After much anticipation by coaster enthusiasts and fans of the century-old amusement park, Hersheypark announced the details of its new roller coaster for 2012 in the a PR blitz on August 2. Hersheypark’s new coaster for 2012 is Skyrush, a 200-foot roller coaster from Intamin featuring trains with unique winged outer seating.
This past week, the first track pieces for Skyrush made it to Hershey. The track color was promoted as goldenrod–a vibrant yellow. I am not a huge fan of the color of the powder blue supports of Skyrush, and was unsure how I’d react to the track color. Having seen the actual painted track, I have to tell you, goldenrod is a fantastic color choice.
The first two dozen or so sections of track for the approx. 3,600-foot-long Skyrush have been placed in a field across Hersheypark Drive from the Midway America end of the park. I was able to get some pics on 8/20. Keep in mind these images were shot at around 1 pm, with the flat light of a high-in-the sky August sun. Next year, Skyrush’s track is going to really pop in pictures, especially those taken during the outdoor photography “golden hours” early in the morning (think a 9 am start time for Sweet Access operations) and in the early evening.
The Wildcat, the GCI wooden twister at Hersheypark, is pictured in the background of a few of the pictures. In a few others you can see the distinctive towers of the historic Hotel Hershey, a grand hotel that’s the marquee park resort hotel, majestically situated on a hill overlooking Hersheypark and the town. You also get a number of close detail shots of some of the track pieces–visual inspection of the welds, anyone? Be sure to click on any image that interests you for a larger version.
Enjoy!











[...] In other news, some new photos of the Skyrush track have been posted to PA Coaster News. [...]