oldest rollercoaster - CoasterBuzz

can someone please tell me what the first and oldest rollercoaster is?

The first is a tricky one, depending on how you classify a "coaster."

The oldest is Leap The Dips at Lakemont Park in Altoona, PA.

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If a double-decker bus crashes in to us... to die by your side, the pleasure the privlege is mine. -- The Smiths

ty kp for both

LtD is the oldest operating, but the Mauch Chunk Gravity Railway(imagine the Beast without the big drop, and 16 miles longer) was the first in America.

I have mountainbiked its course once, and it is very hilly.

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I am not going back to Cedar Point until they throw Mean Streak's brakes into lake Erie. There should be a law against killing coasters like Cedar Fair does.

There are actually plans in the works to rebuild the MCSR and operate it again. It will take some time though, they have been working on it for a good 15 years now.

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"If you make it too smooth, it'll be like sitting in your living room."
-Bill Cobb - Designer, Texas Cyclone

I can only imagine how insane it must have been back then to ride something like MCSR with speeds of 100 MPH...

The oldest continually operating coaster (that is, unlike Leap the Dips etc., it has not had any considerable SBNOage) is Luna Park Melbourne's Scenic Railway, which has been going strong since 1912 (and amazingly, never seems to have been decently rehab'ed :)).

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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?

-www.totalthrills.com-
Australia's Premier Source for Thrills!

I would love to see photos of how Mauch Chunk Gravity Railway looks today. Does anyone have any photos of it?

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Chris Knight
Be sure to download my latest NL Wooden Looping Coaster creation Dream Blast. Updated for NL 1.3!

Isn't Zippin Pippin at Libertyland the oldest continuously operating coaster? I think it is. It's been operating since 1915.

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I was asked to describe X in one word. The word? -- OhmygoshwhathaveIgottenmyselfintothisisthescariest
thingintheworldhelpmeIamgoingtodieAHHHH!!!

I believe Zippin Pippin's record is for North America's oldest continually operating. The world's is, as I said earlier, Luna Park's Scenic Railway, which turns 91 in December of this year.

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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?

-Total Thrills Amusement Guide
Australia's Premier Source for Thrills!

Sawblade5 said:
I would love to see photos of how Mauch Chunk Gravity Railway looks today. Does anyone have any photos of it?

You can find some photos of what it used to look like here.

There is not really much of it left today, though the right of way for it still exists. I used to have a site with photos of the area saved, can't seem to find it now.

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"If you make it too smooth, it'll be like sitting in your living room."
-Bill Cobb - Designer, Texas Cyclone

oldest operating is the Aerial Glide at Shipley Glen, UK, built in 1900, although the park is to be demolished later this year to make room for housing.

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www.ukrides.info
*** This post was edited by colin mcwilliam 5/7/2003 12:27:55 PM ***

yea on the ball colin! i was about to mention that. aerial glide is the oldest coaster, built in 1900, but it's not very good, other than that i think the oldest is the scenic railway?!? that ride is good

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Colossus [1]
Nemesis: Inferno [6]

Wow, look at those trains! That would be like riding the CP railway going over 100 mph! That makes me wish I could have ridden it! No restraints and pure speed... drool...

The oldest is Leap the Dips at Lakemont, which opened in 1902. The first coaster that was actually built for entertainment purposes was the Switchback Railway at Coney Island designed by La Marcus Thompson and opened in 1884. The Mauch Chunk Railway could be considered a rollercoaster but I think it was originally intended to be a railroad. Actually I think it was America's second one.
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captured on the webcam. http://community.webshots.com/photo/67986571/72222804JLfqyS

Could you please find a source that says that the Aerial Glide was built in 1900. The one that you have linked says 1900's. That is very different because many rollercoasters were built in the 1900's, but their not all the oldest.