Turn of the last century riders enjoyed “the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway” at Brooklyn’s Coney Island. Designer La Marcus Thompson enjoyed riding the Mauch Chunk Switchback so much that he was inspired to build the first American amusement roller coaster in 1884.

A Switchback car crosses a trestle  descending from the top of Mount Pisgah. The Switchback Gravity Railroad was the first, highest, longest in length and longest in operation of any roller coaster. The first amusement roller coasters were called Switchbacks.

The earliest amusement coaster was an ice slide in 16^th century Russia. During the long, cold winters, it is said that Catherine the Great enjoyed the thrill of sliding down a wooden track on an ice block.

La Marcus Thompson rides on his “Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway” at Brooklyn’s Coney Island. Thompson started the coaster craze when he transformed the Mauch Chunk Switchback Gravity Railroad into an amusement ride in 1884.

Indoor track of the "Roller Coaster."

Another view of first coaster at Coney Island.

Breezing through the woodlands at speeds of up to 50 mph, the Mauch Chunk Switchback Gravity Railroad started America’s roller coaster craze.

At a time when a speed of 10 mph was unimaginable, the Mauch Chunk Switchback thrilled riders with speeds of up to 50 mph. The Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Railroad, or as it was later called, the Switchback, was originally designed to haul coal from Summit Hill to the Lehigh River.

 On its Saturday, May 5, 1827 inaugural run, the Switchback’s designer, Josiah White, and associates Solomon Roberts and Isaac Chapman riding in a passenger car, along with a train of six coal cars, descended Sharp Mountain. Though these Lehigh Coal & Navigation managers had built the railroad for the transporting of anthracite coal, they immediately recognized the drawing power of the nine-mile long thrill ride through the Pennsylvania woodlands.

 In 1845, the single-tracked Switchback expanded into a loop track with the addition of a backtrack. At the summit of Mounts Pisgah and Jefferson, 120-HP steam engine-driven pulley wheels pulled safety cars that, in turn, pushed the returning cars up an inclined plane. The hoisting engine and the clickity-clackety ratcheting mechanism of the safety car became important features of the developing  roller coaster.

 After the Hauto Tunnel was completed in 1872, the  Panther Valley Railroad, a partner with the Central Railroad of New Jersey, gained entry to the Lehigh mine fields, signaling the demise of the Switchback as a coal railroad. The Switchback’s coal operations ended in December, 1872. 

Tourist Railroading

In 1871, the Lehigh Valley Railroad purchased the Moore Ravine Waterfall to promote weekend excursion rides. They renamed the property Glen Onoko and developed it as a park.

 The following spring, LC&N followed the trend toward pleasure railroading and converted its Switchback into a tourist railroad. The coal cars were replaced with upgraded passenger cars. A pavilion and observatory were built at the top of Mount Pisgah. A passenger depot was constructed at the top of Packer Hill. LC&N authorized $6,000 to advertise the tourist-oriented Switchback.

 The re-engineered Switchback was profitable but LC&N was not. It was in debt and was forced to sell its mining and transportation assets to the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The last Switchback car ride was on October 29, 1933. 

Switchback Coasters

La Marcus Thompson enjoyed riding the Switchback.  He liked it so much that it inspired him to build American’s first amusement roller coaster, “the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway” at Brooklyn’s Coney Island in 1884.

 Thompson’s Switchback reached a top speed of six mph. The run began at the top of a 45-feet tall tower. There were two towers, one at each end. The patrons climbed stairs to get to the car and descended by gravity over a 600-foot long track  to the bottom of the second tower. There, they climbed the stairs to repeat the procedure in the return direction. The empty cars were pushed back up the ramp to the starting point.

 The Switchback cars reached a top speed of six mph while providing a grand view of the beach. The ride cost five cents and was immediately so popular that it paid for its $1,600 construction cost in the first three weeks of operation.

 Switchbacks were soon built at other locations. These included: Cedar Point in Ohio – 1892, Euclid Beach in Ohio – 1896, and Barry Island in Wales – 1897.

 In the meanwhile, designers were building and patenting dozens of variations of the gravity railroad concept. One, in particular was the Sliding-Hill and Toboggan design of Stephen Jackman & Byron Floyd. Along the four inside walls of an ice skating rink, they built a spiraling track that was run with wooden-wheeled sled. They named it the “Roller Coaster.” The design did not catch on, but the name did.

 Soon afterward, amusement park gravity railroads were no longer called Switchbacks—instead, they were called roller coasters. In time, coasters developed unique designs and with them, received attention-getting names like: Goliath, Steel Dragon, and the current tallest – Top Thrill Dragster.

 These newer coasters reach speeds up to 120 mph. Considering that it took nearly 200 years since the Mauch Chunk first hit 50 mph in 1827, that seems but a modest improvement. But be it 50 mph or 120 mph, among those who love it, it’s still a scream machine. 

Coaster History

The first gravity amusement ride dates back to St. Petersburg, Russia—as early as the 1500s.  During the long, cold winters, it is said that  Catherine the Great enjoyed riding a block of ice down a wooden track.

 Around 1800, wheeled coasters were developed. Soon, closed loop coaster were being built in France. By the mid-1880s, accidents on the coasters caused a public outcry leading to their closing.

 La Marcus Thompson’s 1884 Gravity Pleasure Switchback started a coaster construction boom in America. In the following four years, he built dozens more. In 1887, on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City, he built a scenic Railway. The coaster rolling through elaborate artificial  scenery a final homage to the Mauch Chunk Switchback and a precursor of Disney’s Space Mountain.

 His success encouraged competitors to built faster and more exciting coasters. Thompson’s work fell off sharply. 

Coney Island – an Early Amusement Park

In the 1880s, Coney Island was rift with gambling and prostitution. Thompson’s 1884 Switchback roller coaster and the 1894 addition of a Ferris Wheel brought people to the area, but the seedy element kept many people away.

 Meanwhile, Captain Paul Boyton was opening the first amusement park,  Water Chutes, in Chicago. Boyton built a second park, "Sea Lion Park," in Coney Island in 1897. By building a wall around the amusements, Boyton found that he could exclude the riff-raff.

 Coney Island began to expand with several additional amusement parks being built.  The plethora of parks, each with its own coaster, lead to fierce competition with Coney Island becoming the place where new coaster and amusement ride ideas were tested.

 By 1910, there were an estimated two thousand amusement parks in existence. As with local amusement parks of the period, like Glen Onoko and Flagstaff, the public lost interest and many parks were closed.