A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements usually designed to produce a thrilling experience. Trains consist of open cars connected in a single line, and the rides are often found in theme parks around the world. Roller coasters first appeared in the 17th century, and LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, based on the Switchback Railway which opened a year earlier at Coney Island.
A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be made of steel lattice or truss, which has no bearing on a wooden coaster's classification. The type of wood often selected in the construction of wooden coasters worldwide is southern yellow pine, which grows abundantly in the southern United States, due to its density and adherence to different forms of pressure treatment.
Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry B. Auchy and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The company manufactured carousels, wooden roller coasters, toboggans and later, roller coaster trains.
Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, both of whom had worked for Giovanola.
Matterhorn Bobsleds is a attraction that consists of a pair of intertwined steel roller coasters running through a fabricated mountain. It is located at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and is modeled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is the first known tubular steel track roller coaster. Located on the border between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, it employs forced perspective to seem larger.
Euclid Beach Park was an amusement park located on the southern shore of Lake Erie in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, which operated from 1895 to 1969.
Disaster Transport was an enclosed steel bobsled roller coaster built by Intamin at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It was notable as being the only indoor roller coaster at Cedar Point, the only bobsled roller coaster in the Midwestern United States, and the only enclosed bobsled roller coaster in the world at its debut. The name of the ride stems from a rearrangement of the letters "Dispatch MasterTransport", which could still be seen in the ride's logo in its later years. Before the ride was enclosed, the supports and outer sides of the track were painted blue.
Alpine Bobsled was a steel bobsled roller coaster located at the Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor amusement park in Queensbury, New York. Manufactured by Intamin, the coaster first opened to the public in 1984 at Six Flags Great Adventure. It was relocated to Six Flags Great America in 1989, and then to Six Flags Great Escape in 1998. The Alpine Bobsled closed permanently on September 4, 2023 and was dismantled to make room for a new Gravity Group family wooden coaster named The Bobcat.
A bobsled roller coaster is a roller coaster that uses a track design that is essentially a "pipe" with the top half removed and has cars that are sent down this pipe in a freewheeling mode. The name derives from the great similarity to the track design used for the winter sport of bobsleigh.
John A. Miller, born August John Mueller, was an American roller coaster designer and builder, inventor, and businessman. Miller patented over 100 key roller coaster components, and is widely considered the "father of the modern high-speed roller coaster." During his lifetime, he participated in the design of approximately 150 coasters and was a key business partner and mentor to other well-known roller coaster designers, including Harry C. Baker and John C. Allen.
Flying Turns is a wooden bobsled roller coaster at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. It is modeled after a similar ride designed by John Norman Bartlett and John Miller in the 1920s. The ride concept is similar to a modern steel bobsled roller coaster; however Flying Turns is made of wood, like the original rides. The layout of the ride is most similar to the original located at Riverview Park in Chicago, Illinois.
La Vibora is a steel bobsled roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas, United States.
Runaway Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located in the Boomtown section of Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. Built in 1966, Runaway Mine Train is the oldest roller coaster in the park.
Space Mountain is an indoor, space-themed roller coaster in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Opened on May 27, 1977, it was the second roller coaster built at Disneyland, and was the second of the five versions of Space Mountain built by The Walt Disney Company. Its exterior façade is one of Disneyland's three "mountain" structures that serve as park landmarks.
Reptilian is a bobsled roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, United States. Manufactured by Mack Rides, the roller coaster debuted as Avalanche in 1988 and was renamed to Reptilian in 2022 following a refurbishment. The change coincided with the addition of a new themed area at the park called Jungle X-Pedition.
Roller coaster amusement rides have origins back to ice slides constructed in 18th-century Russia. Early technology featured sleds or wheeled carts that were sent down hills of snow reinforced by wooden supports. The technology evolved in the 19th century to feature railroad track using wheeled cars that were securely locked to the track. Newer innovations emerged in the early 20th century with side friction and underfriction technologies to allow for greater speeds and sharper turns. By the mid-to-late 20th century, these elements intensified with the introduction of steel roller coaster designs and the ability to invert riders.
Avalanche is a steel bobsled roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, England. It is the first and, as of 2022, the only bobsled roller coaster in the United Kingdom. It was designed for the park by Mack of Germany in 1988.
On a roller coaster, the wheel assemblies are the point of contact between the cars carrying the riders and the track rails. They often consist of at least 3 wheels per assembly, but can contain more.
Van Helsing's Factory is a steel enclosed roller coaster at the Movie Park Germany amusement park in Bottrop, Germany. The Gerstlauer dark ride opened in June 2011 as a replacement for the defunct Gremlin Invasion ride.
