John C. Allen

This article is about the roller coaster designer. For other persons named John C. Allen, see John Allen.

John C. Allen
Born	(1907-05-21)May 21, 1907 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died
Occupation	Roller coaster designer
Years active	1934–1979
Known for	Philadelphia Toboggan Company manufacturers

John C. Allen (May 21, 1907 – August 17, 1979) was a roller coaster designer who was responsible for the revival of wooden roller coasters which began in the 1970s. He attended Drexel University. He started working for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1934 as a coaster operator and rose to become president of the company by 1954. He has designed over 25 coasters and has made significant contributions to roller coaster technology. He once said, "You don't need a degree in engineering to design roller coasters, you need a degree in psychology."

Surviving John Allen Coasters

Name	Location	Built
Valley Volcano	Angela Park (amusement park)	1956
Jet Flyer/Sea Dragon	Gooding Zoo Park/Wyandot Lake/Jungle Jack's Landing	1956
Tornado	Wedgewood Village	1960
Skyliner	Lakemont Park	1960
Golden Nugget Mine/Black Diamond	Knoebels Amusement Resort	1960
Starliner	Miracle Strip/Cypress Gardens	1963
Giant Coaster/The Wild One	Six Flags America	1963
Blue Streak	Cedar Point	1964
Swamp Fox	Grand Strand Park/Family Kingdom	1966
Cannon Ball	Lake Winnepesaukah	1967
Zingo	Bell's Amusement Park	1968
Great American Scream Machine	Six Flags Over Georgia	1973
Rebel Yell	Kings Dominion	1975
Woodstock Express	Kings Dominion	1975
Screamin' Eagle	Six Flags St. Louis	1976
The Racer	Kings Island	1972
Woodstock Express	Kings Island	1972

Sources

• John C. Allen at Encyclopaedia Britannica