Idora Park Youngstown, Ohio October 2000 Page Two
The Wildcat was laid out in a figure eight shape. This hill was right in the middle of the ride. There was the first drop that would go up another hill at the back end of the ride that was legendary for intense lateral G forces and then down and over this hill in the middle of the "8".
All of the track squeezes through the middle of the ride and here you can see the covered brake run and the middle hill. Early coasters brakes were called skid brakes and they basically were a board that ran between the rails that would raise up and rub against the coaster train slowing it by friction. Brake runs were covered up because if it rained and the brakes got wet they were pretty ineffective and the trains would not stop.
Here's a look down the brake run. You can see the brakes between the rails. The two long running boards between the rails are the skid brakes. As you can see part of the roof has collapsed in and the majority of wood on this ride is totally rotten. When I walked under the ride there were several supports that were rotten all the way through. I don't think you could restore this ride at it's current location but hopefully someone has the plans and rebuilds it because I'd love to ride it.
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