the beginning of the roller coasters

Rollercoasters can trace their origins back to the russian ice slides. Russian Ice slides, which first appeared in the 1700's were amusement devices found at fairs all over Russia. A slide consisted of a steep drop made entirely of ice, occasionally a few creative people added a small series of bumps at the end. The rider rode in a sled that was made either of wood or ice, with ice being common. Sand was placed at the end to slow the sleds down. The person sat on a straw patch and held on to a rope tied through a hole drilled in the ice block. These early rides were quite popular, and soon flourished. At this time sliding down the slides was a risky business and required skill on behalf of the rider, so skilled guides made their services available to novice riders for a fee.

While these slides grew in popularity in Russia, a French businessman, decided to build an Ice Slide in France, unfortunately the French climate was not suited to this and the ice soon melted, leaving what some have dubbed a "slurpee slide". Not discouraged, he decided to build an all weather version of the ride, using a waxed wooden slope and hills, and a wood sled with rollers on the bottom. This perfectly simulated the Russian version and allowed for wide-spread exposure, as well as some private and indoor models to be built. Just as with the Russian version however, skill was needed to drive the sleds, so accidents were common. Strangely, however, the more accidents these early French rides had, the more people were drawn to them.

The next step was to create a crude track structure to insure each rider goes down in a straight line, as planned, and improving the safety by avoiding collisions. During this time a racing model was made with two people sledding from the same high point, taking opposing curving drops down to the ground level, and then through a 'helix'. This ride proved immensely popular and wagering was even made on who would finish first.

During this early point in coaster history, the first attempt at a loop-the-loop was made in France, in the 1850's. This ride called the Centrifuge Railway, featured a early coaster car (a seat attached to a chassis) that would travel through a loop with nothing but sheer centrifugal force holding both the car to the track, and the rider to the car. This idea was quickly put to death by wary government officials who stopped it's introduction after one accident.