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Description:
The first roller coaster were actually what we would now consider iced slides. They came on the scene in
17th century Russia and were all the rage amongst the upper class - Catherine the Great was said to be a big fan. These
"coasters" ranged from 70 to 80 feet high, stretched for hundreds of feet, and could handle several cars at once.
At some point in the 18th century someone had the bright idea of adding wheels to the sleds, to make the slides a year
round event, and it is from these
early coasters that the white-knuckle, gut-twisting, vomit-producing extravaganzas featured
at today's amusement parks evolved from. To learn about the coasters that predate the modern steel roller coaster be sure to
check out the ultimaterollercoaster.com Website's
history section.
Most people seem to love them or despise them and even the people who love them have strong opinions on which coasters are worth
your time and money. There are the wooden coaster enthusiasts, who thumb their nose at the steel coasters and the inverted coaster
fanatics who consider those who travel with their wheels above the track as wimps. Whichever you might be, wherever you might live and
no matter whether you can only handle the kiddie coasters or you prefer triple looping monsters, there should be a roller coaster
nearby for you to waymark.
Temporary carnival coasters are not permitted in this category. When you find a coaster that you want to waymark, a great place
to find info about it is on the Roller Coaster Database. This Website
has an amazing about of details: ride length, car length, when the coaster was built, any previous owners, its make and model,
top speed... and it's nice to have all this info to fill out the variables for those true coaster afficianados.
The photo you see above is of the "Tidal Wave" at Trimper's Rides in Ocean City, Maryland. We waymarked this coaster this past summer
while travelling along the Atlantic Coast. It has a loop and a boomerang as part of the ride - fun but not "oh my GOD!" scary fun. Mostly
I chose it because I liked the photo. :)
Date created: 4/11/2007
Management Group: Roller Coasters
Category founder: az_pistolero
Category officers: az_pistolero, Silverquill, The Blue Quasar
Number of waymarks within category:
Section of directory: Entertainment
Grid location:
A few great waymarks:
Mind Eraser, suspended coaster at Six Flags New England, Agawam, MA
Son of Beast, (holds several world records) in Kings Island, OH
Dragon Khan, (8 loops and goes up to 110 Km/h) in PortAventura Park, Tarragona, Spain
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