June 16, 1884 — In History:

A new thrill ride debuts at Coney Island
A nickel gets you on Coney Island’s Switchback Railway, a new amusement park ride carrying passengers on an undulating railroad track at up to 6 mph, running a length of 600 feet and an overall drop of 43 feet. America’s first roller coaster will be a hit, spawning ever-bigger thrills.

The original Switchback Railway was the first roller coaster at Coney Island and one of the earliest designed for amusement in America. The 1885 patent states the invention relates to the gravity double track switchback railway, which had predicated the inclined plane railway, patented in 1878 by Richard Knudsen. Coney Island’s version was designed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson in 1881 and constructed in 1884. It appears Thompson based his design, at least in part, on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway which was a coal-mining train that had started carrying passengers as a thrill ride in 1827.

Opened: Jun 16, 1884
Height: 50 feet 0 inches
Max speed: 6.03 mph
G-force: 2.90 g
Track length: 600 feet
Duration: 1 minute