Wooden Roller Coasters

Roller Coasters have been around for over 200 years. It is thought the idea was first developed in Russia using winter sleds and huge hills of ice. Early American roller coasters were made out of wood. Even though they were relatively safe, they "clacked" and "clattered" loudly, adding to the scariness of the downhill plunges. Some people still prefer wooden roller coasters because of the feeling of becoming "airborne" when a coaster rushes to the top of a high peak. Pictured here is the "Cyclone," a world-famous wooden roller coaster built at Coney Island, New York, in 1927. It is still in operation today.