Slide Coaster

Why are Roller Coasters Called Roller Coasters?

Nobody knows for certain where the name “roller coaster” came from, but some people believe it came from an early American design where the slides were fitted with rollers over which a flat sled would coast. This design would be similar to the roller conveyor ramps used for moving boxes in shipping warehouses. Of course, roller coasters eventually changed their design to where the wheels were fitted onto the vehicle rather than the ramp.

There is an anecdote that the name “roller coaster” originated from a roller skating rink in Haverhill Massachusetts in the late 1880s. At this rink was a ride with a toboggan style sled raised to the top of a track that consisted of hundreds of rollers (like the roller conveyor ramps mentioned above). This so-called Roller Toboggan would roll down gentle hills to the floor. The two men who invented the ride, Stephen E. Jackman and Byron B. Floyd say that they were first to use the term “roller coaster,” and there is some evidence to back this account up.

Regardless of the origin of the name, “roller coaster” is a very apt description of the ride. Except for the chain that moves the roller coaster train to the top of the first (largest) hill, the cars only move using their own kinetic energy, with no mechanical or fuel-powered help at all. So, indeed, it coasts on rollers. Perhaps the fact that the name was descriptive even after the switch from wheeled ramps to wheeled cars made it easy for the old term to “stick.”

Early roller coasters were sometimes referred to as switchback gravity railroads, after the gravity powered railroads that were used to haul coal down from high mountain coal seams. The very first roller coaster in America was built as a switchback railway at Coney Island by La Marcus Thompson. It screamed along at 6 mph, and made a lovely tour of the beach at Coney Island.

Whether the moniker “roller coaster” came from early gravity powered railroads or from amusement rides based on roller ramps and sleds may never be known.

About the Author

Andrea Smith is a freelance writer and Theme Park enthusiast from the UK. She writes for Techy Zone about roller coasters, thrill rides and theme parks in the UK.

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