Loop the Loop (Young's Pier)

Loop the Loop
Atlantic City
Coordinates 39°21′14″N 74°26′03″W / 39.3538°N 74.4342°W / 39.3538; -74.4342
Status Removed
Opening date 1901 (1901)
Closing date 1912 (1912)
General Statistics
Type Steel
Manufacturer Edwin Prescott
Designer Edward A. Green
Inversions 1 1
Loop the Loop at RCDB
Pictures of Loop the Loop at RCDB

Loop the Loop (occasionally referred to as the Flip Flap Railway) was a steel, dual-tracked roller coaster located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The roller coaster opened in 1901 and operated until 1912. It was one of the earliest looping roller coasters in the United States.

History

Loop the Loop was designed and built in 1901 by Edward A. Green and Edwin Prescott on one of Captain John L. Young's piers in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[1][2] It was the goal of Green and Prescott to create a looping coaster which would not be subject to the same extreme g-forces which plagued Lina Beecher's earlier Flip Flap Railway on Coney Island in New York.[3]

The Loop the Loop attracted considerable attention,[3] and was promoted in a number of ways by John L. Young, the owner of the pier. For example, Young commissioned a photograph contest which offered a $40 prize for the best photograph of the new coaster (as well as numerous lesser prizes).[4] Toy replicas were also made of the coaster.[5]

Ride experience

Like its sister coaster in Coney Island,[6] Loop the Loop was a racing coaster with parallel tracks which each progressed through a single vertical loop.[7] Another common factor was that both coasters incorporated an oval loop to reduce the g-forces produced by the earlier Coney Island Flip Flap Railway which utilized a circular loop. Despite the design improvements and substantial improvement in g-forces, however, the ride was reported to be unpleasant.[7] This, paired with the ride's low capacity (only four individuals could ride the coaster every five minutes), meant that the Loop the Loop at Atlantic City was ultimately a failure.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Steamship Blown Ashore; The Clavordale Aground at Atlantic City -- Section of Young's Pier and the Loop the Loop Collapse". The New York Times. 1902-02-03. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  2. ^ "Worst Over at Atlantic". Morning News. Wilmington, DE. October 13, 1903. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-06-10 – via newspapers.com Open access icon.
  3. ^ a b c Throgmorton, Todd H. (2009). Roller Coasters: United States and Canada (3rd ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0786453399. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  4. ^ "Capt. Young's Flip-Flap Photo Contest". The Camera. 5 (10): 388. October 1901. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "Pleasing Gifts for "Seven Ages"". The Philadelphia Record. December 21, 1908. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  6. ^ Marden, Duane. "Loop the Loop  (Coney Island)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  7. ^ a b William H., Sokolic; Ruffolo, Jr., Robert E. (2006). Atlantic City Revisited. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738549045. Retrieved September 9, 2013.