ROLY COASTERS:
MAPPING AMERICAN ROLLER COASTERS
Golden Age: 1920-1940
The fire was lit, and roller coaster fever began to sweep the nation. "Gravity rides" popped up left and right, with some estimating that around 2000 roller coasters were built during the Golden Age. People were looking for a thrill, and coasters were the perfect fix.
Many of the most famous (and infamous) coaster designers came from the Golden Age, including the likes of John A. Miller and Henry Traver (respectively). Miller designed around 140 coasters during his time, and Traver is notorious for designing the "Terrible Trio" in 1927.
Pictured: The Kennywood Racer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of John A. Miller's most famous designs
Nowadays, roller coasters are governed by countless safety measures. During the Golden Age, this was not always the case. Henry Traver's "Terrible Trio" of so-called Cyclone Safety Coasters were all built in 1927. Their extreme designs put strain on even the strongest of the trio's frames, so they were a pain to maintain, and volatile to say the least.
The most infamous "Terrible Triplet" was the Crystal Beach Cyclone in Ontario, Canada. Although its support structure was built of steel (a booming industry at the time), it is considered a wooden coaster because the cars ran on a flat metal rail atop wooden planks.
Pictured: The Cyclone in Crystal Beach, Ontario. Although it is not in the U.S., it is fun to see the ideas of "extreme" held during the Golden Age
The Nitty-Gritty: Further Insights
Although this map does not show the countless unknown coasters of the golden age, it does show the growing density of the northeast. Ohio in particular has several parks with over 12 coasters. Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Western Pennsylvania has also already built a coaster that is still operating today: the Jack Rabbit!
Funny enough, the boom of the steel industry did not necessarily spark a growth in steel coasters during the Golden Age. Almost all cities had less than two steel coasters, partly because of the difficulty of manufacturing them at the time, but also because of the difficulty in making them exciting. Most coasters today are designed with special software, something obviously not possible during this age.
