the maunch chunk railway

The Mauch Chunk Railway, is the American beginnings of the roller coaster. The Mauch Chunk Railway was devised not as a pleasure ride, but as a transportation system for the coal mine industry. The coal mines in the area had a basic problem. 'How to cheaply and effectively transport the coal from the mines on top of the mountain to the port in Mach Chunk, some 18 miles downhill. To solve this problem, a railway was devised that would run the 18-mile course in such a way that all the workers had to do was load the mine cars, push them off the top of the mountain, and they would follow the 18-mile course purely by gravity. This was possible since 17 of the 18 miles were downhill. Mules were employed to haul the empty cars back to the top. Shortly thereafter, a car for the mules was built so that they could 'ride' back down with the coal. Although it is not recorded, someone got the bright idea of loading the mine cars with people and pushing them down the hill. The 'ride' became an instant success. The track was used for coal mining during the day, and as a pleasure ride at night. To make life easier, the mules were replaced by a steam engine that would haul the empty cars up a longer but more gradual incline to the top of the mountain. This helped efficiency by having a motorized means to keep empty cars coming up, on a separate track, while coal was being transported down the main track. Soon both tracks became part of the Mauch Chunk Scenic Railway. People paid $1 to ride up on the incline (motorized track), then the engines were removed, and they were sent back down the main track, with just gravity to push them along. Think of this in terms of roller coaster stats:

Track length: 40 miles

Max. Speed: >100MPH

If anybody builds a coaster of that length, with that speed, tell me.

Anyway, in 1870 the coal miners found a shorter railway, using tunnels and steam engines. This left the Much Chuck Railway to be used exclusively for pleasure rides. A hotel and restaurant were even built on top of the mountain, and people would eat lunch before starting back down. (Not wise, IMHO). This 'ride' continued to operate until the 1930's with an exemplary safety record.