Comet
E11 · Wooden Wonders
E11 · № 67/150
Comet
Hersheypark · US · Philadelphia Toboggan Company Herbert Schmeck out-and-back
“Follow Spring Creek to Mr. Hershey’s last grand coaster.”
UNOFFICIAL · NOT PARK-ENDORSED
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Also at Hersheypark
Also by Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Fast facts
- Comet opened at Hersheypark on May 30, 1946, and remains operating in The Hollow. coasterpedia.net
- The ride was built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company and designed by Herbert P. Schmeck. stories.hersheypa.com
- Comet is an eighty-four-foot wooden coaster with a top speed of fifty miles per hour. en.wikipedia.org
- The coaster has no inversions and is listed at nine hundred and fifty riders per hour. coasterpedia.net
- Its course runs for 3,360 feet and lasts about one minute and forty-five seconds. hersheypark.com
- Comet crosses Spring Creek twice during its 3,360-foot ride. stories.hersheypa.com
- In 2021, Comet received the ACE Preservation Award and Roller Coaster Landmark designation. stories.hersheypa.com
The story of Comet
Comet arrived in the 1946 season as the last coaster personally added to Hersheypark by Milton S. Hershey. Philadelphia Toboggan Company supplied the wooden work, with Herbert P. Schmeck’s hand in the design, and nearly a quarter-million feet of lumber gave The Hollow its new landmark. stories.hersheypa.com
The visitor boards at once for a climb out of the station, then the train turns the green valley into a procession of drops, turns, and creekside views. Spring Creek is part of the journey, crossed twice before the train returns to the station. stories.hersheypa.com
In 1964, Comet gained 6,650 individual ten-watt chaser lights, giving the old wooden course a bright evening outline. Later seasons brought retracking, station work, lift-hill rehabilitation, and new Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters trains for the 2024 season. en.wikipedia.org· stories.hersheypa.com
By its eightieth anniversary season in 2026, Comet stood as Hersheypark’s oldest continuously operating roller coaster. It is a civic heirloom as much as a ride: a postwar wooden coaster still carrying summer visitors through The Hollow. stories.hersheypa.com
Sources
- coasterpedia.net Preferred source
- stories.hersheypa.com Acceptable source
- en.wikipedia.org Acceptable source
- hersheypark.com Acceptable source
- stories.hersheypa.com Acceptable source