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The History Of Roller Coasters
What I know of it anyway
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Russia Goes Sledding
The very first recorded rollercoasters were found in Russia in the 1400's. They were actully large wooden slides covered with ice. People would slide down these wooden ramps on sleds and other things. As time progressed onwards wheels were added to the sleds and longer courses were built. The idea became very popular and the other near-by areas began to make slides. They were called "Russian Mountians".
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The Rollercoaster Comes to America
In 1827 a man named Josiah White turned a coal transport in Pennsylvania into a tourist attraction. It was called the Mauch Chunk Railroad. In 1845 it was expanded and turned into a very long twisty rollercoaster ride. It was very popular and encouraged other people to build rollercoaster rides. In 1884 another rollercoaster was built but this time it was built entirely for tourists thus making it the "first true American rollercoaster". This rollercoaster was built at New York's Coney Island and was called "The Switch-Back Railway". As time progressed many parks and roller coasters sprang up all over America, but it wasnt until 1912 that the "Miller Under friction Wheel" was invented. This allowed roller coasters to be built taller, faster and more thrilling. Time went on and more parks (and coasters) were sprang up everywhere, the great depression came and many parks went bankrupt and were destroyed. After that World War II came and after that the television became popular. Many great classic rides and parks were destroyed. But time went on and things improved again, and more roller coasters were built, and the "Wild Mouse" was invented.
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Modern Steel Coasters
In 1959 Disneyland opened its famous attraction, "Matterhorn Bobsleds" built by Arrow Dynamics, this rollercoaster is considered to be the first modern steel rollercoaster. After the massive success of Matterhorn bobsleds, Arrow went on and invented the mine train coaster. In 1975 Knott's Berry farm in Fanfare California opened "Corkscrew" the first arrow Corkscrew and the first modern inverting Rollercoaster. Then in 1997 Anton Schwarzkopf's company built "Revolution" the first modern vertical looping coaster,and "King Cobra" at Paramounts Kings Dominion. It was the very first shuttle loop rollercoaster.
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Under The Track Coasters
In 1973 the first suspended rollercoaster was built at Oktoberfest (a fair) in germany. it was called Alpenflug (alpine flight). Although it only survived 17 days due to problems with the design that cuased mechanical problems. In 1984 Arrow dynamics improved the suspended coaster and built The Bug Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Also in 1984 a ride manufactor called Vekoma designed the extremely popular "boomerang" model.
ALSO in 1984 the world's first stand-up rollercoaster was built at Kings Island. It was called the King Cobra. Later on in 1992 B&M introduced the Worlds first inverted rollercoaster. Unlike the suspended coaster, the inverted coaster's cars don't swing. The ride was called Batman : The Ride at Six Flags Great America. It was a massive success and many parks today are still building inverted coasters.
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More types of coasters are invented
Hyper Coasters
In 1999 a rollercoaster manufactor called Itamin built Superman : Ride of Steel. At 205ft S:ROS was the worlds first hyper coaster
Flying Coasters
In the year 2000 Paramount's Great America built Stealth, built by Vekoma International, it was the worlds first flying coaster. After Stealth was a massive success B&M made a Flying coaster at Alton Towers in the UK. It was called Air and it lead to many more B&M Flying coasters.
Strata Coasters
In 2003 a rollercoaster manufactor called Itamin, again stunned the amusement industry when it built Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point in Ohio. TTD broke records in height and speed.
And thats Coaster History so far
Special Thanks to The American Rollercoaster book by Scott Ruthord and CoasterForce.com. I learned almost everything about Rollercoaster History from them.
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