The Amazing History of Roller Coasters

Earliest

“Roller Coasters” were first ridden in Russia in the 1400’s. They were put up during festivals and celebrations. I put roller coasters in quotes because They weren’t really roller coasters. They were actually giant slides with sleds that slid down the icy artificial slope. The slope was made out of a wood frame and they let snow fall on the frame and then doused it with water to make ice. The tallest ones were 70-100 feet tall and could travel at speeds of up to 55 mph.

When the ice slides were brought to Europe the were modified so they ran on a wooden track and had carts with wheels so they could be operated in the warm spring and summer weather. The first one of these built in Europe was called Russian Mountains. It was built in the early seventeen-hundreds in France. It had two tracks which were lifted upward on the first part of the track going right next to each other. Then one track turned left and started going down hill and one went right and started going downhill as it curved until the two tracks came back to where they started.

This ride was very popular but it had a high injury rate. It had a high injury rate because if the wheel hit even a small obstruction on the track the cart could go flying off and injure the occupant. Sometimes even when the cars didn’t fly off the tracks the people would sometimes fall out of the cars. Another roller coaster opened in France just a few years later. It had the same track design but had guard rails which about cut in half the number of accidents.

New Ideas in North America

When roller coasters first came to North America new ideas came with them. There were new design for powered lift hills. One that was powered by a windmill and one by a water wheel and one even by an early steam engine. There were even some people who wanted to make roller coasters more interactive by having people throw spears through rings or to haul themselves up the first hill. None of these ideas were ever actually use practically. The first patents for roller coasters in the U.S. Were both made in 1870 by J. G. Taylor and another by Richard Knudsen. Neither of these roller coasters were actually ever built.