Word: coaster
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...build in every bit of fright imaginable. Riders want it," explains coaster designer Ronald Toomer. Most of the new roller coasters are constructed with tubular steel, which lends itself to loops and corkscrew twists. But a number of coaster builders are putting modern tracks and cars within a traditional latticework of wood, which provides the sense of ricketiness, danger and nostalgia that riders love. In fact, roller coasters are safer than ever. Unlike old coasters, which speed out and back over often predictable sets of hills, today's rides careen through tight turns, 60 degrees plunges and dark tunnels, sometimes...
...achieve these extremes, designers create computer-simulation models that show the effects of high speed and sudden force on the riders, the cars and the structure. This enables engineers to build roller coasters with the steepest possible inclines and most sharply banked curves to create the illusion of breakneck speed. All roller-coaster trains are actually gravity propelled after the initial chain-drawn ascent and thus steadily slow down from the first big hill onward...
...wind was blowing hard and it was raining the night that Houston bureau chief Richard Woodbury arrived at Cedar Point park in Sandusky, Ohio, for a test spin in the Magnum XL-200, the world's highest (205 ft.) and fastest (72 m.p.h.) roller coaster. Since the weather was expected to worsen, park officials insisted that they crank up Magnum for a ride right away. "Suddenly the gigantic structure was ablaze with lights," recalls Woodbury. "There was no way to argue, and so, as the wind whipped off Lake Erie, I was harnessed into the front seat of a soaking...
...Woodbury, reporting and writing this week's Living story on the latest twists in roller coasters was a boyhood dream come true. Growing up on Long Island during the '40s, Woodbury caught roller coaster fever at Coney Island, which then boasted no fewer than five coasters. After conquering the legendary Cyclone, Woodbury was hooked, and ever since, when his travels allow, he dashes off to an amusement park to try out the local thrill machine. Woodbury figures he has had innumerable rides on some 25 different roller coasters over the years. As a journalist, he chronicled the evolution...
While most people ride roller coasters for the sheer fun of it, Woodbury believes there is also a psychological dimension to their popular appeal. Says he: "Coaster riding is a way of living through, confronting and conquering our fears. You feel a little braver and stand a bit taller when you leap off the train after it returns to the station...