The Historic Highway 99 Association of California has posted a new video on the history of the Castaic Creek bridge near Santa Clarita, CA. Come check it out!
All posts by Michael F Ballard
New Video – Garvey Ave in Alhambra
Join the Historic Highway 99 Association of California and explore a section of Garvey Avenue, which was part of the first “freeway” in California.
LADOT Bicycle barrier survey
The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is conducting a survey regarding the implementation of concrete barriers instead of bollards along 3rd Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Make your voice heard and let them know what your opinion is, as well as any experience you may have had either way. Use the link below:
New Videos – 99 Association
The Historic Highway 99 Association of California has posted two new videos. One discusses a “ghost” sign on I-5 near Lebec and the other discusses the Palm and Pine near Madera.
Historic Highway 99 Association of California YouTube
Interesting discovery at Six Flags Magic Mountain
On Friday, August 8, 2025, I was a part of a behind-the-scenes tour at Magic Mountain. Part of the tour included walking part of the infield for Twisted Colossus and Goliath. Two things we saw really stuck out to me. The first was seeing an old section of original Colossus trackway beneath the lift hill. This was something I was already aware but hadn’t seen up close since I learned of it. It had to remain as it was a structural part of the lift hill.
The second discovery was most unexpected but somewhat related to the first. In 2014, the original 1978 Colossus rollercoaster was closed to be transformed into Twisted Colossus by Rocky Mountain Construction in 2015. This “new” coaster would take the old one to a new level with steel track and inversions. There is truly no other rollercoaster like this in the world and happens to be my favorite. A lot of the original supports and track were removed in this process.
Some of the original track from Colossus was repurposed as “soil terraces” along the edge of the maintenance roadway between Goliath / Twisted Colossus and Hurricane Harbor. At first, I noticed sections of wood that looked “odd”. Why would they be put together in such a manner? Upon closer inspection, I saw the original steel “track” that the rollercoaster wheels rode upon. At that point, I knew what I found and was quite excited.
As you can see, this was quite a find and a unique use of some of rollercoaster history. Always keep your eyes peeled for relics of the past at such parks. Magic Mountain has quite a few, some of which this site will review in the future. You never know what you might find out there!
Special thanks to the crew at Magic Mountain for allowing us this tour.