Figure 8 roller coasters are a category of

roller coasters A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usually designed to produce a thrilling experience, though some r ...

where the

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

runs through a figure 8 shaped course before returning to the boarding station. This design was one of the first designs to be featured in roller coaster design, along with the

out and back roller coaster Out and back refers to the layout of a roller coaster. An out and back coaster is one that climbs a lift hill soon after leaving the station, races out to the far end of the track after the initial drop, performs a 180 degree turn and then retu ...

. The figure 8 design allowed for more turns than the out and back design, offering riders an alternative experience. An early and famous example of a Figure 8 is the

Leap the Dips Leap-The-Dips is a wooden roller coaster located at Lakemont Park near Altoona, Pennsylvania. Built in 1902 by the Federal Construction Company and designed by E. Joy Morris, it is the oldest standing roller coaster in the world and believed to ...

Lakemont Park Lakemont Park is an amusement park located in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The park opened in 1894 as a trolley park and became an amusement park in 1899. It is one of only thirteen trolley parks still operating, and the 8th oldest amusement park in ...

, in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona ( ) is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, w ...

. Many figure 8 roller coasters carry the name "Figure 8."

Layout

In a figure 8 track layout, the track crosses over itself, forming an "8" shape. The ''double figure eight'' is a variation where the track contains two separate figure-eight shapes. Some examples include the Cobra at

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly known as Six Flags Marine World, Marine World, The New Marine World Theme Park, and Marine World Africa USA) is a 135-acre (55 ha) animal theme park located in Vallejo, California, off of Interstate 80 i ...

and the Harley Quinn Crazy Train at Six Flags Great Adventure. Early figure 8 coasters were typically wooden side friction coasters, where the train was brought to the top of the track via

chain lift A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from t ...

and then descended through gravitational pull. Modern coasters can be made out of wood or steel, and may incorporate different launch mechanisms or train configurations to enhance the ride experience.

History

Figure 8 coasters date back to the late 19th century. Many roller coasters of the time used out-and-back tracks, and the figure 8 layout became a standard design that provided the rider with more turns during the descent. Like many coasters of the time, figure 8 coasters were slow moving, often capping at speeds of . While the track design was a popular alternative to typical out-and-back tracks at the start of the 20th century, interest plummeted in the following decades. They were often dismantled in favor of faster coasters, being viewed as less exciting than the new designs of the time. The

coaster at

, located in

, is believed to be the oldest surviving side friction figure 8 coaster.

Figure 8 roller coasters

''An Incomplete List of Figure 8 roller coasters''

References

{{Rollercoaster tracks Types of roller coaster