Jeremy Drey/Reading Eagle (enlarge
photo)
This amazing working roller coaster is 36
feet tall, 50 feet long.. made entirely of K'NEX.
...after several tries the coaster car wouldn't
make it around the track that Moyer made completely out of
K'NEX, which means it can't be considered as a world-record
toy.
Even nonoperational, Moyer's monstrous machine
is an impressive sight. Onlookers gazed upward in amazement
at the towering lattice of K'NEX stretching toward the sky.
World Record Academy has decided to recognize
Branden Moyen's impressive efforts and dedication by including
his (very first roller coaster) creation under the model category.
His coaster is a 1/10th-scale replica of Kingda
Ka, a 456-foot high steel behemoth at Six Flags Great Adventure
in New Jersey, one of Moyer’s favorites.
Onlookers gazed upward in amazement at the
towering lattice of K'NEX stretching toward the sky.
"It really came together well," Moyer said. "It's
amazing what a toy can do for you."
In all, Moyer estimates that he used 35,000 to
40,000 K'NEX pieces and spent $6,000, much of it donated by
30 local businesses that have sponsored the project. The track
is about 400 feet long and the roller coaster car will travel
up to 70 mph, after being slingshotted to the top of the first
hill by 25 rubber bands.
Roller coasters have been an obsession for Moyer
ever since he took his first ride on one as a anxious 13-year-old.
Terrified before that first run, he was hooked by the time
it was over. Over the past five years Moyer has traveled to
amusement parks across the U.S. and ridden on about 50 different
coasters.
Branden Moyer: “Anything that makes
you feel sick in the stomach, that's my type.”
His dad, Ken A. Moyer, said Branden spends
a lot of time watching the Discovery Channel, anything to
do with engineering.
“He’s just so focused, and he’s been focused
for a few years now,” Ken Moyer said. “It’s very rare to have
a teenager that focused on something. But he’s a good kid.
He’s not out on the streets. He’s building roller coasters.”
He plans to turn his passion into a career.
In August he will head to The Disney Institute in Orlando,
Fla., where he will work at Disney World while taking theme
park-oriented classes. His dream is to become one of about
100 Americans who make a living designing roller coasters.
Branden Moyer: "If you dream
big it can happen. I mean this was just a dream and with sponsors
and people believing in you and believing in yourself- you
can really accomplish anything."
