Scenic Railway, Wooden roller coaster in Melbourne, Australia
The Scenic Railway is a wooden roller coaster at Luna Park Melbourne with track winding through the grounds and rising to modest heights. A brakeman controls the train using manual brakes throughout the ride, keeping the experience measured and deliberate.
This ride opened in 1912 and ranks among the world's oldest roller coasters still in operation. Its construction from Canadian Oregon pine and manual braking system date from that original era and have been kept running continuously.
The railway is part of Luna Park and represents a hands-on approach to building and running rides that has survived for over a century. Visitors can watch a brakeman control the speed manually during each journey, a job that connects the present experience to earlier times.
Access requires a minimum height to ensure safe seating and restraint. The ride moves slowly enough that you can take in the views of Luna Park during the journey.
Today, only a handful of roller coasters worldwide employ a brakeman who manually controls speed throughout the entire ride. This hands-on approach is exceptionally rare and gives the experience a distinctly different character from modern rides.
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