Portal:Roller coasters
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. People ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are often found in amusement parks and theme parks around the world. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, related to the Switchback Railway that opened a year earlier at Coney Island. The track in a coaster design does not necessarily have to be a complete circuit, as shuttle roller coasters demonstrate. Most roller coasters have multiple cars in which passengers sit and are restrained. Two or more cars hooked together are called a train. Some roller coasters, notably wild mouse roller coasters, run with single cars.
Selected general articles
- The Wild Mouse, a Wild Mouse roller coaster in operation at Luna Park Sydney
A Wild Mouse roller coaster (also Mad Mouse or Crazy Mouse) is a type of roller coaster characterised by small cars that seat four people or fewer and ride on top of the track, taking tight, flat turns (without banking) at modest speeds, yet producing high lateral G-forces. The track work is characterised by many turns and bunny hops, the latter producing abrupt negative vertical G forces. When approaching a turn from a straight section the intended impression is that one will simply continue straight, and thus plunge off of the device, this since there are no transition sections as are in a conventional high speed coaster track and the turn itself is obscured upon close approach. Almost all Wild Mice feature "switchback" sections, consisting of several of these unbanked turns, separated by straight sections. Usually the turns on the switchback section are 180°, but some coasters feature 90° turns as well as more rarely steep runs with loops (for example Crazy Mouse at Tobu Zoo in Japan, which is no longer operating). Some riders, usually among taller people, report sustaining whiplash after being subjected to these turns.
The feeling of a Wild Mouse coaster is amplified by using cars that are wider than the track itself, giving the impression that the riders are hanging off the side or that they might fly out, thus giving it the name "wild". Read more...
A mine train roller coaster is a steel roller coaster whose trains often depict a set of mine carts, with the forward-most car or portions of it sometimes resembling a small steam locomotive. Most mine train roller coasters are themed in the style of a mine, a Western scene, or simply a mountain range.
Traditional mine train roller coaster track elements include several banked turns and helices. There are sometimes level straightaway sections, but few large drops. Most include more than one lift hill. Often, a mine train roller coaster will make its way through trees, tunnels, rock formations, and over small bodies of water. Some feature scenes with animatronic figures. Read more...
Virginia Reel at Ontario Beach Amusement Park, Charlotte, Rochester, New York c. 1910
Virginia Reel was an older style of spinning roller coaster characterized by spinning circular "tubs" that zig-zagged down a flat-bottomed track. Read more...
A flying roller coaster is a type of roller coaster meant to simulate the sensations of flight by harnessing riders in a prone position during the duration of the ride. The roller coaster cars are suspended below the track, with riders secured such that their backs are parallel to the track. Flying roller coasters come in a variety of sizes and designs depending on the intended demographic for the ride. Some flying roller coasters are intended for children and, thus, are relatively slow and gentle; others are meant for older children and adults and can be very fast and intense. Read more...
The scenic railway ride at Luna Park, Melbourne has been running since 1912. The brakeman stands between the two carriages.
A side friction coaster is an early roller coaster design that has two sets of wheels - normal road wheels, and side-friction wheels to prevent the cars from derailing on sharp curves. In comparison, modern roller coasters have a third set of wheels, called up-stop wheels, that allow them to perform steep drops, whereas side-friction coasters almost never featured drops of steeper than 45 degrees.
An even earlier design, the scenic railway, used only road wheels, and was thus incapable of sharp turns and steep drops, and usually required a brakeman to ride on the train and slow it down when necessary. Their name derives from the fact that they are often adorned with elaborate façades. Read more...- Figure 8 roller coasters are a category of roller coasters where the train runs through a figure 8 shaped course before returning to the boarding station. This design was one of the first designs to be featured in roller coaster design, along with the out and back roller coaster. The figure 8 design allowed for more turns than the out and back design, offering riders an alternative experience.
An early and famous example of a Figure 8 is the Leap the Dips at Lakemont Park, in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Read more...
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster which has increased in use in the last two decades. In place of a traditional chain lift, the launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest rollercoasters in the world. Launched coasters mainly feature improved speed, and capability to accommodate more "thrilling" layouts. These coasters, however, can be less reliable than traditional chain-lifted coasters, and are considered to require heavier maintenance. The first launched roller coaster was Montezooma's Revenge at Knotts Berry Farm in Southern California. Read more...
A 4th Dimension Roller Coaster is a type of steel roller coaster whereby riders are rotated independently of the orientation of the track, generally about a horizontal axis that is perpendicular to the track. The cars do not necessarily need to be fixed to an angle. Read more...
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.
Most modern bobsled roller coasters are made of steel; however, the first bobsled coasters, known as Flying Turns, were made of wood. On Oct 4, 2013, after seven years of construction, Knoebels in Pennsylvania opened the world's only modern wooden flying turns coaster, Flying Turns. The ride was scheduled to open in 2007, but had been delayed due to dysfunctional wheels and other issues. As there were no historic plans available, the new coaster was designed entirely from scratch. Read more...
Dragon Challenge. This was the world's only Dueling Steel-Inverted roller coaster until it was demolished in 2017. It was located at Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando Resort, Orlando, Florida.
A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated wheels, the steel roller coasters can provide a taller, smoother, and faster ride with more inversions than a traditional wooden roller coaster.
Arrow Dynamics first introduced the steel roller coaster to feature tubular track to the thrill industry with their creations of the Matterhorn Bobsleds (Disneyland) in 1959 and the Runaway Mine Train (Six Flags Over Texas) in 1966. Read more...
A dual-tracked roller coaster is a roller coaster which consists of two tracks. There are three types of dual-tracked roller coasters: racing, dueling, and Möbius Loop roller coasters.
Not all parks choose to operate both sides of their dual-tracked coasters; Rolling Thunder and Colossus are two examples of this. Other parks operate one side frontwards and one side backwards. Read more...
The Pipeline Coaster is a roller coaster model where the trains ride between the tracks as opposed to a traditional roller coaster where they ride above them. The concept was first developed by Japanese ride company TOGO, and was known as the Ultra Twister. They built six installations of the design, and five are still in operation. Arrow Dynamics created an alternate version of the concept, but it never made it past the prototype stage in development. Intamin also experimented with the pipeline concept and built and relocated one model, known as the Spiral Coaster, but it is no longer operating. Some of the drawbacks of the design include the need for large, uncomfortable over-the-shoulder restraints as well as the obstruction of the riders' view by the enclosed pipe structure. Read more...
Terrain roller coasters are roller coasters which, as their name suggests, take advantage of the (usually) natural undulations of the land upon which they are built. Such rides may often weave through forests, and some may even dive down cliffs. Because they tend to stay close to the ground, they require fewer supports and thus are usually cheaper than the same coaster on flat ground.
Famous examples: Read more...
A wooden roller coaster is most often classified as a roller coaster with running rails made of flattened steel strips mounted on laminated wooden track. Occasionally, the support structure may be made out of a steel lattice or truss, but the ride remains classified as a wooden roller coaster due to the track design. Because of the limits of wood, wooden roller coasters, in general, do not have inversions (when the coaster goes upside down), steep drops, or extremely banked turns (overbanked turns). However, there are exceptions; the defunct Son of Beast at Kings Island had a 214-foot-high (65 m) drop and originally had a 90-foot-tall (27 m) loop until the end of the 2006 season, although the loop had steel supports. Other special cases are Hades 360 at Mount Olympus Water and Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The coaster features a double-track tunnel, a corkscrew, and a 90-degree banked turn. There is also The Voyage at Holiday World (an example of a wooden roller coaster with a steel structure for supports) featuring three separate 90-degree banked turns. Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park has a 90-degree banked turn, T Express at Everland in South Korea with a 77-degree drop, and Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City which has 3 inversions and 120-degree overbanked turn. Read more...
An inverted roller coaster is a roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. This latter attribute is what sets it apart from the older suspended coaster, which runs under the track, but swings via a pivoting bar attached to the wheel carriage. The coaster type's inverted orientation distinguishes it from a traditional roller coaster, where the passengers' legs rather than arms are exposed.
The inverted coaster was pioneered by the Swiss roller coaster designers Bolliger & Mabillard in the early 1990s. The first installation came at Six Flags Great America in 1992. Batman: The Ride opened to much fanfare and was "cloned" many times at other parks. The inverted coaster quickly became an industry favorite with custom designs installed nearly every year. The tallest and fastest inverted coaster is Wicked Twister at Cedar Point towering 215 feet (66 m) and reaching speeds up to 72 miles per hour (116 km/h). The longest inverted coaster is Banshee at Kings Island which travels along 4,124 feet (1,257 m) of track. Read more...
Drop off the Comet, an out and back roller coaster.
Out and back refers to the layout of a roller coaster. An out and back coaster is one that climbs a lift hill soon after leaving the station, races out to the far end of the track after the initial drop, performs a 180 degree turn and then returns to the station. Some out and back coasters perform more complicated turns at the far end of the track.
This particular design is very popular and is easy to design and construct. With an out and back design the hills on the way "out" usually are quite large and gradually decrease in size. The hills on the way "back" are usually "bunny hops", or small hills created to maximize air-time. Read more...
A Wing Coaster is a type of steel roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard where pairs of riders sit on either side of a roller coaster track in which nothing is above or below the riders. Development of the Wing Coaster began between 2007 and 2008 leading to the opening of Raptor at Gardaland, the world's first Wing Coaster, on 1 April 2011. There are currently fifteen Wing Coasters either under construction or operating worldwide. Read more...
A suspended roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the car hangs from the bottom of the rolling stock by a pivoting fulcrum or hinge assembly. This allows the car and riders to swing side to side as the train races along the track. Due to the swing designs, these roller coasters cannot invert riders. Read more...
The Shockwave at Drayton Manor Theme Park, the only Stand-up roller coaster to feature a zero-g roll inversion.
A stand-up roller coaster is a roller coaster designed to have the passengers stand through the course of the ride. These roller coasters are very intense, and generally carry taller height restrictions than other rides. Read more...
A spinning roller coaster is a roller coaster with cars that rotate on a vertical axis. Read more...
The Dive Coaster is a steel roller coaster model developed and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. The design features one or more near-vertical drops that are approximately 90 degrees, which provide a moment of free-falling for passengers. The experience is enhanced by unique trains that seat up to ten riders per row, spanning only two or three rows total. Unlike traditional train design, this distinguishing aspect gives all passengers virtually the same experience throughout the course of the ride. Another defining characteristic of Dive Coasters is the holding brake at the top of the lift hill that stops the train momentarily right as it enters the first drop, suspending some passengers with a view looking straight down and releasing suddenly moments later.
Development of the Dive Coaster began between 1994 and 1995 with Oblivion at Alton Towers opening on March 14, 1998, making it the world's first Dive Coaster. The trains for this type of coaster are relatively short consisting of two to three cars. B&M also uses floorless trains on this model to enhance the experience. As of July 2018, thirteen Dive Coasters have been built, with the newest being Western Regions Heaven at Happy Valley Chengdu and a new one is currently being constructed for the 2019 season: Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland. Read more...
A Floorless Coaster is a type of steel roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard where riders sit with no floor underneath them allowing their feet to swing freely just above the track. Development of the Floorless Coaster began between 1995 and 1996 with Medusa (now known as Bizarro) at Six Flags Great Adventure opening on April 2, 1999, making it the world's first Floorless Coaster. Floorless Coasters also tend to have 3 to 7 inversions incorporated in the layout of the coaster. Recently, Bolliger & Mabillard have used floorless trains on their Dive Coasters, such as Griffon and SheiKra. Though they contain floorless trains, the coasters are still not considered Floorless Coasters as B&M classifies them as another model. Also, Maurer Söhne have designed their own version of the Floorless Coaster, a variant of their X-Car called X-Car Floorless, but currently do not have any installations. Read more...
The Boomerang is one of the most common shuttle coasters
A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit, but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller coasters, due to the ubiquity of Vekoma's Boomerang coaster model. Read more...
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Selected images
This all-wooden roller coaster, built in 1951, dominates the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland.
Raptor, a steel inverted coaster, is located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.
Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point is the first strata coaster ever built.
Strata coaster: The tallest coaster in the world, the 456-foot tall (139 m) Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure.
Hypersonic XLC, the world's first production Thrust Air 2000 (now defunct)
"Montu", a popular inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Son of Beast in Kings Island was the only wooden coaster to have a vertical loop. The loop was removed in 2006, and the ride was closed from 2009 until its demolition in 2012.
Euro-Mir, a spinning roller coaster at Europa-Park in Rust, Germany
Family coaster: Kingdom Coaster at Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a 55-foot tall (17 m) coaster that reaches a top speed of 40 mph (64 km/h).
Leviathan, also at Canada's Wonderland, is the current biggest coaster in Canada (93 m or 306 ft, 148 km/h or 92 mph) and is also made by Bolliger & Mabillard. It is the second biggest coaster before Fury 325 at Carowinds over 91 m (300 ft) made by B&M.
Jack Rabbit at Kennywood Park outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was built in 1920.
Mega/Hyper coaster: Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure, a Bolliger & Mabillard out and back coaster.
Riding Fahrenheit, located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Oblivion at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England.
Coney Island Cyclone in Brooklyn, New York was built in 1927 and refurbished in 1975.
Thunderbolt at Kennywood outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was built in 1968.
Great Bear is the first steel inverted coaster in Pennsylvania, located at Hersheypark.
Steel Force (left) and Thunderhawk (right), two roller coasters at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania
New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas before being refurbished into a hybrid steel-wood coaster.
Lightning Racer at Hersheypark is a racing, dueling roller coaster made by GCI.
Dragon Khan at PortAventura Park in Salou (Tarragona), Spain
Black Mamba at Phantasialand, Germany
Behemoth, at Canada's Wonderland, was the highest (70 m or 230 ft) and fastest (124 km/h or 77 mph) coaster in Canada before Leviathan opened.
Thompson's Switchback Railway, 1884
The Scenic Railway at Luna Park, Melbourne, is the world's oldest continually-operating roller coaster, built in 1912.
Kingda Ka is the world's tallest roller coaster and is the second strata coaster in the world after Top Thrill Dragster.
Griffon splashing down into a pool at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Phoenix, built in 1947, at Knoebles Grove in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. It was relocated from San Antonio's Playland Park in 1984.
Riding Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park, Germany.
Expedition Everest, a roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World
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