Frederick A. Church (1878–1936) was an American
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
and early
roller coaster
A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...
designer. He is most famous for his "Bobs" series of roller coasters that featured severe banking, steep drops, and nonstop action.
History
Fred Church was often associated with Tom Prior and his business partners, after Tom's death, Frank Prior. Church had met Tom Prior in Chicago when Prior was publicity director at White City and
Riverview Park, Chicago's two great amusement parks. Church was born in Ontario Canada, studied mechanical engineering at Tufts University, and landed a job at Webster Manufacturing and Engineering near Chicago. The company designed and fabricated replacement parts for amusement park rides. Church was working on side-friction roller coaster car designs and began developing an interest in inventing new rides.
Later coasters by Prior and Church would be built by
Harry Traver, a legendary coaster builder and designer.
Throughout the 1920s, Prior and Church coasters were built by Arthur Looff. (double out and back coasters)
Notable roller coasters
Three of Church's coasters are still operating. They are:
*
''Dragon Coaster'',
Playland Park, 1929
*
''Giant Dipper'',
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...
, 1925
* ''
Giant Dipper
The Giant Dipper is a historic wooden roller coaster located at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. The Giant Dipper, which replaced the Thompson's Scenic Railway, took 47 days to build and opened on May 1 ...
'',
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States.
Description
...
, 1924
Additional Church coasters that are well-known, but no longer standing, include:
* ''
Airplane Coaster'', Playland Park, 1928–1957
*
''Bobs'',
Riverview Park, 1924–1967
*
''Cyclone Racer'', The Pike, 1930–1968
* ''
Thunderbolt
A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...
'',
Savin Rock
Savin Rock is a section of West Haven, Connecticut, named after the rocky outcropping at the shorefront in Bradley Point Park.
It was the site of the Savin Rock Amusement Park, which began in the late 19th century as a regionally renowned seaside ...
, 1925–1938
* ''
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
'',
Coney Island
Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...
, 1926–1977
The 1922-built Big Dipper at Playland in San Francisco (1922–1955) was at one time said to be an early Prior and Church coaster. However, park owner Arthur Looff built the Big Dipper with his own crew. Looff made a deal with Prior and Church to use the ride as a showcase for other potential parks wanting the new double out and back style roller coaster in their park. He would land the role as coaster builder for at least three double out and back coasters from the Big Dipper's ride popularity. The most famous roller coaster in the world today, the Cyclone at Coney Island, is similar in design to the Big Dipper.
Rolling stock
Church developed a rolling stock with flanged wheels for negotiating steep curves. Prior and Church coaster trains typically consisted of ten or eleven single-bench cars with open-air fronts, each bench securing up to three riders with a leather strap lap restraint.
Racing Derby
Prior and Church are the creators of a
carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...
-type ride often called a ''Racing Derby.''
US Patents
Church registered the following patents:
* 895,427 Pleasure-Railway
* 895,428 Pleasure-Railway Cab
* 1,546,620 Safety Device For Coaster Cars
* 1,547,856 Coaster Coupling
* 1,741,286 Laminated Construction For Roller-Coaster Tracks
References
See also
http://www.westland.net/venicehistory/articles/church.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Frederick
American engineers
20th-century American inventors
Amusement ride manufacturers
Roller coaster designers
Tufts University School of Engineering alumni
1878 births
1936 deaths