
For the thrill of it: #RollerCoasterDayThrill seekers rejoice—it’s #RollerCoasterDay! Today we celebrate the main attraction of America’s amusement parks, the roller coaster. These kings of the concourse have been exhilarating American adrenaline junkies since the 19th century, when the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway (in present-day Jim Thorpe, Pa.) starting hurtling paying customers down the mountain.
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The Mauch Chunk Switchback was more like a runaway train and less like a modern roller coaster. But that didn’t stop it from serving nearly 50 years as a tourist attraction and paving the way for the development of roller coasters in the United States. It inspired LaMarcus Adna Thompson, the father of the American roller coaster, to open the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway on Coney Island in 1884, starting the roller coaster revolution in America.
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Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
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Pa. Wooden Coaster Golden Tickets 20172 – Phoenix – Knoebels Amusement Resort
7 – Ravine Flyer II – Waldameer 12 – Lightning Racer – Hersheypark 17 – Thunderbolt – Kennywood 26 – Jack Rabbit – Kennywood 35 – Twister – Knoebels Amusement Resort 37 – Blue Streak – Conneaut Lake 44 – Flying Turns – Knoebels Amusement Resort |
Pa. Steel Coaster Golden Tickets 201712 – Phantom’s Revenge – Kennywood
24 – Skyrush – Hersheypark 44 – Steel Force – Dorney Park |
Pennsylvania amusement parks are unique in the sense that while other parks were tearing down their original wooden coasters to make room for the more modern steel ones, our parks didn’t. Pennsylvania amusement parks embraced their wooden coasters as relics that deliver thrills in a way that can’t be replicated by their contemporary steel counterparts. At nearly 100 years old, Kennywood’s Jack Rabbit is the oldest operating coaster in the top 50. Not bad for a coaster that opened before penicillin was discovered.
Have a thrilling day! Content sources: Mental Floss, GoldenTicketAwards.com, UltimateCoaster.com, American Coaster Enthusiasts (aceonline.com) |
Jack Rabbit when in opened in 1920.
Photo credit: Kennywood Park |
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