A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions, LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, related to the Switchback Railway, at which location, and was the first roller coaster designed as an amusement ride in America?
Switchback Railway The original Switchback Railway at Coney Island was the first roller coaster designed as an amusement ride in America. It 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.
Flight of Fear Flight of Fear (previously known as The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear) is an enclosed launched roller coaster at two Cedar Fair parks, Kings Island in Mason, Ohio and Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Both Flight of Fear roller coasters first opened in 1996 and were the world's first roller coasters to feature a linear induction motor (LIM) launch. Flight of Fear has won three awards from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, including one for Major Theme/Amusement Park Ride/Attraction and two for Technology Applied to Amusements.