Did you know that the first looping roller coaster in America was shut down because of whiplash and snapped necks? And the grandaddy of American coasters reached an incredible 50 miles per hour (almost 50 years before the automobile was invented)? Well, I’ve got plenty for more fun facts about the roller coasters’ evolution ahead!
Coasting Through the History of Roller Coasters!
Roller coasters, like amusement parks, didn’t simply spring up overnight. In the case of amusement parks, they developed over the course of a millennia. Flat rides, water rides and dark rides evolved as technology improved, yet nothing moved quite as fast as the roller coaster. And nothing packs an amusement park quite like the latest and greatest new coaster.
So, when was the roller coaster invented? And by whom?
The story of the roller coaster goes all the way back to Russia and Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia for the last half of the 18th century. As a form of entertainment, she would have tall wooden structures built around her palaces that she would slide down on a cart. In the winter, water would be poured over the slide to create a frozen track for the carts.
The idea caught on, and the next steps were wooden coasters built in France in the early 1800s that were called Russian Mountains (clever, no?). Guide rails and a locking track were added for safety, but coasters still took a while to get to the stage we know them today.
The Birth of the American Coaster
The Mauch Chunk Railway is considered the first coaster in America. Back in the day, though, coasters went by a completely different name: the Switchback Railway. With the beginnings of the coaster obsession starting with the 1827 Mauch Chunk Railway, we could only go up from there. Or down.
And the first riders of the Mauch Chunk Railway were mules!
The next big step in the evolution of the roller coaster was ushered in by LaMarcus Adna Thompson’s in 1884, with his Switchback Railway at Coney Island. This gravity-powered railway was so popular that there were lines during the entire season. Thompson’s ride started a coaster war that hasn’t really stopped since.
Believe it or not: the switchback railway at Coney Island went a whopping 6 miles per hour!
Check Out My Video on the History of Roller Coasters to Learn More!
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Let’s Hear From You
The roller coaster’s evolution made a significant impact on the development of modern amusement parks. Can you imagine riding a Russian ice slide? Did you realize that Roller Coasters had such an ancient history? What is your favorite historic or modern coaster?
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