Roller Coasters History

Roller coasters have greatly progressed from their humble beginnings. Throughout the years, many different people have aided in their advancement into the mechanical feat they are today. The first “roller coasters” originated in Russia, but were much less high-tech. Russians carved out wood-framed tracks in the snow and poured water over them, which would then freeze into ice in the freezing temperatures. These ice slides originally did not have carts; people would sit and slide down the slope. Eventually the French adopted this idea from the Russians. In the 1800s, a few of creative frenchmen decided to replicate the motion induced by the ice with rollers. The United States eventually took note of these simple contraptions, in the 1870s,

It still had no seatbelts, but began with a 30 foot drop then went around a loop, exposing the passengers to almost 12 Gs. Edward Prescott further developed the idea of upside-down loops. His Loop the Loop had a teardrop shared loop which exposed people to fewer Gs, making for a much comfortable ride. However, the ride had a short lifetime because of the low interest; with only four people able to ride at once, it had an extremely long wait time. Roller coaster development and production grew rapidly during the 1920s, and this era is often referred to as the “Golden Age of Roller Coasters.” In 1927, Coney Island added a wooden roller coaster called Cyclone with an initial drop of 85 feet. This coaster was said to have had healing powers after Emilio Franco, mute from birth, was unexplainably cured after riding. The Golden Age ended at the beginning of the Great Depression due to a lack in interests and funds for amusement parks. In 1959, Walt Disney revived roller coasters through the addition of Matterhorn Bobsleds in Disneyland. This coaster was 147 feet tall and was the first to be constructed using steel for the frame and nylon wheels on the