The original Switchback Railway was the first roller coaster at Coney Island in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and one of the earliest designed for amusement in the United States. The 1885 patent states the invention relates to the gravity double track switchback railway, which had predicated the inclined plane railway, patented in 1878 by Richard Knudsen. Coney Island's version was designed by

LaMarcus Adna Thompson LaMarcus Adna Thompson (March 8, 1848 – May 8, 1919) was an American inventor and businessman most famous for developing a variety of gravity rides and roller coasters. Early years Thompson was born in Jersey, Licking County, Ohio on March ...

in 1881 and constructed in 1884.Urbanowicz, Steven J. (2002) ''The Roller Coaster Lover's Companion'', Citadel Press Kensington, New York. . pg 4. It appears Thompson based his design, at least in part, on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway which was a coal-mining train that had started carrying passengers as a thrill ride in 1827. For five cents, riders would climb a tower to board the large bench-like car and were pushed off to coast down the track to another tower.Rutherford, Scott (2000) ''The American Roller Coaster'', MBI Publishing Company, Wisconsin. . The car went just over . At the top of the other tower the vehicle was switched to a return track or "switched back" (hence the name). This track design was soon replaced with an oval complete-circuit ride designed by Charles Alcoke and called the ''Serpentine Railway''. In 1885 Phillip Hinkle developed a lift system which appeared in his ride called Gravity Pleasure. The Gravity Pleasure also featured cars in which the passengers could face forward instead of in the awkward bench-like seats of the first two roller coasters. The next year, Thompson patented his design of coasters that included dark tunnels with painted scenery. Thompson built many more roller coasters under the name "The L.A. Thompson Scenic Railway" across the United States. Some of these operated until 1954.

Other rides

There was also a switchback railway at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888.

References

{{CI Coasters Roller coasters introduced in 1884 Coney Island Former roller coasters in New York (state) Demolished buildings and structures in Brooklyn