Six Flags Great Adventure is repainting and structurally restoring its 52-year-old Runaway Train coaster, an opening-year ride, as part of wider investment across the New Jersey park.
Six Flags Great Adventure has begun a multi-phase restoration of Runaway Train, the wooden mine-train coaster that opened with the park in 1974. The project covers structural detailing and a repaint into one of the ride’s original heritage colour schemes. It comes as the Jackson, New Jersey park pushes ahead with a separate, unrelated 2027 coaster project exceeding 300 feet.
Runaway Train was designed by Arrow Dynamics and remains one of the park’s original 1974 attractions. The ride climbs a 60-foot lift hill before running through a series of helixes and a stretch across the park’s central lake, reaching speeds of around 38 miles per hour. It has no mid-course brake run, a design feature unchanged by the current restoration.
Ryan Eldredge, director of sales and marketing at Six Flags Great Adventure, said: ‘Runaway Train is more than a roller coaster. It’s part of the story of Six Flags Great Adventure.’ Eldredge added: ‘Restoring the ride’s classic appearance is an exciting step in honouring that legacy while ensuring it continues to create memories for generations to come.’
The restoration arrives alongside a broader period of capital investment at the park. Shoreline Pier, a new seaside-themed district at The Boardwalk, opened this summer with dining, flat rides and games. The Safari Off-Road Adventure truck tours have also returned to operation. Six Flags has not disclosed a completion date or budget for the Runaway Train restoration.
The project reflects a wider pattern across the Six Flags portfolio, where several parks have restored or renamed legacy rides around anniversary milestones this year, including Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Great American Revolution and Six Flags Great America’s American Eagle.
Image: Six Flags Great Adventure
