Over-the-Top / The Racer

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Over-the-Top / The Racer
Type Roller Coaster
Track Ride
Park Section North
Built 1917
Opened 1918
Closed 1937 (park closure)
Materials Wood
Length 1.25 miles (2 kilometers)
Height 82 feet (25 meters)
Vehicle Type Cars
Inversions 0
Cost More than $250,000$5.32 million in 2025 dollars

The Over-the-Top roller coaster was built in 1917[1] and opened in 1918 at Olentangy Park, next to the Shoot-the-Chutes.[2][3] Eighty-two feet from the ground, it was 1.25 miles2 kilometers long.[4][5] It cost more than $250,000$5.32 million in 2025 dollars to build.[6]

It was renamed to The Racer by 1926 and was described as "two rides in one."[7] It was operational until the park closed in 1937.[8]

The coaster was a "racer" type where two sets of cars "raced" around the tracks.[9]

References

  1. "Lavish Park Plans." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, September 23, 1917. Page 56.
  2. "Are You Going Over the Top?" Columbus Evening Dispatch, April 27, 1918. Page 12.
  3. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. Sanborn Map Company, - 1922 Vol. 3, 1922, 1922. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn06656_008/.
  4. "Are You Going Over the Top?" Columbus Evening Dispatch. April 27, 1918. Page 12.
  5. General Map, The Olentangy Amusement Co., Columbus, Ohio, 1924.
  6. "Quarter Million Spent." Columbus Evening Dispatch. April 25, 1918. Page 24.
  7. "Rides, Etc. at the Park." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 31, 1927. Page 68.
  8. Franklin Survey Co. 1937. Map. City of Columbus, Franklin Co., Ohio, Vol. 1. Accessed through Ebay.com https://www.ebay.com/itm/235251834706
  9. "Park's Favorite Rides." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 8, 1937. Page 18.