Flip Flap Railway was the name of a
looping wooden
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...
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 o ...
which operated for a number of years at
Paul Boyton's Sea Lion Park
Sea Lion Park was a amusement park started in 1895 on Coney Island by Paul Boyton. He fenced the property and charged admission, the park becoming the first enclosed and permanent amusement park in North America. Up until the establishment of thi ...
on
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, L ...
in
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, be ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. The coaster, which opened in 1895, was the first looping roller coaster to operate in North America. It was also notable for its engineering as well as the extreme
G-force
The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...
s that this engineering inflicted on riders.
History and design
The first looping roller coasters were built in Europe in the mid-1800s. These rides, known as "
centrifugal railways", were initially designed to be temporary installations and they achieved little success.
The Flip Flap Railway was tested in
Toledo,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
in 1888 by designer Lina Beecher before the coaster was moved to Coney Island.
The coaster was tested with sand bags and monkeys before human riders were allowed on the coaster.
The coaster had a single rail and riders rode two-to-a-car and sat in
tandem
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.
The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...
.
Sea Lion Park developer Boyton liked Beecher's coaster and decided to move it to Sea Lion Park.
Flip Flap Railway was shut down along with Sea Lion Park in 1902. While Sea Lion Park was replaced with
Luna Park
Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-sc ...
in 1903, Flip Flap Railway was not retained as it was not as popular.
The 2-person cars also meant that it was difficult to turn a profit on the coaster.
Ride experience
Like the earlier centrifugal railways in Europe, Flip Flap Railway was notorious for the extreme g-forces that it produced in its riders. The circular nature of the coaster's loop, as well as its relatively small diameter of 25 feet,
meant that it could produce forces of approximately 12 g.
This caused riders to often experience discomfort and neck injuries from whiplash.
Modern looping roller coasters use teardrop-shaped loops to greatly reduce these g-forces.
See also
*
Loop the Loop (Coney Island)
Loop the Loop was a dual-tracked steel roller coaster that operated on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, from 1901 to 1910. The coaster was one of the first looping roller coasters in North America.
History
Loop the Loop was the second loopin ...
, the second looping roller coaster built on Coney Island.
*
Loop the Loop (Young's Pier)
Loop the Loop (occasionally referred to as the Flip Flap Railway) was a steel, dual-tracked roller coaster located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The roller coaster opened in 1901 and operated until 1912. It was one of the earliest looping roller ...
, a looping coaster built in
Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
which was sometimes called ''Flip Flap Railway'' as well.
*
Loop the Loop (Olentangy Park)
Loop the Loop was an early looping steel roller coaster which operated at Olentangy Park in Columbus, Ohio during the first decade of the 1900s. It was one of the first looping roller coasters to operate in North America, and it was designed a ...
, Lina Beecher's only other roller coaster. A looping steel coaster built at
Olentangy Park
Olentangy Park was a trolley park, a type of amusement park, in Clintonville, Columbus, Ohio, operating from 1880 to 1937.
Location
Olentangy Park was located in what is now the southwest corner of Clintonville. The park boundaries on its west ...
near
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
.
References
{{Coney Island
Coney Island
Demolished buildings and structures in Brooklyn
Former roller coasters in New York (state)