Switchback Railway
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Switchback Railway
The original Switchback Railway was the first roller coaster at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City, and one of the earliest designed for amusement in the United States. The 1885 patent states the invention relates to the gravity double track switchback railway, which had predicated the inclined plane railway, patented in 1878 by Richard Knudsen. Coney Island's version was designed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson in 1881 and constructed in 1884.Urbanowicz, Steven J. (2002) ''The Roller Coaster Lover's Companion'', Citadel Press Kensington, New York. . pg 4. It appears Thompson based his design, at least in part, on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway which was a coal-mining train that had started carrying passengers as a thrill ride in 1827. For five cents, riders would climb a tower to board the large bench-like car and were pushed off to coast down the track to another tower.Rutherford, Scott (2000) ''The American Roller Coaster'', MBI Publishing Company, Wisconsin. . The car we ...
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Roller Coaster
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are often found in amusement parks and theme parks around the world. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, related to the Switchback Railway that opened a year earlier at Coney Island. The track in a coaster design does not necessarily have to be a complete circuit, as shuttle roller coasters demonstrate. Most roller coasters have multiple cars in which passengers sit and are restrained. Two or more cars hooked together are called a train. Some roller coasters, notably Wild Mouse roller coasters, run with single cars. History The Russian mountain and the Aerial Promenades The oldest roller coasters are believed to have originated from the so-called "Russian Mountains", sp ...
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Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend, Brooklyn, Gravesend to the north and includes the subsection of Sea Gate, Brooklyn, Sea Gate on its west. More broadly, Coney Island or sometimes for clarity the Coney Island peninsula consists of Coney Island proper, Brighton Beach, and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach. This was formerly the westernmost of the Outer Barrier islands on the southern shore of Long Island, but in the early 20th century it became a peninsula, connected to the rest of Long Island by Land reclamation, land fill. The origin of Coney Island's name is disputed, but the area was originally part of the colonial town of Gravesend. By the mid-19th century it had become a seaside resort, and by the late ...
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Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behind New York County (Manhattan). Brooklyn is also New York City's most populous borough,2010 Gazetteer for New York State
. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
with 2,736,074 residents in 2020. Named after the Dutch village of Breukelen, Brooklyn is located on the w ...
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New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, education, ...
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LaMarcus Adna Thompson
LaMarcus Adna Thompson (March 8, 1848 – May 8, 1919) was an American inventor and businessman most famous for developing a variety of gravity rides and roller coasters. Early years 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. Father of the gravity ride and the roller coaster Thompson is best known for his early work developing roller coasters and for inventing the scenic railway genre of rides. He is known as the "Father of the American Roller Coaster" and is often also called the "Father of the Gravity Ride". Over his lifetime, Thompson accumulated nearly thirty patents related to roller coaster ...
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Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway
The Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad was a coal-hauling railroad in the mountains of Pennsylvania that operated between 1828 and 1932. It was the first operational railway, in the United States, of any substantial length to carry paying passengers. A private line which moved coal for the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company on gauge track, it was not a common carrier which linked with other railroads. The rail line was laid on top of the company's earlier -constant-descent-graded wagon road. The railroad operated for over a hundred years until the middle of the Great Depression. History The Mauch Chunk was the second permanent United States railroad and the first over five miles long. Early days: 1828-1845 Like its rival the B&O Railroad, the Mauch Chunk at first used animal power. Mules hauled the empty coal tubs to the summit and were sent down in the last batch of cars; the return trip required 4–5 hours. The road would send down groups of 6–8 coal cars under contro ...
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Melbourne Centennial Exhibition
The Melbourne Centennial Exhibition was organised to celebrate a century of European settlement in Australia. The Exhibition Building, constructed in 1880 for the Melbourne International Exhibition, was extended and reused. The Centennial Exhibition focused on Australia itself, and emphasised music and painting that attracted many visitors. However the Exhibition wasn't recognised by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) as a World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif .... References 1888 in Australia 1880s in Melbourne World's fairs in Melbourne {{Melbourne-stub ...
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The Argus (Melbourne)
''The Argus'' was an Australian daily morning newspaper in Melbourne from 2 June 1846 to 19 January 1957, and was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left-leaning approach from 1949. ''The Argus''s main competitor was David Syme's more liberal-minded newspaper, ''The Age''. History The newspaper was originally owned by William Kerr, who was also Melbourne's town clerk from 1851–1856 and had been a journalist at the '' Sydney Gazette'' before moving to Melbourne in 1839 to work on John Pascoe Fawkner's newspaper, the ''Port Phillip Patriot''. The first edition was published on 2 June 1846. The paper soon became known for its scurrilous abuse and sarcasm, and by 1853, after he had lost a series of libel lawsuits, Kerr was forced to sell the paper's ownership to avoid financial ruin. The paper was then published by Edward Wilson. By 1855, it had a daily ...
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Roller Coasters Introduced In 1884
Roller may refer to: Birds *Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae * Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon Devices * Roller (agricultural tool), a non-powered tool for flattening ground * Road roller, a vehicle for compacting ** Steamroller, a form of road roller * Roller, an element of a rolling-element bearing * Roller, used in rolling (metalworking) * Roller, in a roller mill, to crush or grind various materials * Rolling pin, a compacting device used for preparing dough for cooking * Roller (BEAM), a robot * Bicycle rollers, a type of bicycle trainer * Hair roller, used to curl hair * Paint roller, a paint application tool * Roller, or training surcingle, around a horse's girth Arts and entertainment * Bay City Rollers, or the Rollers, a Scottish pop rock band * "The Roller", a 2011 song by Beady Eye * "Roller" (Apache 207 song), 2019 * "Roller" (April Wine song), 1978 * ''Roller'' (Goblin album), 1976 * Roller, partner of the Optimus Prim ...
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Former Roller Coasters In New York (state)
A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature. A former may become an integral part of the finished structure, as in an aircraft fuselage, or it may be removable, being using in the construction process and then discarded or re-used. Aircraft formers Formers are used in the construction of aircraft fuselage, of which a typical fuselage has a series from the nose to the empennage, typically perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The primary purpose of formers is to establish the shape of the fuselage and reduce the column length of stringers to prevent instability. Formers are typically attached to longerons, which support the skin of the aircraft. The "former-and-longeron" technique (also called stations and stringers) was adopted from boat construction, and was typical of light aircraft built until the ...
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