Steel roller coaster

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Expedition Geforce, A steel roller coaster

A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that has a track made of steel. These roller coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated wheels, steel roller coasters have the ability provide a taller, smoother, and faster ride with inversions, unlike traditional wooden roller coasters.

History

The first steel coasters were built in the late 19th century, however they were far outnumbered by wooden coasters. Early steel coasters were typically more specialised, such as the Aerial Glide and Bisby's Spiral Spaceship, both of which opened in the 1900s and are the first known suspended roller coasters. Other early steel coasters include steeplechase and looping coasters.

In the second half of the 1940s Bradley & Kaye introduced the Little Dipper design, which was later sold to the Allan Herschell Company.

Arrow Dynamics first introduced the steel roller coaster to feature tubular track to the thrill industry with their creations of Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland Park in 1959.

Trivia

  • The oldest operating steel roller coaster in the world is Montaña Suiza at Parque de Atracciones Monte Igueldo at San Sebastián (Spain). It has been operating since 1928.
  • The oldest operating steel roller coaster in North America is the Little Dipper at Memphis Kiddie Park in Brooklyn, Ohio and has been operating since 16 May 1952.

Notable steel roller coasters

Roller coaster types