Switchback Railway, Wooden roller coaster in Coney Island, Brooklyn, United States
Switchback Railway was a wooden roller coaster in Coney Island, Brooklyn, built with two parallel tracks that ran for about 600 feet. The structure reached roughly 50 feet in height and guided cars along a simple, straight descent.
LaMarcus Adna Thompson opened this roller coaster in 1884, bringing a new form of entertainment to Coney Island. The design drew on earlier railways that had been used for hauling coal and later for carrying excursionists.
The Switchback Railway introduced Americans to mechanical entertainment during the late nineteenth century, transforming social recreation patterns in urban areas.
Riders climbed to a raised platform to board the cars, then traveled along a straight track to the end station. There they stepped off while the cars were pushed manually onto a second track to return to the starting point.
The ride reached about 6 miles per hour (roughly 10 kilometers per hour) and lasted only a few minutes, yet passengers often returned several times. The experience was so novel that many visitors had never encountered a mechanical descent before.
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