The Roller Coasters Of Coney Island

Taken from William F. Mangels' The Outdoor Amusement Business (graphic understood to be in the public domain)

This page is not intended to showcase every roller coaster that was built at Coney Island (there were over 50!), but to look at a handful of the unique coasters built at the island. The roller coaster has seemingly always been an integral part of Coney Island. It is a ride which has undergone much scrutiny by both lovers of the island and the many roller coaster aficionados. The main reason people coaster historians flock to Coney is because this is where it all began for the American roller coaster. Before the 1880's there were some roller coasters in various parts of Europe and the Mauch Chunk Railway in Pennsylvania. The watershed occurred when LaMarcus Adna Thompson opened his "Switchback Railway" at Coney in 1884. The island's crowds had not seen anything like it. In addition, it was one of the first rides that offered people the simple concept of paying for a ride to enjoy themselves. In a world that often consisted of human suffering & unhealthy living conditions, this was an about face. People could pay to ride a roller coaster, thus starting a tradition that would be around for years.

Thompson's ride was very basic compared to today's roller coaster. Riders climbed a tower, boarded the train and enjoyed a leisurely trip at six m.p.h. over six hundred feet of track. Once at the opposite tower passengers disembarked while the ride operators switched the trains to the taller track and then enjoyed the trip back. The ride was located on West Tenth Avenue, only cost a nickel and by the end of the first season Thompson made hundreds of dollars per-day. Although simple, the Switchback Railway paved the way for roller coasters as a viable economic investment and all of the good times we have today can be traced back to LaMarcus Thompson.

Captain Paul Boyton opened Sea Lion Park in the spring of 1895. It looked run down by today's standards and had only a few attractions. One of the most popular was the Shoot-the-Chutes, a ride he had perfected one year before at his park in Chicago. Another was the Flip Flap railway, designed by Lina Beecher. Roller coasters often get the unnecessary reputation as dangerous creations, unfortunately this was one ride where that was well deserved. The Flip Flap has made its way into the annals of roller coaster history because it was such a badly designed ride. It is hard to tell from this picture, but the coaster's inversion was different from almost every loop today in that it was perfectly circular. This may not seem like a bad idea, but it is pretty obvious Mr. Beecher was not very experienced with physics. Instead of an enjoyable trip upside down, riders experienced 12 g's as they went through the loop. The most g's found now on a coaster hovers between 5 and 6 and those a specific sitting position. In the Flip Flap a few passengers simply stepped in a "box on wheels" and hoped that by using a death grip on the sides of the car they would not fall out (which was unlikely because of the g's) or get injured. The ride had a reputation for snapping rider's necks and was dismantled after it had run a few years. However, the concept of the loop was not lost forever.

Two views of the Loop the Loop. Notice the Dreamland tower behind the track in the view to the right (left photo courtesy the Library of Congress, right photo from the authors personal collection).

The loop was not perfected on a roller coaster by Anton Schwarzkopf in 1976, it was done by Edward Prescott in 1901 on the Loop-the-Loop. I must say I am very impressed with Prescott's engineering skills. He knew to change the perfect circle into an ellipse, thus easing the extreme forces riders experienced. As you can see in the left photo, he put the wheels between two flat iron tracks. Although this does not work as well as the tubular steel of today, Prescott did an amazing job utilizing the technology of the time. You will notice many people watching the coaster at the bottom of both of these photos. The owners had trouble marketing the coaster because it was so similar (in the eye of the public) to the Flip Flap. Since they could not entice scores of people to ride the coaster (and because it had a low throughput of four riders per car), they started charging admission to the area just in front of the loop so people could first-hand view of the coaster and (hopefully) hop aboard. Because there were so many people with their attention diverted, this area in front of the coaster was a popular hang out for pickpockets. The Loop the Loop limped along until 1910, when it closed its gates forever.

The Pike's Peak Railway, notice the car above the sign.

The Pike's Peak Railway is just one example of the many scenic railways which were scattered all over Coney Island. This one was built by LaMarcus Thompson and Stephen Jackman (who held the patent for the Haverhill, Mass. coaster). They trip took riders through the mountains. This scenic railway was different than others as its focus was not on murals and displays...instead, the ride was supposed to let visitors see the inside of a mountain.

The Rough Riders had advanced uses for electricity in 1907.

The name William F. Mangels should be familiar to anyone who has studied the history of Coney Island. He was everywhere in the amusement industry, building coasters, inventing the Whip, assembling carousels and their mechanisms. But, his office was West 5th Street, Brooklyn, New York. Yes, Mr. Mangels revolutionized the amusement industry from his office over the bustle of Coney Island. The Rough Riders was just one of many coasters he built, but this was one just one of a few that utilized a third rail and motorman to provide energy. The motors were built to assist the trains around long curves and up hills, but they were often used to speed up the ride- action that resulted in two severe accidents (1910 & 1915). There was some themeing added to the coaster, as the attendants wore uniforms styled after the Spanish-American War.