The Bobs: Riverview Park
Erected for the 1924 season at Riverview Park and destroyed in 1967, the Bobs has had an aura around it among the riders who experienced the unforgiving roller coaster. The ride was designed by the legendary duo of Prior & Church and built by Traver Engineering Company. According to historian Richard Munch, there is a good chance that Harry Traver brokered the deal. The coaster stood only 87 feet high and 3,235 feet high, but was more intense than many of the taller wooden coasters standing today.
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The Riverview Bobs was an exercise in terror and an intense coaster ride. But first-time riders did not know that, as they stepped up to a simple set of Grecian columns (these were later replaced with a large, colorful BOBS sign that hung out front). |
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| Train one flies by the loading area, while another climbs the lift. One of the columns that led to the queue can be scene in the upper right hand corner. |
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Train 3 navigates one of the smaller hills near the station, note the flanged wheels on the train. In the distance is the Pair-O-Chutes parachute drop. |
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Riders brace themselves as they fly down another one of the Bob's hills. Although the coaster shook riders from one side to another, the cars were padded and some of the most comfortable to be found on any coaster. The trains were built in-house, modeled after Prior & Church coaches and remain some of the best ever created (photo from the collection of the Chicago Transit Authority). |
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Here is another view of the coaster's front area. Note the Bobs ticket window in the distance. |
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Amusement Park History, Copyright 2002.