Velocity

The Engineering Behind Roller Coasters

How roller coasters are made a the history behind them.

History Behind The Roller Coaster

When going on a roller coaster, your not just going on a roller coaster, your going on a piece of machinery that has been worked on and built for years. Roller Coasters are a mix of mechanical engineering and physics. The modern roller coaster we know and love today was credited to a businessman by the name of “LaMarcus Adna Thompson”, who was later known as “the father of gravity”. He was inspired to build his first roller coaster after a trip to the hills in eastern Pennsylvania, where he had experienced a converted railroad line that was a rare tourist attraction called the “Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway”, and Thompson wanted to try to capture the essence of the thrill this railroad offered but in a smaller size, hence the first roller coaster was born. For Designers creating our modern-day roller coasters, there are important considerations, like the rides must be extremely safe and secure, while also being exciting for the riders.

About The Creator

According to “Kiddle Encyclopedia”, Thompson was born in Jersey, Licking County, Ohio on March 8, 1848. His parents were Adna Thompson (Father), and Nancy D Thompson (Mother). He had a brother named Olvid. In his adolescence, he became a skilled carpenter. In 1873 he began operating a grocery store in Elkhart, Indiana. There he began designing a device to manufacture seamless hosiery. He made a fortune in that business, but failing health forced him to quit it.