“Switchback Railway”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

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. ^[1]^[2] ^[3] 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.^[4]

The Coney Island Switchback Railway was designed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson in 1881 and constructed in 1884.^[4] For five cents, riders would climb a tower to board the large bench-like car and were pushed off to coast {{Convert|600|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} down the track to another tower.^[5] The car went just over {{Convert|6|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.^[5] At the top of the other tower the vehicle was switched to a return track or "switched back" (hence the name).

This track design was soon replaced with an oval complete-circuit ride designed by Charles Alcoke and called the Serpentine Railway.^[5] In 1885 Phillip Hinkle developed a lift system which appeared in his ride called Gravity Pleasure.^[4] The Gravity Pleasure also featured cars in which the passengers could face forward instead of in the awkward bench-like seats of the first two roller coasters.^[5]

Not to be outdone, in 1886 LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented his design of coasters that included dark tunnels with painted scenery.^[4] Thompson built many more roller coasters across the country which were called "The L.A. Thompson Scenic Railway".^[5] Some of these operated until 1954.{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}

Many of these early coasters were torn down and replaced by larger ones, and soon most roller coasters built before the 1930s had been demolished. But modern roller coaster companies are now resurrecting old "woodies" and building what they call "hybrid" roller coasters, which combine the classic look of a wooden support structure with the smoothness of a steel track. Hybrid roller coasters are able to include more "extreme" elements such as inversions and beyond-vertical drops due to the versatility of steel track.

There was also a switchback railway at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888.^[6]

References

1. ^{{cite web |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US332762?oq=Gravity+SwitchBack+Railways |title=US Patent No. 332,762 Patented | date=December 22, 1885 | website=Google Patents| access-date=June 16, 2018}}
2. ^ {{cite web |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US198888A/en?q=inclined+plane&q=railway&before=priority:18790101 |title=Improvements in inclined-plane railways | date=January 1, 1878 | website=Google Patents | access-date=June 16, 2018}}
3. ^ {{cite web |url=http://entertainmentdesigner.com/history-of-theme-parks/history-of-roller-coasters-the-switchback-railway-americas-first-roller-coaster/ |title=History of Roller Coasters: The Switchback Railway, America’s First Roller Coaster | publisher=Entertainment Designer |date=October 16, 2011 |access-date=June 16, 2018}}
4. ^¹²Urbanowicz, Steven J. (2002) The Roller Coaster Lover's Companion, Citadel Press Kensington, New York. {{ISBN|0806523093}}. pg 4.
5. ^¹²³⁴⁵Rutherford, Scott (2000) The American Roller Coaster, MBI Publishing Company, Wisconsin. {{ISBN|0760306893}}.
6. ^{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6895338 |title= |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=21 July 1888 |accessdate=14 February 2013 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}