A powered roller coaster is a railed amusement ride similar to a standard

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 ...

. Unlike a true roller coaster, the train is powered through the entire course, rather than being allowed to coast after an initial lift or launch. This allows for both compact layouts that start out with curving hills, or long, extended layouts that would need too many lifts to be feasible. The most common manufacturers of powered coasters are Mack, Wisdom Rides, and

Zamperla Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. is an Italian design and manufacturing company founded in 1966. It is best known for creating family rides, thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin-operated rides commonly found in ...

. Due to the family-oriented nature of the rides, height restrictions can be as little as 36 inches or taller for someone to ride. CWOA_Scorpion_Express_Fire_and_Train

The most common model of powered coasters is the Zamperla Dragon coasters (also called "Dragon Wagons," although there are non-powered versions of these coasters). Other installations include Casey Junior, Le Petit Train du Cirque at

Disneyland Park (Paris) Disneyland Park, originally Euro Disneyland Park, is a theme park found at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 12 April 1992 as the first of the two parks built at the resort. Designed and built by Walt Disney Ima ...

(built by

Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is an amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is a syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally manu ...

), Thunder Run at

Canada's Wonderland Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting, Taft Broadcasting Company and the Gr ...

, Runaway Mine Train at

Alton Towers Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often shortened to Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton, Staffordshire, Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments, Merlin Entertainments Group a ...

and High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride at

Islands of Adventure Universal Islands of Adventure, often shortened to Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, United States. It originally opened as Universal Studios Islands of Adventure on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part ...

. The train on a powered coaster usually picks up electricity from contacts in the rails (similar to an

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

or a

monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

) and may contain multiple motors. Some powered coasters are powered by a flexible cable connected to the train. Another component of powered coasters is an extra "track" in the center of the rails. This allows the tyres attached to the motor to "grip" the track and propel the train forward. A powered coaster generally runs a single train and may traverse the circuit multiple times before stopping at the station. In Genting highlands, The Flying Dragon was the world's longest powered roller coaster in terms of ride length but has been demolished. A very rare Powered Coaster was at Camelot Theme Park in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The "Dragon Flyer" ride had diesel engine in the front of the themed dragon and was driven around the track by the ride staff.

Model types

*Larson International - Fire Ball * Wisdom Rides - Orient Express *

- Dragon Coaster

Appearances

* Santa's Village AZoosment Park as "Dracor, the Dragon Coaster" (Zamperla - Dragon Coaster) (1986-2006) and "Dragon Coaster" (Wisdon Rides - DOrient Express) (2011-Present)

References

External links

List of powered coasters at RCDB
{{Rollercoaster tracks Types of roller coaster