D. H. Morgan Manufacturing
# D. H. Morgan Manufacturing

D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, later simply known as Morgan, was a manufacturer of roller coaster trains, custom amusement rides, roller coasters, children's rides and other amusement devices. Founded in 1983, the company was originally headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. In 1991, the company moved to La Selva Beach, California, and into a new 55,000-square-foot indoor manufacturing facility. That facility was later increased to 75,000 square feet. The company produced a variety of rides from 1983 until 2001, but is probably best known for its steel hyper coasters.

## History

Dana Morgan, the son of Arrow Development co-founder Ed Morgan, founded D. H. Morgan Manufacturing in 1983. He got his start in the amusement industry at age 14 as a ride operator at Playtown, a small children's park in Palo Alto, California, that was owned by Arrow Development. Upon graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo he went to work for Disney, primarily doing design work for the Walt Disney World project. During the construction of Disney World, Morgan went to work for Arrow Development which was building rides for Disney World. In 1974 Morgan left Arrow Development to become the general manager of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. When Huss Maschinenfabrik purchased Arrow Development in 1981, Morgan was appointed president of the newly formed Arrow-Huss. Morgan left Arrow-Huss in 1983 to form his own company, D. H. Morgan Manufacturing. Morgan had originally intended to build carousels, but the company's first contract was to build new trains for the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The demand for new coaster vehicles was so great that the carousel-building business had to be put on hold until 1988. In the meantime, the Electric Antique Car Line was developed, and customer requests came in for custom attractions as well. In March 1991, the company moved to larger facilities in La Selva Beach, California. Dana Morgan continued building trains for wooden coasters until 1994 when on June 8, he sold the wood train manufacturing operation to competitor Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. The last Morgan trains built for a wooden coaster were delivered to Yomiuriland in Japan.

In 1995 Morgan built a Mine Train type ride for Michael Bonfante for what was then called Hecker Pass — A Family Adventure in Gilroy, California. The coaster, Quicksilver Express, was manufactured in 1995 but sat at the Morgan Manufacturing facility for five years before it was finally installed in 2000. Bonfante Gardens opened to the public a year later in 2001. In 1995, Richard Kinzel of Cedar Fair asked Morgan to build a 200-foot hypercoaster for Valleyfair in Minnesota. Utilizing designer Steve Okamoto, whom he had worked with at Arrow Dynamics, Morgan opened Wild Thing in 1996. Morgan went on to build seven more steel coasters, including two more for Cedar Fair. D. H. Morgan Manufacturing also redesigned the former Arrow Coaster Steel Phantom at Kennywood Park in Pennsylvania.

Dana Morgan retired from the amusement industry in 2001 and sold the assets of his company on June 14, 2001 to Michael Chance, who was the sales representative for competitor Chance Industries, Inc.

## List of roller coasters

As of 2019, D.H. Morgan Manufacturing has built 9 roller coasters around the world.

| Name | Model | Park | Country | Opened | Status |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Phantom's Revenge Formerly Steel Phantom | Hyper Coaster | Kennywood | United States | 2001 | Operating |
| Wild Thing | Hyper Coaster | Valleyfair | United States | 1996 | Operating |
| Santa Monica West Coaster | Junior Coaster | Pacific Park | United States | 1996 | Operating |
| Steel Force | Hyper Coaster | Dorney Park | United States | 1997 | Operating |
| Mamba | Hyper Coaster | Worlds of Fun | United States | 1998 | Operating |
| Steel Eel | Hyper Coaster | SeaWorld San Antonio | United States | 1999 | Operating |
| Steel Dragon 2000 | Hyper Coaster | Nagashima Spa Land | Japan | 2000 | Operating |
| Quicksilver Express | Mine Train Coaster | Gilroy Gardens | United States | 2001 | Operating |
| Superman el Último Escape | Hyper Coaster | Six Flags Mexico | Mexico | 2004 | Operating |

## Wooden roller coaster trains

| Opened | Name | Park | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1983 | Giant Dipper | Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk | |
| 1985/86 | Le Monstre | La Ronde | Replaced by PTC trains in 2013 |
| 1985 | Cyclone | Six Flags New England | Replaced by PTC trains in 2000 |
| 1986 | The Grizzly | California's Great America | |
| 1987 | Texas Cyclone | AstroWorld | Closed 2005, demolished March 2006, trains moved to La Ronde |
| 1987 | Colossus | Six Flags Magic Mountain | Coaster converted to Twisted Colossus running RMC trains |
| 1989 | Anaconda | Walygator Parc | |
| 1988 | Dragon Coaster | Playland (New York) | |
| 1989 | Jack Rabbit | Seabreeze Amusement Park | |
| 1989 | Giant Dipper | Belmont Park (San Diego) | |
| 1992 | The Rattler | Six Flags Fiesta Texas | replaced by PTC trains in 1996 |
| 1994 | White Canyon | Yomiuriland | Coaster closed in 2013 |

## Steel roller coasters trains

| Opened | Name | Park | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1987 | Polar Coaster | Story Land | Hopkins Rides coaster with train supplied by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing. | |

## Carousels

| Opened | Venue | Location | Size | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1989 | Town Center Mall | Thornton, Co. | 30 foot | Menagerie carousel (may have been removed from mall) |
| 1989 | Belmont Park | San Diego, Calif. | 30 foot | Liberty themed with 12 custom paintings of San Diego's history. Features replicas of Looff and Dentzel menagerie characters |
| 1990 | Vallco Fashion Park | Cupertino, Calif. | 30 foot | North American wildlife theme (may have been removed from mall) |
| 1991 | Playland Park | Vancouver, B.C. | 30 foot | Restoration of Arrow Dynamics Carousel. 12 hand painted scenes of B.C. Landscape |
| 1992 | Fiesta Texas | San Antonio, Tex. | 47 foot | German themed, 16 scenes of Germany countryside |
| 1993 | Entertainment City | Kuwait | 47 foot | Arabian horse themed, 56 custom Arabian horses |
| 1996 | Carousel Park, Broadway at the Beach | Myrtle Beach, Calif. | | Restoration of Allan Herschell carousel. New fiberglass horses |
| 1999 | Islands of Adventure | Orlando, Fla. | 47 foot | Dr. Seuss themed, 54 animals from classic Dr. Seuss stories |
| 2001 | Disney's California Adventure | Anaheim, Calif. | 47 foot | King Triton themed (Now Jessie themed), 56 sea creatures and multiple icons of Calif. historic seaside parks and as of 2019, Toy Story 2 animals |

## Electric guide-limited auto rides

Morgan produced two styles of cars: Classic Antique cars with two or four-passenger vehicles, and 1950s-themed cars with a working radio that played classic 1950s tunes.

| Opened | Park | Notes |
| - | - | - |
| 1985 | Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk | Antique style cars (removed 1999) |
| 1986 | Lake Compounce | Antique style cars |
| 1987 | Kennywood | Antique style cars (removed 2009, currently in storage) |
| 1987 | Six Flags Magic Mountain | Antique style cars (removed 2008) |
| 1992 | Fiesta Texas | Dual track, 1950s style cars with radio — '56 T-bird, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy (closed August 2014) |
| 1995 | Dollywood | Dual track, 1950s style cars with radio — '56 T-bird, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy |
| 2001 | Bonfante Gardens | 1950s style cars with radio — '57 Chevy, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy |
| 2001 | Bonfante Gardens | Antique style cars — 1900s Mercer Raceabouts |
| 2002 | Michigan's Adventure | Dual track, 1950s style cars with radio — '56 T-bird, '57 Vette, '59 Caddy (removed 2020) |

## Miscellaneous projects

| Opened | Ride | Park | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1988 | Train crash mechanism | Universal Studios Hollywood | |
| 1988 | Children's Boat Ride | Lotte World | Under water track and drive system |
| 1988 | Children's Chariot | Lotte World | |
| 1990 | Tour boat ride | Haw Park Villa, Singapore | 16-passenger boats themed as 100-year-old Chinese junks |
| 1992 | 8 Ball Ride | Fiesta Texas | Teacup-style ride, named Hustler. |
| 1992 | Dark Ride Transport System | Kings Island | Originally for Phantom Theater, later re-used for Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle and Boo Blasters on Boo Hill |
| 1992 | Teddy Bear Ferris Wheel | Lotte World | Highly themed with teddy bears holding candy canes |
| 1992 | Balloon Ride | Knott's Berry Farm | |
| 1993 | Outrigger Canoes | Leofoo Village Theme Park | 300-foot underwater track and drive system |
| 1996 | Delta boat ride | Opryland Hotel | 20-passenger ADA accessible battery-powered boats |
| 1999 | Fairy Tale Brook | Legoland California | 4-passenger rail-guided boats themed to look like floating leaves. |
| 2001 | Garlic Clove Ride | Bonfante Gardens | Teacup-style ride, named Garlic Twist. |
| 2001 | Balloon Ride | Bonfante Gardens | |
| 2001 | Children's Hand Car Ride | Bonfante Gardens | |
| 2001 | Custom Monorail | Bonfante Gardens | |
| 2001 | Circular Boat Ride | Bonfante Gardens | |
| 2001 | Artichoke Ride | Bonfante Gardens | |
| 2001 | Strawberry Ride | Bonfante Gardens | |
