Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing

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 ...

manufacturing companies in the world. Based in

Hatfield, Pennsylvania Hatfield is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,290 at the time of the 2010 census. It is part of the North Penn Valley region that is centered around the borough of Lansdale. The borough is surrounde ...

, it was established in 1904 by

Henry Auchey Henry B. Auchy (1861–1922) was a businessman who co-founded the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, which was later renamed Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, in Philadelphia, on January 21, 1904. Then located at 130 East Duval Street, the Company i ...

and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The company manufactured

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

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 coasters, toboggans (roller coaster cars) and later, roller coaster trains.

History

The Philadelphia Toboggan Company was incorporated January 20, 1904. It built and designed roller coasters until 1979. Notable designers included Joe McKee,

John A. Miller John A. Miller (born August John Mueller; 1872 – June 24, 1941) was an American roller coaster designer and builder, inventor, and businessman. Miller patented over 100 key roller coaster components, and is widely considered the "father of th ...

Herbert Schmeck Herbert Paul Schmeck (born 1890 in Reading, Pennsylvania, died 1956) was an American roller coaster designer. From 1923 to 1955, Schmeck designed 84 coasters for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. As a designer and president, the company became th ...

, Frank Hoover, and John C. Allen. When Allen retired as president in 1976, the company stopped designing roller coasters but continued to work on coaster projects until 1979 when it exited the coaster-construction industry permanently. The company manufactured carousels known for their elaborate carvings and decorations. It expanded with the acquisition of the inventory of the

Dentzel Carousel Company The G.A. Dentzel Company was an American builder of carousels in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. History Its founder, Gustav Dentzel, had immigrated to the United States in 1860, from Germa ...

in 1927. Lead carvers included Daniel Carl Muller, Leo Zoller, John Zalar, and Frank Caretta. Examples of the company's carousels (manufactured 1904–1934) exist throughout the United States. The Philadelphia Toboggan Company built the

Rollo Coaster Rollo Coaster is a wooden roller coaster located at Idlewild and Soak Zone near Ligonier, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1938 by the leading roller coaster designer and builder of that era, Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It was Idlewild's first and ...

Idlewild Park Idlewild and Soak Zone, commonly known as Idlewild Park or simply Idlewild, is a children's amusement park in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States, about east of Pittsburgh, along US Route 30. Founded in 1878 as a ...

in 1938, and the carousel for the same amusement park in 1931. The company manufactured

Skee Ball Skee-Ball is an arcade game and one of the first redemption games. It is played by rolling a ball up an inclined lane and over a "ball-hop" hump (resembling a ski jump) that jumps the ball into bullseye rings. The object of the game is to collect ...

games from 1946-1977. In 1926, PTC was granted a trademark on a new name, Philtobco.

Flying Turns

Developed by J. Norman Bartlett and John Miller, the

Flying Turns Flying Turns is the name of a specific model of bobsled roller coaster. John Norman Bartlett, a British aviator in World War I, came to North America after the war with an idea for a trackless wooden chute, full of twists like a bobsled course ...

coasters came to the attention of PTC. Recognizing the ride's potential, PTC signed a licensing agreement with Bartlett and Miller to market the ride in North America—with the exception of the state of California. With the arrival of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, PTC built only one in 1931, at

Rocky Point Amusement Park Rocky Point Park was an amusement park on the Narragansett Bay shore of Warwick, Rhode Island. It operated from the late 1840s until it closed in 1995. In 1996, the park officially filed for bankruptcy. History Rocky Point Park was first conce ...

. The coaster was engineered by

, but experienced problems. The ride opened late in the summer and Schmeck stayed on site for some time before he was able to get the ride operating consistently. The ride was damaged beyond repair by a storm on September 21, 1938. Schmeck engineered a second Flying Turns for

Hershey Park Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about east of Harrisburg, and west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906 by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees of ...

in August 1941. Due to the entry of the United States into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and the resulting

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

of building materials, the roller coaster was never built. It would have been located in the park next to what is now the Wave Swinger, and part of where the Comet lift hill is located. Though Bartlett and Miller went on to build several more Flying Turns-type coasters, PTC never proposed another.

1990s to present

On November 27, 1991, Tom Rebbie and Bill Dauphinee purchased the Philadelphia Toboggan Company from Sam High (1934–2011), and incorporated a new company, Philadelphia Toboggan Coaster, shortly thereafter. Rebbie was appointed president. In 2007 he bought out Dauphinee to become the sole owner, and changed the company's name to Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc. (PTCI). The company continues to manufacture roller coaster trains, queue gates and fin brakes.

List of roller coasters

As of 2019, Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters has built 127

s around the world.

Carousels

Most PTC carousels were numbered, so they are easily identified. Most have been moved from their original opening locations. PTC carousels that are still operating or in restoration:

Funhouse items

Beginning before World War II, PTC was involved with the booming dark ride and funhouse business. It spawned the company Funni-Frite Industries of Lancaster,

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, and (later)

Pickerington, Ohio Pickerington is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, Fairfield and Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin counties in the central region of the U.S. state of Ohio. It was founded in 1815 as Jacksonville, named after Andrew Jackson. Pickerington was known a ...

, which ceased manufacturing operations in 2000. *

Laffing Sal Laffing Sal is one of several animatronic characters that were built primarily to attract carnival and amusement park patrons to funhouses and dark rides throughout the United States. Its movements were accompanied by a raucous laugh that someti ...

- automated funhouse character/amusement device

References

External links

Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc.

European Coaster Club PTC Database

{{Roller coaster manufacturers Amusement ride manufacturers Companies based in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies established in 1904 Roller coaster manufacturers