Why are Roller Coasters called Roller Coasters??

Why are they named Roller coasters???
Does anyone know why or have some kind of explanation?
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Out of the coasters i've ridden here is wat i rank them overall:(ive been to canobie lake and SFNE)
1. S:RoS 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Riverside Cyclone 4. Canobie Corkscrew 5. Thunderbolt 6. Galaxy 7. Mind Eraser 8. Dragon coaster 9. poison ivy's tangled

I think it's because the train "slides" and "stops".  :)

Most roller coasters roll along on the track.  Hence Roller.  Most roller coasters use gravity to propel them, which means that they are coasting for the entire way.  Hence Coaster.  Makes sense to me, although I might be wrong.

Many people think that the actual term "roller coaster" was most likely originated from La Marcus A. Thompson, a roller coaster designer. His 1885 patent for his Switchback Railway, was titled "Roller Coasting Structure" Hence, over time, the name evolved into the phrase roller coaster which became the classification name used for all roller coasters. And the switchback railway was the first type of roller coaster in the US and the auch Chunk Railway in Jim Thrope, PA which was 18 miles long, was a switchback railway. Because the patent for the switchback railway was entitled "Roller Coastering Structure" and the swithback was the first type of coaster, the name sticked and every roller coaster is now called a roller coaster.

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Dave

*** This post was edited by ACE15 on 1/20/2002. ***

really? Thats interesting...
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Out of the coasters i've ridden here is wat i rank them overall:(ive been to canobie lake and SFNE)
1. S:RoS 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Riverside Cyclone 4. Canobie Corkscrew 5. Thunderbolt 6. Galaxy 7. Mind Eraser 8. Dragon coaster 9. poison ivy's tangled

Many other languages call roller coasters "russian mountains."  For example, Spanish for roller coaster is "montaña rusa."
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"A gun is not a weapon...it's a tool...like a butcher knife, a harpoon, or an alligator"

Because U "Coast" on a track by "rolling" on it :)

Actually, in many Latin American countries (Mexico and El Salvador I'm completely sure) it's just called "El/La Chicago" depending on the person.
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A large scating rink (not ice, just regular) in theturn of the cenury, hd a slide, consisting of rollers, large cylenders which let riders slide over them, since they were arranged in a row.  (you can find similar slides at chuck E cheezes, I thnk)

The ride was called Roller Coaster, since riders coasted along rollers, and became 'roller coasters'.

A nearby park opened with a switchback railway, and adopted the name.  Simple as that.

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id rather be on a coaster.....

Although that might suffice most people, ACE15, that's not where it first originated from.

Straight from my A+ term paper in English last year :):

Roller coasters date back many centuries as Russian ice slides Then ice slides consisted of two 70-foot towers with slides connecting them. they would ice these slides down so that people could slide down them on sleds. Catherine the Great loved them so much that she had tiny wheels fitted to sleds so that she could use them in warmer months.

Then in the late 1700's. a French traveler discovered this fascinating and unique Russian source of entertainment. He took this knowledge home and created a similar track with closely spaced rollers. Sleds, similar to the ones used in Russia, would then coast on these rollers. Hence the name "roller coaster" was born.

*** This post was edited by CPgenius on 1/20/2002. ***

Actually CPGenius, I have to disagree with you. I have read up on it also. The first and only type of roller coaster for man years was the swithback railway in the United States. The only coasters tat were built were hundreds of sitchback railways. Beause the patent was called Roller Coasting Structure..... people just called all of the coasters roller coasters. Somone had mentioned about many coasters being called the Russian Mountains. In 15th century Russia. A man built ice covered hills where sleds could easily roll on them. People would pay money to be thrilled and rush down the hills at the mercy of gravity. The ice covered hills later adapted the name "Russian Mountains." Yes CpGenius Catherine the Great did indeed love the sleds so much that she built a few on her own property. Many people think that the Russian added wheels to the sleds for all year round fun, but it was actually the French. The French were the to add wheels and lock cars to their tracks. For more info on that, go to Ultimaterollercoaster.com and look in the history section. The French also were the first to experiment with looping coasters. Then coasters came to America because the Mauch Chunk railway opened to passengers instead of coal transportation from the Lehigh Mountains. La Marcus Adna Thompson was the first person to build a roller coaster designed to carry riders. The switchback railway was then created and the patent was called "Roller Coasting Structure." That name stuck to all new roller coasters. It is just like Coke. Coca-Cola was  think the first coke maker and most people today still say that they are going to buy a coke even if they are getting a Pepsi. The first nme usually sticks. And CPGenius, I also to a huge huge paper on this subject also, which I also got an A.

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Dave  

The name L.A. used on the patents was derived from the many other rides which led up to its creation.

I have never hearsd anyone but you support that theory, ACE15.

Also, teachers know nothing about roller coasters.  They do not reaserch on these things to prove you wrong.  The grade proves nothing.

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id rather be on a coaster.....

Okay, okay, it seems you folks are on the right track, but getting your history mixed up. Go find a copy of Dr. Cartmell's The Incredible Scream Machine and read up on it.

The Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway may well have been the first gravity powered railroad in the USA. The first roller coaster built as an amusement ride, however, was LaMarcus Thompson's Switchback Railway at Coney Island in 1884. It's very possible that the term "roller coaster" may partially originate from the ride that Foozycoaster was talking about. That ride was a big figure-8 contraption built over an ice rink in Haverhill, Mass. in 1887. That ride did indeed look like those new playground slides with the rollers on them, or like a roller conveyor, but according to Cartmell, it was called the "Sliding Hill and Roller Toboggan." In that case, the sleds literally coasted on rollers, making it a reasonable source for the name.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Thank you for all your "opinions"!
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Out of the coasters i've ridden here is wat i rank them overall:(ive been to canobie lake and SFNE)
1. S:RoS 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Riverside Cyclone 4. Canobie Corkscrew 5. Thunderbolt 6. Galaxy 7. Mind Eraser 8. Dragon coaster 9. poison ivy's tangled

Although I didn't know that spanish speaking countries called Ferris Wheels "Chicagos", it makes sense as the very first one (invented by Ferris) debuted at the Chicago World's Fair (1876??).
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"I'll bet that thing hits 5 Gs going through that loop.....faaar ooouut!"