ups and downs: the history of roller coasters

We think roller coasters are everything. American.
In many ways, they are.
They are part of our culture and amusement parks and ride fans will celebrate National Roller Coaster Day on August 16 (
Don\'t forget to send a greeting card and a few park passes to your favorite lovers).
However, like many of the things we melt --
In fact, the origin of the stimulating machine can be traced back to Europe.
The record is a bit vague, but some historians see it as the 200 anniversary of the rides.
There are about two accounts.
There are 1817 attractions in Paris, which we will see as a roller coaster today. The gravity-and people-
The electric car lets passengers fly along wooden tracks in wheel carts.
It is worth noting that these attractions are called \"Russian Mountains \".
\"There may be similar roller coasters --
Like rides in France or other parts of Europe, 1799 kilometres back.
Anyway, they were inspired by the events that happened many years ago.
\"The DNA of the roller coaster goes back to the middle.
1600, this is a very simple form of gravity when Russians develop ice-skating --
Robert Cork, author of the roller coaster: The Seeker\'s Guide to the ultimate screaming machine, said he was a senior screenwriter for the attraction design company Super 78 Studios.
The rider will use the hollowed sled.
There are ice cubes outside, and below are wooden slides full of ice and snow.
Russian ice slides are popular among nobles, including Catherine the Great, who commissioned her to make her own ice slides.
Until today, roller coasters have been called \"Russian mountains\" in many countries \".
Interestingly, the Russians refer to the roller coaster as the American mountains \". \" Go figure.
The Mauch Chunk turn-back Railway, which is often considered the first roller coaster in the United States, is not a real roller coaster.
On 1873, enterprising people redesigned a coal mine train in Pennsylvania and used it to let passengers fly down the mountain and enjoy pure excitement.
According to some records, the mule will travel on an out-of-control train and take it back to the mountain.
The country\'s first commercially successful, more traditional roller coaster was the gravity-turn-back Railway, which opened in 1884 on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Y.
It is designed, patented, built and operated by LaMarcus Adna Thompson.
Although Thompson did not invent the concept, his car was very popular and he was considered the father of the roller coaster.
\"He takes five cents for every ride and makes $600 a day,\" Coker said . \".
Other entrepreneurs noticed Thompson\'s financial train and soon launched their own rides.
With the emergence of the new amusement park roller coaster, the wooden grid began to appear
Fanatics spread across the country.
In the early 1900 s, there were as many as 2000 rides in the Golden Age of cycling.
Most of the coasters eventually disappeared.
Some people were killed in the fire.
Others were demolished because parks were closed during the Great Depression or after the Great Depression their land value soaredWorld-War-II boom.
A few of the remaining classics: Jack Rabbit (opened in 1920)
Kenny Wood in Pennsylvania; the Wildcat (opened in 1927)
Lake Compounce, the country\'s oldest continuously operated amusement park. ;
The most famous traditional wooden roller coaster in the world, Whirlwind (opened in 1927)
On Coney Island.
In 1959, a cycling revival began at Disneyland, California.
\"Walt Disney and his family are on holiday in Switzerland,\" Coker explained . \".
\"He sent a postcard of Matt horn to his imaginary and wrote, \'Build this.
Together with a car manufacturer, Disney\'s team rethought the design of the roller coaster and developed a tubular steel track system and train using polyurethane wheels.
They found that steel can be bent into a way that the wood track cannot be bent and provides smoother rides.
The final Matterhorn ride at Disneyland is still running today and \"feels more like a sled going down the mountain,\" Coker said . \".
Wooden coasters are still being built, but steel coasters quickly surpass them in quantity and popularity.
While this may not be an intentional nod to the Mauch Switchback railway, many of the earlier steel coasters, including Six Flags coasters in Texas and Six Flags coasters in Georgia, were themed on my train
Innovative ride manufacturers use tubular steel tracks to incorporate corkscrews, loops and other inverted devices into their stimulation machines.
They have developed new varieties of coasters, including inverted coasters, trains suspended under the track and floor-free coasters in which the train runs above the track,
They built them higher, breaking 200 for the first time
Foot barrier with Magnum XL
200, then soared over 300-and 400-
Stimulate Dragster\'s foot threshold with millennial force and top respectively.
These three records.
The circuit breaker made its debut at Cedar Point in Ohio.
With the deployment of the rolling roller coaster system, the train began to scream out of the loading station at over 100 miles per hour.
Recently, with the return of wooden roller coasters, these rides have formed a complete cycle.
Designers have been tinkering with trains and tracks to produce higher and faster woodies than their more traditional predecessors.
Some even include elements that excite passengers --down.
A car company has developed an I-
It has been refitting the shape steel track on the aging wooden cup mat.
Mixed wooden
They make steel coasters like The Twisted Colossus of California\'s Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Very smooth.
USA Today\'s writer Arthur Levin is scheduled to appear on CBS\'s Sunday morning show about the roller coaster planned to be aired on July 30.