http://triblocal.com/gurnee/2011/08/01/ ... t-america/
Six Flags Great America is asking rollercoaster enthusiasts to celebrate a milestone for one of the park??????s most famous rides by looking backward.
Park officials announced Monday the return of ??????backwards blue?????? cars on the American Eagle.
The famously bumpy, double-tracked, wooden coaster, which is celebrating its 30th year in operation, boasts side-by-side tracks ?????? one with red cars and one with blue. Both trains normally operate in a forward-facing manner.
But on special occasions, the park will operate the blue cars backward, said park spokeswoman Jennifer Dugan Savage.
The Eagle will run backwards blue cars Aug. 8 through Sept. 17.
Still the tallest, fastest and longest racing wooden coaster in the world, the American Eagle has given more than 45 million rides during its three-decade tenure, according to park officials.
The Eagle reaches a top speed of 66 mph. Riders plunge 147 feet ?????? about 15 stories ?????? at first drop and then coast up and down a series of smaller hills. Three hundred-sixty-degree turns in the track span an area of about 237,000 feet.