1817 - Two wooden tracked "coasters" built in France. Very simple layouts, but they had carriages connected to the track.

1840's - First ever looping coasters made. One in France and a smaller one in the UK

1880's - Switchback Railways
 
Above, a computer re-created Switchback.

These early coasters were made famous by LeMarcus Thompson and the first one was opened in Coney Island in 1884. Though Richard Knudson patented the design first, it was Thompson that brought them to the masses.

Riders would climb to the top of the structure and get in the car. It would then gently (around 6 MPH) undulate to the ground. There it would be pushed up the other side by workers. At the top, the car would be "switched" onto the parallel return track and sent back to the start. A very simple system but all of a sudden, every beach in the world seemed to want one.

1884-1886 - Lift hill and complete circuit coasters developed
This led to:

1887 - First Scenic Railway opened by Le Marcus Thompson in Atlantic City
These rides had a brakeman on board, and were as much about what you saw, as for the thrills. It was seen as an exciting tour, rather than a heart-stopping adventure. The ride had wheels underneath, and on the sides, but nothing held the cars onto the track, so speed was controlled by a brakeman on the ride.

1887(ish) - First Toboggan coasters made
Around the same time the first Scenic Railway appeared, so did the Toboggan coaster (or figure 8 or leap-the-dips as they're now more commonly known). These used wheels running in troughs on the side of the car to keep them on the track. Brakes in the track, controlled by an operator, kept speeds down. Essentially though, once dropped off the lift hill, you were under the force of gravity until the station and the brakes.

1885 - Flip-Flap railway opened - Coney Island. First commercial, looping coaster

1895- Switchback Railway opens in Southport

1902 - Leap the Dips built
Leap the Dips is the oldest operating coaster in the world. It's a side-friction Toboggan coaster and resides at Lakemount Park, US.
1908 - Figure 8 Railway built in Souhtport

1911 - Virginia Reel developed
A Virginia Reel had a spinning car going down a twisting track. Blackpool's was demolished due to safety issues in 1981 and was one of the last remaining in the world.

1920 - John Miller invents the "upstop wheel"
Along with hundreds of other coaster patents (including roll-back devices), John Miller invented the idea of an extra set of wheels under the track. The Upstop wheel would stop the coaster from leaping off the tracks, allowing for much faster layouts to be made.

1920 - Scenic Railway, Margate (the UK's only listed coaster) opens

1923 - John Miller's Big Dipper at Blackpool opens. The UK's oldest under friction coaster.


Blackpool's Big Dipper is a superb example of the advance "upstop" wheels made.

1920's - Coaster Explosion - The Golden Years
During the 20's, there was a massive explosion of coasters across the world, most of them now based on John Millers designs, but still with Scenic's being built.

During this time, Flying Turns were also developed and proliferated.

A Flying Turns was very similar to a modern day Bobsled coaster, like the Avalanche at Blackpool. The coaster was free to run on the half tube track. Knoebels park in the US built the first Flying Turns since the 1930's in 2007.


Knoebels new Flying Turns under construction.

1929 - Belle Vue Bobs built
This was a classic example of 1920's coaster design. Steep, twisting layouts that threw riders around corners at high speed. Unlike the infamous "Crystal Beach Cyclone", the Bobs didn't need a nurses station and remained open until 1973.

1932 - Roller Coaster Great Yarmouth built
This is the second other remaining, operating, Scenic Railway in the UK

1933 - Rollercoaster at Blackpool opened
Built on the remains of the "Velvet Coaster" (opened 1909), to accommodate the new road going through the middle of the park.

1934 - Zipper Dipper Kiddie coaster built at Blackpool
Designed by Charlie Paige? At this time, Blackpool Pleasure Beach also employer the talent of Harry Travers (designer of the Crystal Beach Cyclone). It's unclear which Blackpool wooden coasters the pair worked on, or if they worked together on many of them. Charlie Paige seemed to be more often employed as a construction engineer as opposed to a designer - a job he had held for year working building John Miller designed coasters in the States.

1935 - Grand National built at Blackpool
Designed by Charlie Paige and is one of two remaining pre-war 'mobious' loop coasters in the world

1936 - Big Dipper at Blackpool extended by Charlie Paige

1937 - Cyclone at Southport built
Designed by Charlie Paige, this was the last remaining traditional "figure 8" upstop coaster in the country.

1950's - New developments
During the 50's, the only real developments were complete circuit "chute-the-chutes" (before this time, boats were sent down a ramp and pulled back up), and wooden "wild mouse" rides. The wild mouse rides didn't seem to capture the public imagination though and weren't as prolific as the woodies. Though the change in culture had a lot to do with that.

1950's-1970's - The dark days of wooden coasters
During this period, traditional holiday resorts saw a massive loss of visitor numbers due to cheap holidays abroad. There was also a lack of new and exciting developments in the world of rides. This led to many parks having to cut back on expensive to maintain rides, and to reduce their sizes to stay alive. Fair grounds were seen as "old-hat", and there were better ways of turning a profit. This period saw the loss of many parks, and many coaster. A lot was compounded by:

1972 - Battersea coaster tragedy
In 1972, a wooden coaster at Battersea (the old Scenic from Southport no less) derailed and killed 4 children. This caused a pretty harsh destruction campaign on old woodies across the country. Many old coasters were lost in this "purge".

1980-mid 1990's - The Wilderness Years
Although wooden coasters were still being built in the US on occasion, they had pretty much completely fallen out of vogue. They were seen as old technology compared to everything a modern coaster could offer. People still enjoyed the old woodies, but demanded more from a modern coaster.

1995 - Antelope at Gullivers, Warrington built


The Antelope at Gulliver's Warrington was designed in-house.

1996-Present - The wooden resurgence
In the early 90's, a company calls Custom Coasters Inc started to build wooden coasters. Using modern technology, they revisited the olden, steep, twisted designs of the 1920's. Suddenly people were VERY interested in wooden coaster again, especially after:

1996 - Megafobia, Oakwood opens
To universal acclaim, Megafobia went straight to the top of most people's "best ride" list. Nothing this fast, fun or frantic had been seen in over 60 years. This opened the doors for CCI to rule the wooden coaster world, producing over 30 woodies in the next 7 years, before the company went under.

Megafobia certainly turned heads, in the backwaters of South Wales...

2000 - Son of Beast, the worlds only looping woody opens
Though the loop section is actually made of steel. The loop was removed in 2007.

2000-Onwards - The second glory years?
The break up of CCI led to two new wooden coaster companies forming, Gravity Group LLC and Great Coasters International (GCI). Both companies have gone on to forge the way for increadible new coaster designs. GCI still use traditional methods of building wooden coasters, whereas GG tend to use metal supports, with wooden track on top (this allows for much cheaper and quicker construction of larger coasters).

Intamin AG also got in on the action. One of the worlds largest steel coaster companies, Intamin developed a "plug and play" coaster. These are the Ikea flatpack furniture of the coaster world. The coaster track and supports are laser cut in Sweden, then sent with fitting instructions to the park. These are renowned as some of the best coasters in the world, with El Toro opening at Six Flags Great adventure, featuring an 86 degree drop, on a wooden coaster.

All these new coasters are exceptionally well received by ride enthusiasts and pave the way for a brighter world full of wood!

1817 - Two wooden tracked "coasters" built in France. Very simple layouts, but they had carriages connected to the track.

1840's - First ever looping coasters made. One in France and a smaller one in the UK

1880's - Switchback Railways

Above, a computer re-created Switchback.

These early coasters were made famous by LeMarcus Thompson and the first one was opened in Coney Island in 1884. Though Richard Knudson patented the design first, it was Thompson that brought them to the masses.

Riders would climb to the top of the structure and get in the car. It would then gently (around 6 MPH) undulate to the ground. There it would be pushed up the other side by workers. At the top, the car would be "switched" onto the parallel return track and sent back to the start. A very simple system but all of a sudden, every beach in the world seemed to want one.

1884-1886 - Lift hill and complete circuit coasters developed
This led to:

1887 - First Scenic Railway opened by Le Marcus Thompson in Atlantic City
These rides had a brakeman on board, and were as much about what you saw, as for the thrills. It was seen as an exciting tour, rather than a heart-stopping adventure. The ride had wheels underneath, and on the sides, but nothing held the cars onto the track, so speed was controlled by a brakeman on the ride.

1887(ish) - First Toboggan coasters made
Around the same time the first Scenic Railway appeared, so did the Toboggan coaster (or figure 8 or leap-the-dips as they're now more commonly known). These used wheels running in troughs on the side of the car to keep them on the track. Brakes in the track, controlled by an operator, kept speeds down. Essentially though, once dropped off the lift hill, you were under the force of gravity until the station and the brakes.

1885 - Flip-Flap railway opened - Coney Island. First commercial, looping coaster

1895- Switchback Railway opens in Southport

1902 - Leap the Dips built
Leap the Dips is the oldest operating coaster in the world. It's a side-friction Toboggan coaster and resides at Lakemount Park, US.
1908 - Figure 8 Railway built in Souhtport

1911 - Virginia Reel developed
A Virginia Reel had a spinning car going down a twisting track. Blackpool's was demolished due to safety issues in 1981 and was one of the last remaining in the world.

1920 - John Miller invents the "upstop wheel"
Along with hundreds of other coaster patents (including roll-back devices), John Miller invented the idea of an extra set of wheels under the track. The Upstop wheel would stop the coaster from leaping off the tracks, allowing for much faster layouts to be made.

1920 - Scenic Railway, Margate (the UK's only listed coaster) opens

1923 - John Miller's Big Dipper at Blackpool opens. The UK's oldest under friction coaster.

1920's - Coaster Explosion - The Golden Years
During the 20's, there was a massive explosion of coasters across the world, most of them now based on John Millers designs, but still with Scenic's being built.

During this time, Flying Turns were also developed and proliferated.

A Flying Turns was very similar to a modern day Bobsled coaster, like the Avalanche at Blackpool. The coaster was free to run on the half tube track. Knoebels park in the US built the first Flying Turns since the 1930's in 2007.

1929 - Belle Vue Bobs built
This was a classic example of 1920's coaster design. Steep, twisting layouts that threw riders around corners at high speed. Unlike the infamous "Crystal Beach Cyclone", the Bobs didn't need a nurses station and remained open until 1973.

1932 - Roller Coaster Great Yarmouth built
This is the second other remaining, operating, Scenic Railway in the UK

1933 - Rollercoaster at Blackpool opened
Built on the remains of the "Velvet Coaster" (opened 1909), to accommodate the new road going through the middle of the park.

1934 - Zipper Dipper Kiddie coaster built at Blackpool
Designed by Charlie Paige? At this time, Blackpool Pleasure Beach also employer the talent of Harry Travers (designer of the Crystal Beach Cyclone). It's unclear which Blackpool wooden coasters the pair worked on, or if they worked together on many of them. Charlie Paige seemed to be more often employed as a construction engineer as opposed to a designer - a job he had held for year working building John Miller designed coasters in the States.

1935 - Grand National built at Blackpool
Designed by Charlie Paige and is one of two remaining pre-war 'mobious' loop coasters in the world

1936 - Big Dipper at Blackpool extended by Charlie Paige

1937 - Cyclone at Southport built
Designed by Charlie Paige, this was the last remaining traditional "figure 8" upstop coaster in the country.

1950's - New developments
During the 50's, the only real developments were complete circuit "chute-the-chutes" (before this time, boats were sent down a ramp and pulled back up), and wooden "wild mouse" rides. The wild mouse rides didn't seem to capture the public imagination though and weren't as prolific as the woodies. Though the change in culture had a lot to do with that.

1950's-1970's - The dark days of wooden coasters
During this period, traditional holiday resorts saw a massive loss of visitor numbers due to cheap holidays abroad. There was also a lack of new and exciting developments in the world of rides. This led to many parks having to cut back on expensive to maintain rides, and to reduce their sizes to stay alive. Fair grounds were seen as "old-hat", and there were better ways of turning a profit. This period saw the loss of many parks, and many coaster. A lot was compounded by:

1972 - Battersea coaster tragedy
In 1972, a wooden coaster at Battersea (the old Scenic from Southport no less) derailed and killed 4 children. This caused a pretty harsh destruction campaign on old woodies across the country. Many old coasters were lost in this "purge".

1980-mid 1990's - The Wilderness Years
Although wooden coasters were still being built in the US on occasion, they had pretty much completely fallen out of vogue. They were seen as old technology compared to everything a modern coaster could offer. People still enjoyed the old woodies, but demanded more from a modern coaster.

1995 - Antelope at Gullivers, Warrington built

1996-Present - The wooden resurgence
In the early 90's, a company calls Custom Coasters Inc started to build wooden coasters. Using modern technology, they revisited the olden, steep, twisted designs of the 1920's. Suddenly people were VERY interested in wooden coaster again, especially after:

1996 - Megafobia, Oakwood opens
To universal acclaim, Megafobia went straight to the top of most people's "best ride" list. Nothing this fast, fun or frantic had been seen in over 60 years. This opened the doors for CCI to rule the wooden coaster world, producing over 30 woodies in the next 7 years, before the company went under.

2000 - Son of Beast, the worlds only looping woody opens
Though the loop section is actually made of steel. The loop was removed in 2007.

2000-Onwards - The second glory years?
The break up of CCI led to two new wooden coaster companies forming, Gravity Group LLC and Great Coasters International (GCI). Both companies have gone on to forge the way for increadible new coaster designs. GCI still use traditional methods of building wooden coasters, whereas GG tend to use metal supports, with wooden track on top (this allows for much cheaper and quicker construction of larger coasters).

Intamin AG also got in on the action. One of the worlds largest steel coaster companies, Intamin developed a "plug and play" coaster. These are the Ikea flatpack furniture of the coaster world. The coaster track and supports are laser cut in Sweden, then sent with fitting instructions to the park. These are renowned as some of the best coasters in the world, with El Toro opening at Six Flags Great adventure, featuring an 86 degree drop, on a wooden coaster.

All these new coasters are exceptionally well received by ride enthusiasts and pave the way for a brighter world full of wood!