Montaña Suiza ("Swiss Mountain" in English) is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

located at Monte Igueldo Amusement Park, on the coast at

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was designed and built by German engineer Erich Heidrich and opened at the site in 1928. It is the oldest steel roller coaster still operating in the world. The ride was built with wooden running rails in a trough, like usual scenic railways. The trough is partially set into the landscape and is of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

construction. The ride lacks the traditional supporting trestles of scenic railways. Instead, the track runs in depressions set into the ground and along the top of a coastal wall at one point. The running rails were changed to steel at an unknown later date. The roller coaster operates with two trains, each of which are composed of two 2x5 person cars. The cars are wooden in construction and ride on steel bogies, like the scenic railways at Margate, UK, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, UK and

Luna Park, Melbourne Luna Park Melbourne is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. It opened on 13 December 1912, with a formal opening a week later, and has been operating almost continuously eve ...

. A

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The advent of through brakes, brakes on every wagon which could be controlled by the driver, made this role r ...

rides on board each train to control its speed.

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