Farmer builds amusement ride on farm

BRUCEVILLE, Ind. -- When John Ivers feels the urge to ride a roller coaster he just walks out to his front lawn and hops on the Blue Flash, a 188-foot-long, 20-foot-high amusement ride he's built for his two daughters and four grandchildren.\nHe didn't build it for his wife, Sharon. \n"I'm afraid of heights," she said. "I just can't handle them. Everyone gives me a hard time, because it's here and I won't ride it."\nIvers, 48, started building the roller coaster in late 1999 and finished it a year ago. It features a 360-degree "corkscrew" loop where the rider is upside down for a split-second.\nThe top speed has been clocked on a radar gun at 25 mph. The roller coaster car only seats one and has a weight limit of 220 pounds. It runs by electrical power and has no brakes.\nWhen someone is riding it, the power must be manually turned off for it to stop. Ivers named it the "Blue Flash" because "I painted it blue and it goes around in a flash."\nThe roller coaster goes up and over a small barn in Ivers' yard. The entire ride lasts 34 seconds, but half of that is the climb up the side of the barn. Ivers is a fan of roller coasters and said his favorite is at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.\nHe also likes the two at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Ind.\n"I like the thrill," Ivers said. "I've been going to amusement parks to ride them, but I hate waiting in line for two hours for a 30-second ride."\nIvers, who works at Riley Equipment Co. in Vincennes, is trained in welding. He built the roller coaster based on his observations on how they were constructed. As each part of the roller coaster was built, he tested it.\nThe support posts are embedded in concrete while the hundreds of pieces of track are welded together. Ivers said the biggest expense was the motor and the 52-foot chain -- pulleys and sprockets used to pull the car up the barn wall.\nAfter Ivers built the corkscrew, he tested it by sending the car through alone. However, to fully test it he had to make the ride himself.\n"That was a scary first ride, let me tell you," Ivers said, but the loop worked. Ivers said he never sought publicity for his roller coaster, but it's found him.\nRoller coaster enthusiasts Paul and Carrie Drabek spotted his invention while riding along U.S. 41 north of Vincennes. They took pictures of the roller coaster and posted them on their Web site.\nThis led to a telephone call from the producer of the television show "Ripley's Believe It or Not." A crew taped a feature on the roller coaster in April to be aired sometime this summer.\nIvers has begun building an oval-track roller coaster around his garden that will be all hills because roller coaster fans love the feeling of weightlessness when they top a hill and begin their descent.\nUnlike the Blue Flash, Ivers said his second roller coaster is being built free standing and will consist of sections bolted together, so it can be assembled and disassembled.\n"I won't build one higher than 25 feet," Ivers said. He also won't build one for more than one rider. He believes this will help with insurance costs and safety concerns.\n"I think it could lead into a business," Ivers said, about building roller coasters for private home use. "That would be awesome"