Tumble Bug

This article is about an amusement park ride. For the insect, see dung beetle. For other uses, see Tumblebug.

Kennywood "Turtle", a Tumble Bug ride

A Tumble Bug is an amusement park ride with a circular track.[1]

The ride has a central axis and a circular track. The track has changes in elevation in it, and the cars, each attached by a rod to a central pivotal attachment point and connected to one another, are propelled around the track via motors between the cars. Power is carried to the motors via slip ring brushes at the center and cables.^[citation needed]

Only one full-sized Tumble Bug remains in operation today at Kennywood in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. There are multiple kiddie versions of the ride still in operation. All full-size instances were made by Traver Engineering, and its successor, R.E.Chambers.[1] The ride also exists in a miniature children's form. A full-sized Tumble Bug is 100 feet in diameter, and operates with five or six cars, while the kiddie version has three or four cars.

Drive details of Kennywood "Turtle"

Tumble Bug sites

Operating

Conneaut Lake Park Tumble Bug

Conneaut Lake Park Tumble Bug

Conneaut Lake Park Tumble Bug

• Kennywood (1927–present), West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, (known as "Turtle", 6 car model)

Defunct

• Cascade Park (1969–N/A), New Castle, Pennsylvania
• Cedar Point (1934–1963), Sandusky, Ohio
• Chippewa Lake Park (N/A–1978), Chippewa Lake, Ohio
• Conneaut Lake Park (1925–2019) Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, (known as "Swamp Bug", 5 car model)
• Crescent Park (1930s–1979), Riverside, Rhode Island
• Euclid Beach Park (N/A–1969), Cleveland, Ohio
• Geauga Lake (N/A–1977), Aurora, Ohio
• Hersheypark, (1933–1981), Hershey, Pennsylvania, (known as "The Bug")[2] (ride tubs sold to Whalom Park)
• Idora Park (1941–1984), Youngstown, Ohio, (known as "Turtle", 5 car model)
• Coney Island (1925–1971) / Kings Island (1972–1985), Mason, Ohio (sold to Kennywood to use as spare parts for their Tumble Bug)
• Olentangy Park (1929-1937), Columbus, Ohio[3]
• San Souci Park, Hanover Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania[4]
• Seabreeze Amusement Park (1926-1970), Rochester, New York
• Waldameer & Water World (1920s-1940s), Erie, Pennsylvania
• West View Park (1929–1977), West View, Pennsylvania
• Whalom Park (N/A–2000), Lunenburg, Massachusetts, (moved to Edaville Family Theme Park in Carver, Massachusetts in the mid-2000s, but never operated there, and was eventually sold for scrap metal in 2010)

References

1. "Tumble Bug Rides". ridezone.com.
2. Silver Anniversary Twenty-Fifth Annual Picnic Harrisburg Retail Grocers Hershey Park, Harrisburg Retail Grocers, 1932
3. "List of Rides." Olentangy Park and Theater Wiki. Published 22 March 2024. Accessed 5 May 2024. http://olentangypark.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_Rides
4. Renita Fennick (May 5, 1996). "For Generations, Sans Souci Park Was Valley's Wonderland Stomach-churning Rides on the Bear Cat and Dreamy Gatherings at the Dance Pavilion Live on Only in Memory".