How Are Roller Coasters Built-

							The first roller coaster built in America was the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway
that was put up in Coney Island in 1884. It only went 6 mph, but it was such a hit that
the builder recovered his investment in less than a month.

The Cyclone, also at Coney Island was built in 1927 with an 85 foot drop and 60
degree angles. No wonder it is still considered the "gold standard" in coaster design.
The first tubular steel coaster was the Matterhorn Bobsled Ride built at Disneyland in
1959. They were quieter and allowed corkscrews and other tricks you couldn't get
with a wooden coaster.

But wooden coasters have remained popular, being built ever higher. The construction
of wooden roller coasters is an interesting process. It involves cutting many, many
pieces of wood to the correct length. Special fire inhibiting adhesive is spread by a
caulk tube in between the layers of lumber to inhibit the spread of a fire anywhere on
the coaster. The coaster is actually put together on the ground and then the pieces are
put in place with cranes, where they are then bolted together. Wooden ties are then
added as cross braces to connect the sections together sturdily.

On the ground, the last sections needed are built first, and then the next-to-last
sections are built and stacked on top of them so that at the top of the stack are the
sections needed first, and the last sections to be needed will be on the bottom of the
stack.

One reason coasters are still made from wood is that wood allows the structure to
have some "give," to move and stretch as the train goes by. A structure with no give to
it would cause the rails to wear unevenly and have to be replaced more often. In sharp
curves where G-forces maximize, this bit of flexibility is necessary to keep the cars
from shaking too much or riders to be injured by excessive forces. The track itself is
then made from 2 x 12 and 2 x 10 boards laminated (layered) on top of each other.
The first layer is secured, and then additional layers are nailed into each lower layer.
The ends are staggered to overlap each other to ensure sufficient track strength.