From humble beginnings to dominating modern theme park skylines, roller coasters are steeped with a rich history of technical advancements. Here’s a timeline of many highlights that influenced the development of roller coasters throughout the years.
During the early 20th century, “flat” steel track (that is, non-tubular) was used for certain roller coasters to provide a smoother ride than wooden track. Steel track carried the advantage of requiring less maintenance than wooden track, and required less support structure.
A Virginia Reel had a spinning car going down a twisting track. The one at Pleasure Beach Blackpool in the UK was demolished due to safety issues in 1981 and was one of the last remaining in the world.
A founding father of the roller coaster industry, Miller’s first creation was the simply named Roller Coaster at Cascade Park in Pennsylvania, USA. Miller would go on to design more than 140 coasters.
Leap the Dips is the oldest operating roller coaster in the world opened on June 2, 1920. It’s a side-friction Toboggan coaster and resides at Lakemount Park in Pennsylvania, USA.
Around the same time as the first Scenic Railway appeared, so did the Toboggan roller coaster (also known as Figure 8 or Leap the Dips). These coasters ran through wooden troughs that featured mild dips and turns, while wheels on the side and bottom of the car guided the train along. Brakes in the track, controlled by an operator, kept speeds down.
Developed and built by LaMarcus Thompson at Atlantic City in New Jersey, USA, these rides were seen as an exciting tour, rather than a heart-stopping adventure. The ride had wheels underneath, and on the sides, but nothing held the cars onto the track, so speed was controlled by a brakeman on the ride.
Flip-Flap Railway, featuring a 25 foot (7.6m) tall loop, opened at Coney Island in New York, USA.
These early coasters were made famous by LeMarcus Thompson and first opened at New York City’s Coney Island in 1884. Though Richard Knudson patented the design first, it was Thompson that brought them to the masses. Riders would climb to the top of the structure and get in the car. It would then gently, at around 6 mph (10 km/h), undulate to the ground. There it would be pushed up the other side by workers. At the top, the car would be “switched” onto the parallel return track and sent back to the start. Rendering of a computer re-created Switchback.
The first looping roller coasters made their first appearance in Europe in the 1840’s with one opening in France and a smaller one in the UK.
Two wooden tracked “coasters” were built in France. They had very simple layouts, with carriages connected to the track.