1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much 3 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: for tuning in. That's our super producer, mister Max Williams. 4 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: Throw your hands up in the air. I'm been bowling. 5 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: Joined as always with the inimical, the imminent mister Noel Brown. 6 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 2: Hello have you guys? You guys know that Smashing Pumpkins 7 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,279 Speaker 2: song in nineteen seventy nine, No what is music exactly? Who? 8 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:53,959 Speaker 2: What even his music? Well, there's a really great meme 9 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 2: where it's a Billy Corgan writing a roller coaster. That's 10 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 2: the title of the meme and it's from the perspective 11 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 2: of someone writing a roller coast and he goes and 12 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 2: we you know, don't even care where they just extend 13 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 2: the Wii. And last thing, there's another amazing roller coaster 14 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 2: related image of Billy Corgan. This is actually of him 15 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 2: looking really bummed out on a roller coaster, just sitting 16 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 2: there with I guess presumably his manager, looking about as 17 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 2: crestfallen as one could be in the happiest place on earth. 18 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: Last of our last of first things shout out to, 19 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: of course Red Hot Chili Peppers Roller Coaster of Love. 20 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 2: People, how do America soundtrack? Uh huh? Excellent version of 21 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 2: that tune. 22 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: So, folks, you're probably wondering what we're talking about in 23 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: this week's series, which is an on purpose two parter. 24 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 2: We did it. We figured it. 25 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: Out in advance. This time we are talking about roller 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: coasters upside down on the dip dip dip A. 27 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 2: Have you ever have you. 28 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: Ever been just on your regular feet, on the regular 29 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: ground and thought this is disappointing. 30 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 2: Maybe there's more good exactly? Oh man, what if we 31 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 2: what if we put ourselves in this situation where we 32 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 2: were purposely under duress? 33 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: What if it felt like I was dying? And it's 34 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: funny because just for a second though, and how how 35 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,359 Speaker 1: cool would it be if I waited in line up 36 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: to two hours before I had that rush? It's like 37 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: what if what if drugs were slower and then emerged 38 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: from the whole experience not dead, and we had renewed 39 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: lease on life and looking for your phone and your 40 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: hat and your parents limb or your kids. Yeah, so 41 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: this is this is the great noble dare we say 42 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: universal human impetus behind roller coasters, behind seeking thrills, The 43 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: modern roller coasters, we know, are pretty much multimillion dollar 44 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: operations at this point, and they're they're in an arms 45 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: race of hyperbole. What's the what's the tallest, what's the fastest, 46 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: what's the longest, et cetera, et cetera. But the idea 47 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: of a roller coaster the nuts. I actually know a 48 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: guy who works building roller coasters for amusement parks, and 49 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: he told me his historical thing. He won't give us tickets. 50 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: I checked, sorry, guys, sorry, ridiculous history ask but he said, uh, 51 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: he said, you know, been the interesting thing about the 52 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: history of roller coasters is I'm pretty sure the first 53 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: ones were non consensual. I said, what do you mean, 54 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: and he said, I feel like a lot of people 55 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: just fell down hills and died, and the ones who 56 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: lived were like, let's do it again, right. 57 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 2: It's like the guy who first ate a mushroom and 58 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 2: didn't die. I was like, you know what, that kind 59 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 2: of is a little bit yummy. It's almost as though 60 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 2: it has a fourth flavor, are called mummy, you know, 61 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 2: but yeah, you know, it's funny. It's like, speaking of 62 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 2: you know, non consensual. I mean, the earliest roller coasters 63 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 2: were borderline non consensual and the like. It was just 64 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 2: such an unknown people were kind of stepping consensually somewhat 65 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 2: into an experience that one could argue is non consensually 66 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 2: dangerous without their knowledge. 67 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: Right right, and big thanks to Gil Chandler for the 68 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: Massachusetts Department of Education, who says the modern day like 69 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: the purpose Flee designed thrill ride or gravity ride, goes 70 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: back to the sixteen hundreds in Russia wherein these folks 71 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: would build big high wooden ramps. They would cover them 72 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: with water, knowing this water would freeze and become ice. 73 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: So they were making like you know, luge courses almost 74 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: and they were about two feet wide, just enough for 75 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: a small sled, and you would have to climb a 76 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: ladder like you would for a water slide at a 77 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: water park. The ladder was pretty high, seventy feet and 78 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: then you would sit on the sled and then somebody 79 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: would come along at the top of the ladder, they 80 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: pushed the sled on into the ramp. You would speed 81 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: down to the bottom. You would safely, if everything worked out, 82 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: coast to a stop along a six hundred foot sort 83 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: of rampway or straight away. 84 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. And you know, like you said if everything 85 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 2: went well, there certainly were things. Whenever you play with 86 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 2: gravity and don't have a series of kind of contingency 87 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 2: plans in place, there are opportunities for things to go 88 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 2: horribly awry. And this does kind of just remind me 89 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 2: of like it's like almost just controlled sledding in a way, 90 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 2: because even earlier than this, you know, you could argue 91 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 2: that the early roller coasters were hills with people, you know, 92 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 2: in these little slidy crafts known as sleighs or sleds. 93 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is the part where some where something 94 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: like British documentarian or European documentary if they're gonna be 95 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: heard all about it is like. 96 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 3: Man has always found great offense in the unfast structures 97 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 3: of gravity. Spit in the face of God one more 98 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 3: time upon the worthy gig. 99 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 2: May you slip and slide ye way exactly. 100 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: I would love to hear more commercials for these kinds 101 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: of rides phrased in that in that sort of high 102 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: melodrama up Britannica points out that there were mechanical problems 103 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: a right, not mechanical problems, but you know, there were 104 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: the areas of opportunity, as HR would call them, because 105 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: once the sled goes all the way down very quickly, 106 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: somebody's got to haul it all. 107 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 2: The way back up, right, I mean, I guess, I 108 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 2: guess in science y terms, this is what you might 109 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 2: call a simple machine. Right. It's about as simple as 110 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 2: it gets. And maybe they could have employed another simple machine. 111 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 2: The pulley and rope would have really been helpful in 112 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 2: hauling that thing back up. And we're gonna see a 113 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 2: lot of simple machines in modern coasters, like the wire 114 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 2: that literally hauls the coaster, or the chain that hauls 115 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 2: the coaster up that that incline that. 116 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: Royce maxically get that noise. 117 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 2: So the chain there, I believe, is what it's called. 118 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 2: We'll get to victims. But to me, guys, I don't 119 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 2: know about y'all. That's the scariest part of the entire 120 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 2: coaster is that it is a slow crawl towards death, 121 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 2: and then once you're in it, it's so fast and 122 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 2: furious part two that you don't even have a chance 123 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 2: to be scared. You're just screaming for out of sheer 124 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 2: joy and excitement. 125 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: I argue there's a purposeful psychological aspect to that. In 126 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,679 Speaker 1: modern roller coasters because you could mute that sound now, 127 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: but the of the slow upward climb gives you just 128 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: enough time in a relatively short experience to think, was 129 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: this a mistake? 130 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 2: It's like the sound of the chamber rotating in a good, old, 131 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 2: wholesome game of Russian Roulette? 132 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: Did I know you were going to say that? 133 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 2: Click? Not nearly as scary, right, that's. 134 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: Another kind of roller coaster. I did say that on air. 135 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: But people, If we go back to Gil Chandler, he 136 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: notes that people in big cities and rural villages alike 137 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: all dug these things that they would call ice slides. 138 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: They were built in public parks. Some really fancy aristocrats 139 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: had them, because again this is pre Russian Revolution. And 140 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: some of them even had lanterns so you could slide 141 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: around at night. 142 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 2: A good night's slide. Who doesn't love that? Yeah? I 143 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 2: don't imagine too that some of these were probably pretty 144 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 2: ostentatious and incorporated like ice sculpturey, you know, into these 145 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 2: like winter wonderlands. I'm not I don't have this, you know, 146 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 2: on authority, but I can only imagine that certain of 147 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,719 Speaker 2: the higher muckety MUCKs of the time would have insisted 148 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 2: on these kind of ostentatious flourishes. 149 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: Of course, these guys probably had like Siberian garden gnomes 150 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,679 Speaker 1: and stuff, you know what I mean, or garden hermits, 151 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: So excuse us, excuse us. So the we do know 152 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: that they understood the elementary physics that to inform most 153 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: roller coasters a long time ago. If you look at 154 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: a ride in Saint Petersburg in seventeen eighty four, you 155 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: see that they had these carriages and grooved tracks that 156 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: traveled up and down small hills, all riding off the 157 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: power generated by the height and slope of that first ascent, 158 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 1: which is why the first hill is usually the largest 159 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: in old school coasters. 160 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 2: Is interesting how Soviets have a history of innovation but 161 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 2: also not the best safety track record, And a lot 162 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 2: of that has to do with just jumping right into 163 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 2: innovation without really thinking about how it might potentially hurt 164 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 2: hurt people. Yeah, one hundred percent, man shade necessarily maybe 165 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 2: mild shade, I guess. But it's true of even electronics, 166 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 2: Like they're known for really interesting early innovations in consumer electronics, 167 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 2: but also in a lot of like manufacturing flaws and 168 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 2: then problems in scale. 169 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: In the Space Race echoed those same lessons. It's a 170 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,079 Speaker 1: big plot point, in fact, in a story we did 171 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:10,319 Speaker 1: for a Fantastic Fiction anthology called The Passage, in which 172 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: j Edgar Hoover talks at perhaps problematic length about the 173 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: Russian approach to progress, which is historically throwing bodies at 174 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: the problem. Sorry, Russian listeners, Russian ridiculous historians, that is 175 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: just historically true. This is part of the reason why 176 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: roller coasters are so awesome. To bring it back home, 177 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: the first quote unquote roller coaster didn't emerge until the 178 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: early eighteen hundreds, and it was a French builder who 179 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: bought what they called the Russian Mountains to Paris. And 180 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 1: the problem was the climate is very different. Russia is 181 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:01,560 Speaker 1: colder than France, and so ice did freeze as well. 182 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: So the French quickly realized. It was kind of sad 183 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 1: at first. It was like, you know, when a little 184 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: bit of snow falls and people try to sled on 185 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 1: the snow flurry and they just get like stuck in 186 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: the mud. 187 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 2: Or someone trying to make a snow angel in dirty, 188 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 2: melty snow. It's literally just someone rolling around in wet mud. 189 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 2: It's really sad. 190 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: Which again is a perfect opportunity for our melodramatic, our 191 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: melodramatic European narrator. Right, it's like absolutely observe seeking angels 192 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: in the fifth. 193 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 2: Yes, and finding only devils. So the silky DeVos. So French. 194 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: I love this vibe we're getting so French. The French 195 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: engineers said, Okay, if we can't count on the ice, 196 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:53,319 Speaker 1: which we cannot even back, then then will make these rollers, 197 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: these wooden rollers, and we'll still use sleds, but our 198 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: sleds will reliably roll upon these wooden contraptions. This is 199 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: the origin of the term roller coaster totally. 200 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 2: And by the way, Ben I find eyes in general 201 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 2: to be quite fickle. It's so changeable, you know. Yeah, 202 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,000 Speaker 2: that was a really bad science joke, you know, because 203 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 2: they can change states. Yeah from yeah, okay, thank you, 204 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 2: I liked it. I'm going to stay. I'm not leaving. No, 205 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:26,719 Speaker 2: you should keep it. You's with you, guys. Yeah, it's 206 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,959 Speaker 2: rolling at this point, no longer sliding. 207 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: Right right, And and they still don't quite look like 208 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: the modern roller coasters. They're definitely not safe because you know, 209 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: we've all okay, full disclosure of folks, Max Noel and I. 210 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: We're dudes, which means at some point we were dumb kids, 211 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: which means we did a lot of like jackass level 212 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: stunts in our childhood, like, oh, what if we do 213 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: jump off this bridge? 214 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 2: We might still do that stuff, right, guys, I think 215 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 2: you might have me beat on that. I was a 216 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 2: little more of a timid child. I was afraid of 217 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 2: climbing trees. But y'all, I'm sure you guys did some 218 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 2: gnarly stuff, and I look forward to hearing about it 219 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 2: Pepper throughout this episode. I will say, though, as far 220 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 2: as roller coasters are concerned, I don't know if this 221 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:20,679 Speaker 2: is y'all's experience, but I have to almost earn back 222 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 2: my ability to not be scared of riding them. Like 223 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 2: I will have a period where I don't ride a 224 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 2: roller coaster for a long time. Then I go to 225 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 2: an amusement park and it takes me a minute a 226 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,959 Speaker 2: couple of times walking around the park before I can 227 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 2: be tough enough. I got to warm up to it. 228 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 2: It's not like riding a bike. It doesn't just come 229 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 2: back to you immediately. I sort of regain my fear 230 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 2: of death at the hands of these you know, metal 231 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 2: machines and then kind of gradually by watching little kids 232 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 2: riding them and mainly just not wanting to be embarrassed 233 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 2: by being the only one that waits behind while everyone 234 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 2: rides the ride and then has to sheepishly kind of 235 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 2: join them at the other side. 236 00:13:57,760 --> 00:13:59,959 Speaker 1: I'll be honest to me, roller coasters have a way 237 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: has been kind of like kind of like a like 238 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:08,199 Speaker 1: ice cream is a weirdly good comparison. If it's around, 239 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: I'm fine with it, but I rarely wake up and say, 240 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,559 Speaker 1: let me travel to some place to get ice cream. 241 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 2: Or not what you'd call it. Coaster head, And I 242 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 2: think at a certain point in this episode we're going 243 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 2: to talk about some that we quite enjoy, But first 244 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 2: we've got more history to get through going. 245 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: Okay, so safety measures, first off, not a thing in 246 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: the early days. The injuries that passengers got were actually 247 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: the best marketing for these rides, because people would come 248 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: up to each other in Paris and say something like, 249 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: you know, Jacques ruled one of the Russian mountains, and 250 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: they say he'll never regain full use of his left arm, 251 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: and people are like, what. 252 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 2: I gotta go. Yes, Gabrielle lost a finger. 253 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: Well that's classic Gabrielle. Let's get on this thing. 254 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 2: So she can't have many left at this point, right. 255 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: So in eighteen seventeen, the Belleville Mountains and the aerial 256 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: walks in Paris started adding some safety things. They added 257 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: wheels that would lock continuous tracks, and eventually they beat 258 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: that first problem we were talking about returning the car, 259 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: so they hoist They had cables that would hoist the 260 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: car back to the top of the hill so you 261 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: didn't have to have people pushing it. They finally did 262 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: that pulley that you're talking about. They still have not 263 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: made a continuous circle track yet. 264 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 2: Well, and if anything, this is just going to increase 265 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 2: their yield, you know, or their take, right because they 266 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 2: can have more rides per hour, per hour, you know, 267 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 2: per day, and not to pull the thing up by hand. 268 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 2: And again, Ben, where is this kind of in the 269 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 2: trajectory of like the history of the automobile. 270 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: This is pre automobile, Yeah, very much so. 271 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, and we know even the early automobiles didn't really 272 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 2: have very many safety features. So in a lot of ways, 273 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 2: it's not like they actively didn't want to have safety features, 274 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 2: just like technologically they kind of hadn't really you know, 275 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 2: cracked it yet. 276 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 4: I Mean, I think one thing that's really interesting is, 277 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 4: and this is something I didn't know when I was 278 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 4: throwing the research. 279 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 2: It's like parallel time with the train, the Locomo very much, 280 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 2: very much so, which would have had things like locking wheels, 281 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 2: which would have had so and especially on a track. 282 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 2: Absolutely makes sense Max. That is there's that parallel between 283 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 2: a tract train and a coaster. 284 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's right interesting because they're kind of advancing I 285 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 4: mean train much more than the roller coaster, That's what 286 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 4: I'm saying, advancing the ball together in some ways. 287 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: Yeah. 288 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 2: Interesting. Surely early trains didn't have those locking wheels either 289 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 2: or like some of the safety mechanisms, and that's why 290 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 2: there were so many train derailments and horrific acts, right, 291 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 2: uh huh. 292 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 1: And I'm sure at some point late in a night, 293 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:10,239 Speaker 1: a Parisian engineer was speculating whether or not you can 294 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: make a coal powered roller coaster. However, we know, we 295 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: know that the idea of train cars comes in here, 296 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: especially in the United States. If we go to some 297 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: great work by American experience, we see we see this 298 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: sort of parallel advancement that you're referencing, Max. 299 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:34,919 Speaker 2: That's right. American Experience goes on to say, when the 300 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 2: proprietors of mauch Chunk Railway in eastern Pennsylvania began operations 301 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 2: in the eighteen twenties, their mission was not entertainment but 302 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 2: coal mining, and their first passengers were mules herded into 303 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,160 Speaker 2: a train laden with cold. These lucky beasts coasted from 304 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 2: the top of Mount Pisga down to a canal, then 305 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 2: hauled the train back up for another go. Considering this task, 306 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 2: I don't know if i'd call them lucky. And then 307 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 2: by eighteen forty four there had been a return track lay. 308 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 2: And you know what it makes me think of too, 309 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 2: those little two person mining carts where you kind of seesaw, 310 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 2: you know, in order to propel the little the cart, 311 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:17,639 Speaker 2: you know, on a train track. So, I mean a 312 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 2: lot of this stuff really is I've never thought about this, Max, 313 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 2: But the parallels between the technology advancements of the locomotive 314 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 2: absolutely parallel that of the roller coaster, only with much 315 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 2: lower stakes. One would argue, well. 316 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,239 Speaker 1: How, I don't know. The financial stakes are high on 317 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 1: the trains. 318 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 2: But people, I mean, no lower on the roller coasters. 319 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,640 Speaker 2: Lower stakes in terms of like, you know, how much 320 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 2: loss could be accrued by a derailment or accidents. Every 321 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 2: human life is important, every one of Gabrielle's fingers important 322 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 2: for some task. But you know this is like I 323 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 2: don't think there was there were as many eyes on 324 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 2: the safety track record of these early roller coasters as 325 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 2: there were maybe on the the the entire railway system 326 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 2: at large. 327 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: Regulatory bodies did not exist the way they exist today. 328 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,680 Speaker 1: By eighteen forty four, there had been a return track 329 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: constructed for this Mount Chunk railway, and this removed the 330 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: need for the mules entirely. They dubbed this first system 331 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: the switchback And to our friends of Britannica, thanks again 332 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: for tuning into our Britannic episode. To our friends of Britannica, 333 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:34,160 Speaker 1: this shows that the rail line was daring and it 334 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: was again entirely for mining coal. This is a huge improvement. 335 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 2: So it is a circular track at this point, or 336 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 2: is a whole other route going maybe not up the 337 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 2: steepest part of the mountain. 338 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: Max Max is orchestrating Maxwen. 339 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. 340 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 4: So it's basically a straight down in one part and 341 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 4: then it kind of goes around in a chill path. 342 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,360 Speaker 4: So the train, it's like the train couldn't on its 343 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 4: own power, couldn't get up the hill, like, so that's 344 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 4: why they needed the mules. But so yeah, now it's 345 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 4: a circular track the entire way, so you could, you know, 346 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 4: ride it if you wanted to, if. 347 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: You wanted to, as surely some people did, but they 348 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: were at work, they may not might not have been 349 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: having the best day. They certainly weren't paying money to 350 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: ride it. This thing was pretty long. The journey downhill 351 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: is nine miles, so they would load up as many 352 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: as fourteen very heavy cars. We're talking like each car 353 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: having fifty thousand pounds of coal, and then it would 354 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: go down the mountain under with one guy who literally 355 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 1: has one brake lever and is just thinking, my time 356 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:44,400 Speaker 1: means impeccable. 357 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,360 Speaker 2: Well, and it would it would again be the same 358 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 2: kind of brake lever as you see whenever there's maybe 359 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 2: a damsel tied to the rail railroad tracks and it's 360 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,399 Speaker 2: like you have to you can't just yank it, or 361 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 2: the whole thing's gonna just USh, you know, every all 362 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,439 Speaker 2: the cars are gonna become smashed or whatever. You have 363 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 2: to grab dually engage it, you know, so you're slowly 364 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 2: losing speed instead of like because otherwise everyone would just 365 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 2: slam into the front of the car and break their necks. 366 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: And eventually the promise of danger lured in paying passengers. 367 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,520 Speaker 1: Coal was still hauled in the morning. But it's kind 368 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,199 Speaker 1: of it reminds me of the story. It reminds me 369 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: of the story of Hidden Valley ranch dressing, where they 370 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 1: started a dude ranch, but people increasingly just traveled there 371 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: to get the condiment ranch dressing. So now people are 372 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: increasingly showing up in the afternoon to pay. Sources differ, 373 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: but to pay something around like fifty cents per ride 374 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: just to go down that incline. 375 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,360 Speaker 2: How'd you get up in the first place? You would? 376 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,159 Speaker 2: You would behind that up. Yeah, you'd be hauled up 377 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 2: by the mules, presumably up the gentler Like, how did 378 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 2: the passengers? Yeah, how would the passengers have gotten up? 379 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 4: I think I think the up part was the probably 380 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 4: the more accessible part. I think what they were doing 381 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 4: is because they mined the coal at the top and 382 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 4: they went down and that's why guess where they processed 383 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 4: the coal. 384 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 2: I don't know, That's what it sounds like. I guess 385 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 2: I'm wondering if they had to walk up the mountain 386 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 2: by foot and then ride the cart down the mountain, 387 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,679 Speaker 2: or if they were actually because it's see, I'm confused 388 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 2: a little bit about how it's a continuous track. No, 389 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:21,919 Speaker 2: I see. But but I guess I'm asking is when 390 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 2: they're coming down from the top, there's there's obviously no mule, 391 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 2: and there's enough momentum generated by that mutt. That's what 392 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,680 Speaker 2: I'm saying that I'm asking. Yeah, so there's enough momentum 393 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 2: generated by that for it to make the downwards slow 394 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,439 Speaker 2: and then just continue back up of its own volition. 395 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 4: Well, it it goes around the switch back the more 396 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 4: level thing. And it's also you know, you have the 397 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 4: train there, so the train will pull it the rest 398 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:45,360 Speaker 4: of the way. 399 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:47,880 Speaker 2: Got it, got it, got it? Thank you enough? If 400 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:48,680 Speaker 2: if it could. 401 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: Uh, I wanted to do an inflation calculator to give 402 00:22:52,800 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: everybody a sense of this, And so fifty I made 403 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,200 Speaker 1: eighteen forty four is the equivalent a. 404 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 2: Lot of money ten bucks, twenty bucks, twenty dollars in 405 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 2: eighty ten cents this ride. So it's it's a lottable, 406 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,920 Speaker 2: but it's still a lot. Well, I mean, nowadays you'd 407 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 2: pay for the privilege of going into an amusement park 408 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 2: where you can actually ride stuff without having abused tickets. 409 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 2: Probably fifty bucks is going to be the minimum. 410 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: I still is still one of the big problems I 411 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: have with the coolest thing at six Flags here in 412 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: Georgia for a long time, laser tag. You pay get 413 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: in the park, and then laser tag costs more money extra. 414 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just not cool. I appreciate Max rolling his 415 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 2: eyes there. You've been there too, bro. I love laser tag. 416 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 2: I miss it. I haven't played it in years, and 417 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 2: I would love to. Isn't don't they don't? They do 418 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,200 Speaker 2: it at Andretti's that place out in the urbs here 419 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 2: that does like go kart racing. I think they also 420 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 2: have laser tag. 421 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, Lasertag is awesome. Six Flegs sucks well. 422 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 2: Okay, now I disagree. I disagree the Cedar Fair all day. 423 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 2: Go to Cedar Fair Park. I don't know about that, Okay, 424 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,400 Speaker 2: I'll check it out. It farway near it. 425 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,120 Speaker 1: Yes, I'm more like hot air balloons. 426 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 4: Well, it turns out we'll talk about this later. There's 427 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,120 Speaker 4: another park in Atlanta. I was, yes, Okay, well save it. 428 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:14,119 Speaker 4: This is awesome. 429 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 2: I was just gonna say, by the way, guys, I 430 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,120 Speaker 2: haven't been the Six Flags in UH at least over 431 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 2: a year, but I still pay my monthly subscription fee 432 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 2: that's about fourteen bucks. It's so little that I barely 433 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 2: notice it. But I am just filling the coffers of 434 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 2: Six Flags. 435 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:28,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. 436 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 2: No, no coasters given in return. 437 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: And look, when I say that I'm gay a pilot license, 438 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 1: I want to ride hot air balloons, I'm not at 439 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: all disparaging roller coasters. We all seek our flirtations with 440 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,440 Speaker 1: death in our own manner, in our own choosing right, 441 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: so so we wish you luck on yours. We also 442 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: know that, given the mining history of roller coasters, you 443 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: might not be surprised to learn that enjoyment for the 444 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: passengers was a side business for these guys. It was 445 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 1: not there primary priorities. So as mines expand throughout nearby mountains, 446 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: this switchback thing eventually becomes less and less useful, and 447 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:16,360 Speaker 1: they say, look, we are not making money with this 448 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,159 Speaker 1: thing as a mining implement or as a mining process, 449 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 1: so let's just turn it into a tourist attraction. This 450 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 1: is the first scenic railway. Scenic railways have been a 451 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: thing for a long time. You can still ride scenic 452 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: railways in various parts of the Southeast, for sure. There's 453 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:41,440 Speaker 1: still several in Tennessee, and some of them were pretty rough. 454 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: I remember at one time there was a scenic railway 455 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: I want to say in East Tennessee where where while 456 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: you were on the ride, part of the ride was 457 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: being attacked by quote unquote Indians and these guys dressed 458 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: up as indigenous people would come on and like like 459 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 1: haunted house, hassle you. Thankfully that doesn't happen anymore. But 460 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: with this first scenic railway, you would the ride would 461 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,920 Speaker 1: start at five or ten miles an hour, and as 462 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,200 Speaker 1: a passenger you were able to look at the Pocono's 463 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,200 Speaker 1: and then you see a panoramic open quarry, a burning 464 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: mine that have been on fire since eighteen thirty two. 465 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: Nice to visit, don't want to live there. And then 466 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: by the time you hit this thing they called the 467 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: home stretch, the ride was sixty five miles an hour, 468 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: so it's kicking up. 469 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 2: Speed the entire time. That's right, that's huge at this point, right, 470 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 2: that's like, I mean, man, unbelievably fast. This is these 471 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 2: are speeds as yet perhaps unexperienced right by humans. Yeah. 472 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean at the it's definitely not a normal 473 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,080 Speaker 1: person's day. It goes sixty five miles an hour. In 474 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds, at the peak of his popularity, this 475 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: scenic railway carries something like thirty five thousand passengers a year. 476 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,679 Speaker 1: There were special trains run to accommodate the tourists and 477 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: the enthusiasts. The more intentional roller coasters follow after this, 478 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: they echo this, and it all goes back to eighteen 479 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,959 Speaker 1: seventy two. A guy named J. G. Taylor from Baltimore. 480 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: He is, if you played that game roller Coaster Tycoon? Yeah, 481 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:30,360 Speaker 1: I love that game. 482 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 2: It's so fun. This this guy's kind of like, would 483 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 2: be would be roller Coaster Tycot? Couldn't you build them 484 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 2: real dangerous on purpose and stuff like that? Wasn'tless a 485 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 2: part of the fun of that game? Yes? 486 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, as long as losses are acceptable or within an 487 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: acceptable march, win the game. This guy, JG. Taylor, he submitsmall. 488 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 2: Tycoons have an initial I just want to ask you 489 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 2: gotta be you know or whatever? JK, that's such a 490 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 2: tycoon thing to do. Sorry, please carry out. 491 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 1: Oh, this guy, a Baltimore native, JG. Taylor, submits what 492 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,719 Speaker 1: was likely the first patent for roller coaster. People debate it, 493 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:19,640 Speaker 1: but he called it improvement and in kind railways. 494 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, it does strike me as a thing that would 495 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 2: be a little tricky to patent, like all in right, 496 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 2: because I mean, no one owns gravity, right, No one 497 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 2: owns the manipulation of gravity with wheels. So I imagine you 498 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 2: could patent a roller coaster design, you know, for the way, 499 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,600 Speaker 2: or a particular type of mechanic that like hauled you 500 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 2: up and dropped you down or whatever it might be, 501 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 2: perhaps even like a type of means of distributing electricity. 502 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,240 Speaker 2: But I can't imagine one could fully own the concept 503 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 2: of a roller coaster. So what happened here? 504 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: Well after that, there's a patent in eighteen seventy eight 505 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: by a guy named Richard Knudsen, and he's in Brooklyn. 506 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: He's a Brooklyn kid, and invention to your point about 507 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: specifying the mechanics or the construction everything, that's what he does. 508 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 1: His invention is two parallel sets of tracks, each of 509 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 1: which progresses from some height down to ground level. And 510 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: the car descends one set of tracks and then it's 511 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: raised by a lift to the top of the other 512 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 1: set of tracks. So it goes back and forth all day. 513 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 1: It's a pretty small operation, the ways picturing, and it 514 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: carries about four people at a time. And he never 515 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: actually built it, but he called it the inclined plane railway. 516 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 2: The inclined plane Okay, the ramp, yeah, exactly. And you know, 517 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 2: obviously this is the kind of thing where you can 518 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 2: try to patent it. You could do that, but it's 519 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 2: so easy for him to make one little change and 520 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 2: then all of a sudden it's kind of its own thing. 521 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 2: And that's how you. 522 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: Well, there is one carries five people, and so on. 523 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 2: Can you patent the wind? Ben? 524 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 1: Can you paint with all the colors of it? 525 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 2: I can pay with most of them. One of them 526 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 2: is continues to elude me. 527 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 1: So we have to we have to continue the story 528 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 1: with a guy named LaMarcus. aDNA Thompson. 529 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 2: I love a LaMarcus. 530 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: I knew LaMarcus. 531 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 2: That means the Marcus. Yes. Yes. 532 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: By the end of the eighteen hundreds, these American trolley 533 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: companies were in on the game. They were building amusement 534 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: parks at the very end the terminus point of their 535 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: lines to attract people looking for amusements. You know, you're courting, 536 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: you're out on the gas take. Yeah, you're taking the 537 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: kids out this trolley terminus thing. The most famous is 538 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: probably Coney Island in New York City. Have you guys 539 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: been to Coney Island? 540 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 2: Dude, I love it. I've r in the Wonder Wheel 541 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,760 Speaker 2: a couple of one coaster. I think it wasn't a 542 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 2: crazy one. It was maybe like a sort of a 543 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 2: smaller one. But the Wonder Wheel is class second. I 544 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 2: just love the vibes. Man, It's just a it makes 545 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 2: you feel like you're stepping into history, a lot of 546 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 2: interesting American history in that place. You can feel. 547 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, Coney Island was the place to be for quite 548 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: a long time. It also became home to several theme 549 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: parks that were in competition. So, like, if you enjoy 550 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 1: amusement parks, folks, imagine it similar to you know, every 551 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: town or every big city has a couple of roads 552 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:31,480 Speaker 1: that are just filled with dealerships, car dealerships, and they're 553 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: like right next to each other, right across the street 554 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: from each other. Coney Island was doing this with amusement 555 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: parks for a while, or theme parks. 556 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,360 Speaker 2: I think even to this day, there's two. There's like 557 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 2: Luna Park and then there's the other one that's sort 558 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 2: of across the way, and they still somewhat compete, even 559 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 2: though it all just feels like Coney Island. And it's 560 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 2: very likely that you'll do both because neither of them 561 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 2: are like particularly massive. 562 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: And they have the hot dog eating contest. 563 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 2: Which I've never seen personally, but I do love. 564 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,480 Speaker 1: Attend in person. 565 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 2: I think it would be a lot of fun. 566 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: So Coney Island has a lot of their stuff is 567 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: inspired by the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in eighteen 568 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 1: ninety three. Also check out The Devil in the White City, 569 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: a fantastic book about the about the exposition and the 570 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 1: serial killer H. H. 571 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:18,959 Speaker 2: Holmes. 572 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,040 Speaker 1: Just gonna throw that in there. 573 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 2: Thanks Maxx. 574 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: They popularize the hot dog as American food, you know, 575 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: the Frankfurture, a European invention. Anyway, into this milieu stros 576 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 1: Lemarcus Adma Thompson. He is considered and what a cool 577 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 1: street name is this? What a cool honorific. He is 578 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 1: considered the father of the gravity, the father of the gravity. 579 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,800 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, not just gravity. Okay, well, I mean at. 580 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,960 Speaker 1: Least gravity is like a you know, a roller coaster. 581 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 2: It's like the knowledge you know. Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, okay, 582 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 2: fair enough. Sorry, it's really easy to take that as 583 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 2: like I am God, the father of yes for people. Yeah, 584 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 2: God is the actual father of gravity or the actual 585 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 2: creator of gravity, but the gravity is different. 586 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: This guy, uh has a weird description in the American experience. 587 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: He is called quote a Sunday school teacher and dime 588 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: store moralist. He thinks you're gonna say moron, that would 589 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: have been funny. I don't even know what a dime 590 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 1: store moron would be. But like he looks at amusement 591 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: parks and he's one of those shake your fist at 592 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 1: the sky. I hate the stuff the kids like. And 593 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,560 Speaker 1: he says these amusement parks are sinful, they need redemption. Uh. 594 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: But still his switchback railway gets built, and Cody, well, bro. 595 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 2: I mean, think about it. I can imagine that some 596 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 2: purists at the time, or puritanical folks, would take great 597 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 2: issue with the idea of cheating gravity because that is 598 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 2: not what God intended. God intended for us to have 599 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 2: our two feet on the earth, you know, not to 600 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 2: be flying around willy and or nilly in the sky 601 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 2: on these these metal monstrosities. 602 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is this is the thing it's like 603 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:23,799 Speaker 1: for I picture LaMarcus Thompson saying privately to himself in 604 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:29,319 Speaker 1: the night, Oh, the delicious forbidden pleasure, to deny the 605 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 1: gravities of God, if only for a moment. Anyway, he 606 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:39,759 Speaker 1: does make this thing that is called the gravity pleasure ride, 607 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: and off air. Several weeks ago, we were all talking 608 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 1: in one of our one of our many group threads 609 00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:51,240 Speaker 1: about whether the term gravity pleasure ride is inherently dirty. 610 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:54,080 Speaker 2: I just it sounds like handstuff to me. I don't know. 611 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 2: There we go. Sorry. 612 00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,120 Speaker 1: It was based on nuts and system from Brooklyn and 613 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 1: this switchback railway quickly or like they charge people a 614 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: nickel a ride and in just a few hours, like 615 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 1: per day they make six hundred dollars. 616 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:16,839 Speaker 2: Now that's a big desiree steep discount from the railroad. Yes, 617 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 2: discounts sense right, well, very yeah, but I mean that's 618 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 2: pretty wild. So they're they're I think the deal is 619 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:27,759 Speaker 2: it's so centrally located that they're just turning over riders 620 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,600 Speaker 2: and this thing is easily you know, reloaded over and 621 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 2: over and over and over again, every hour on the hour. 622 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:34,719 Speaker 2: So yeah, what would you say, Ben, I'm making about 623 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 2: six hundred and six fifty a day. 624 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:38,880 Speaker 1: Six hundred bucks a day, yeah, a nick at a 625 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:43,600 Speaker 1: nickel pop per passenger. So in like three weeks, this 626 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:49,279 Speaker 1: entire contraption pays for itself. But it's not what you 627 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: would think of as a modern roller coaster or even 628 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 1: a scenic railway. It's got a top speed of about 629 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: six miles an hour, and it's kind of you know 630 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,919 Speaker 1: how a lot of theme parks will have this sort 631 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: of introductory quote unquote four kids roller coaster, right, like 632 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:13,760 Speaker 1: six Flags over Georgia, yes, whatever, exactly, get a couple 633 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:19,600 Speaker 1: hard turns. So that's what this thing is. However, it 634 00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:24,319 Speaker 1: made a lot of money, and this dime store moralist, 635 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,960 Speaker 1: which is still a confusing term to me. Uh he says, Okay, well, 636 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,879 Speaker 1: surely God doesn't want me to be poor, so I'm 637 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: going to go all in on this roller coaster. 638 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 2: That's like some prosperity gospel stuff, right, and the American 639 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:44,360 Speaker 2: Experience goes on saying that was all the encouragement Thompson 640 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,920 Speaker 2: needed to apply his ingenuity to its fullest for his 641 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 2: orient Scenic Railway in Atlantic City. I just can never 642 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 2: get over that, the exoticism of all that, the use 643 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,319 Speaker 2: of that term. You still see it sometimes today. And 644 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 2: you'll even go to like kind of you know, traveling carnivals, 645 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,120 Speaker 2: you know that go from town to town, and you 646 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,320 Speaker 2: can see some remnants of this kind of stuff, and 647 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:10,799 Speaker 2: in some of these like air brushed, you know, these 648 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 2: collapsible rides and these gates. I gotta say this. 649 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,319 Speaker 4: I remember being a kid like elementary school, and you know, 650 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,719 Speaker 4: so it's a minute since then, and uh, when it 651 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,680 Speaker 4: was like a standardized testing and one of the choices 652 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,279 Speaker 4: for like race was orient and I didn't know what 653 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,120 Speaker 4: that was. But this is in nineties, and I remember 654 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,560 Speaker 4: ask my parents like, yeah, I don't use that term. 655 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:34,279 Speaker 2: Don't use that one. 656 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:37,759 Speaker 1: I remember my parents saw me always put other uh. 657 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:40,799 Speaker 2: And for some reason though, the only area where it 658 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:43,600 Speaker 2: seems I don't I still not argue appropriate but really 659 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 2: common is with rugs. Right, you still see them all 660 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,759 Speaker 2: over the place as Oriental rugs. And I just don't 661 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 2: understand how that sort of made it, you know, it's 662 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:54,520 Speaker 2: to still be around as prominently as it is. 663 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,800 Speaker 1: It's kind of like when you're walking around different parts 664 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 1: of New York and you still see the double headed 665 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:06,279 Speaker 1: fire hose faucets and they say this is a Siamese 666 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: fawcet or Siamese pump. I take pictures of those with 667 00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:15,760 Speaker 1: my girlfriend whenever we're traveling out there, because her family 668 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 1: is from Thailand. But anyway, yes, language is weird. It's 669 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,840 Speaker 1: an old this is an older legacy thing. It is 670 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:29,560 Speaker 1: a bad name, all agreed. Our boy LaMarcus discovers, Okay, 671 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,640 Speaker 1: America experience does another phrase that I think is weird. 672 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:37,840 Speaker 1: Here they say La Marcus rediscovered the French trick of 673 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: pulling the cars up the first hill by cable, and 674 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,800 Speaker 1: I love the I love the vague mystery of oh 675 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: the French. 676 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 2: Trick, Yes, you know stuff? Yeah, what is the French trick? 677 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,800 Speaker 2: With the gravity pleasure ride? We are really getting steamy here, folks. 678 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,799 Speaker 1: So he also did a couple other I saw that 679 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: hand signal Max. He also did a couple of other 680 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:07,600 Speaker 1: uh innovations, we could say mechanical innovations. He makes these 681 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:12,680 Speaker 1: triggers under the tracks that can stop the ride if 682 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:16,840 Speaker 1: something goes like a kill switch, an emergency cable. Yeah yeah, yeah, 683 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,480 Speaker 1: Like you know, if you've been on some older trains 684 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,640 Speaker 1: sometimes they'll have a cable at the top that you 685 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 1: can pull. Sure where beat me here, max where, Like 686 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,719 Speaker 1: the oh shit handle is in a passenger. 687 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,960 Speaker 2: Car, sure, or even on a treadmill where there's a 688 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:34,040 Speaker 2: big red button in case things get out of hand. 689 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:36,480 Speaker 2: You slam that big red button and it'll cause the 690 00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:38,720 Speaker 2: whole thing to come screeching to a halt. 691 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:41,880 Speaker 1: He also built tunnels, so you would be riding all 692 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:45,640 Speaker 1: of a sudden you're in darkness, right and uh. By 693 00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:51,360 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty eight, this guy has become an actual roller 694 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: coaster tycoon. He's like, take that, you patent nerds of 695 00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:01,200 Speaker 1: previous years. I've actually built the thing. I've build like 696 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 1: fifty I think fifty roller coasters across Europe in America 697 00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:09,440 Speaker 1: had thirty patents in his own right. The guy's a beast. 698 00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:12,239 Speaker 2: This is an opportunity here for a quick discussion that 699 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,600 Speaker 2: I'm curious about what you guys think. Like, obviously, in theory, 700 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,920 Speaker 2: something on paper you know that's been approved for construction. 701 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:22,360 Speaker 2: Everything should be able to be planned out to the 702 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,919 Speaker 2: last detail, with tolerances within a certain level of acceptability, 703 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:30,400 Speaker 2: et cetera, especially in modern times. But back then, don't 704 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:32,919 Speaker 2: you think that sometimes you had to build the thing 705 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,279 Speaker 2: to even figure out what the problem might be. Like, 706 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:41,360 Speaker 2: could you plan everything within levels of perfection just on paper? 707 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:43,439 Speaker 2: You need both is the. 708 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:45,640 Speaker 1: Thing, which is why, you know, going back to our 709 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,560 Speaker 1: model training episode, that's why they had to build model 710 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:52,440 Speaker 1: trains after they had figured it out on paper, right, 711 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,600 Speaker 1: so they could before they you know, plunge into building 712 00:40:55,760 --> 00:41:00,880 Speaker 1: a full size, very expensive contraption. That things happens on 713 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,479 Speaker 1: the way to his tycoon hoood is that we see 714 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:11,080 Speaker 1: our boy Labarcus gets this, I would say, gets to 715 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:14,359 Speaker 1: a crossroad about some of his high fluting ethics of 716 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:19,399 Speaker 1: what should or shouldn't be fun and he monetizes some 717 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:25,000 Speaker 1: scenic views from the Bible in a ride called Dragon's Gorge. 718 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: This is incredibly influential. There's a lot of elaborate scenery 719 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 1: now right Like previously you would just build these things 720 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:39,120 Speaker 1: maybe around a nice natural vista, but now they're actually 721 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:43,160 Speaker 1: building the scenery through which the ride occurs. 722 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:45,280 Speaker 2: One hundred percent, which is like part of the attraction. 723 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,279 Speaker 2: At this point where you're you're almost like uh in 724 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:51,360 Speaker 2: you're being transported into like a magical world, you know, 725 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:53,520 Speaker 2: where there's like things to look at along the way, 726 00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:55,560 Speaker 2: and then obviously you know, if you look at Disney 727 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:59,000 Speaker 2: this would go on to extend even into the lines, 728 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,440 Speaker 2: you know, waiting in the having the themed attractions, which 729 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:04,839 Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie man. Part of what I really 730 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:07,640 Speaker 2: enjoyed about going to Disney World as an adult was 731 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:10,040 Speaker 2: waiting in the lines. There's a lot of cool stuff 732 00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:12,560 Speaker 2: to look at as you progress through those cues. You know, 733 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 2: it's like being in a transported into this kind of 734 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:17,680 Speaker 2: world where every detail is paid attention to. 735 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:22,280 Speaker 1: I liked, I love the immersive environment. I'm all about 736 00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:25,799 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. I will say that as a 737 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,960 Speaker 1: child being kind of like forced to go into roller coasters, 738 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 1: I have some I actually almost died on a rituals 739 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:35,600 Speaker 1: coaster in childhood. We'll get to that part to me, 740 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:39,759 Speaker 1: But for me, sometimes, like if you're a kid and 741 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,160 Speaker 1: you're going to take a scary ride like Space Mountain 742 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:45,239 Speaker 1: and Disneyland, waiting in the line is sort of a 743 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:47,120 Speaker 1: longer version of that. 744 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:50,839 Speaker 2: Oh my god, you're right, And I have to say 745 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:54,880 Speaker 2: I distinctly remember being absolutely terrified by Space Mountain when 746 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:56,839 Speaker 2: I was a kid, and when I just went, you know, 747 00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,239 Speaker 2: a few years ago as an adult, I didn't find 748 00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:01,640 Speaker 2: it boring or any thing. But I found it a 749 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,879 Speaker 2: little tame, you know. Yeah, but when you're a kid, 750 00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:06,640 Speaker 2: it's like there's a lot of it. 751 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:07,839 Speaker 1: Is dark in the dark. 752 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:11,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, No, for sure, no question about it. 753 00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:13,279 Speaker 4: I found it terrifying as adult because I'm like, oh 754 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,280 Speaker 4: my god, this thing feels like it's about a fall apart. 755 00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:19,600 Speaker 2: That's true. That's true. No one dies at Disney, guys. No, 756 00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:23,760 Speaker 2: they get they get trundled off site where they officially 757 00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:26,720 Speaker 2: or declared death. That's not entire it's sort of true. 758 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:29,920 Speaker 2: There's we I don't know, a topic for another day or 759 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:31,640 Speaker 2: check out our episode and stuff they don't want you 760 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 2: to know about. 761 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:35,759 Speaker 1: Right, And at this point we are still kind of 762 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,160 Speaker 1: in line for the ride. There are a lot of 763 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:40,359 Speaker 1: things that are going to go down in episode two 764 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:45,640 Speaker 1: of Ridiculous History roller Coasters, which is maybe when we 765 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:50,480 Speaker 1: return in part two, we'll study the arms race that 766 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:55,280 Speaker 1: occurs when everybody figures out people are super into feeling 767 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:59,560 Speaker 1: like they might die for about two minutes. With that, 768 00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:02,920 Speaker 1: thank you as always to our super producer mister Max 769 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:06,279 Speaker 1: Williams also a research associate for this episode. Let's see 770 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:10,640 Speaker 1: No gosh our credits get longer and longer, which I 771 00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:13,719 Speaker 1: absolutely love. Jonathan Strickland aka the Quister, do you think 772 00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:14,880 Speaker 1: he likes roller coasters? 773 00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:18,440 Speaker 2: I you know, we should ask him. We should ask him. 774 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:22,000 Speaker 2: I know he likes Disney. But that's the thing about Disney. 775 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,279 Speaker 2: It's not very roller coaster heavy. They've got this new 776 00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:27,520 Speaker 2: that they've been leaning more into the thrill rides lately, 777 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,960 Speaker 2: it seems like, but in general it hasn't been their 778 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:33,000 Speaker 2: primary focus. They've got this new Tron ride which seems 779 00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:35,920 Speaker 2: incredible though, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Rye, which 780 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,440 Speaker 2: is also partially in the dark, is a coaster and 781 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:40,600 Speaker 2: it's indoor and it's really really cool too. 782 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,880 Speaker 4: Jonathan seems like a tepagud who likes the line like 783 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:45,000 Speaker 4: he wasted the line again, the. 784 00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:48,640 Speaker 1: Line is the ride amazing. 785 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:51,520 Speaker 2: It's all about the journey, guys. It's about the journey 786 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:54,319 Speaker 2: and the food. They have really cool, interesting eclectic food 787 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:56,560 Speaker 2: at Disney as much. Actually look forward to going back. 788 00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,799 Speaker 2: So thanks to Jonathan aj Bahamas. I don't know if 789 00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:02,200 Speaker 2: he doesn't strike me as a coaster guy, but unless 790 00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:05,200 Speaker 2: he was doing a deep dive where he only traveled 791 00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:05,960 Speaker 2: by roller coast. 792 00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:08,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, the year of traveling by coaster. 793 00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:11,919 Speaker 2: What you would do? Also thanks to East Jeff Coat, 794 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:15,560 Speaker 2: who will be spoiler returning soon thanks to our fellow 795 00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:19,359 Speaker 2: Ben Ben Thompson Badass of the week check that out. 796 00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:22,640 Speaker 2: Thanks also recording with him this week I believe. Yes, yeah, 797 00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:26,000 Speaker 2: he's on the way as well. Yes, spoilers and let's 798 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,359 Speaker 2: see and also you know, thanks to you, Ben, I'll 799 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:31,000 Speaker 2: take it. Thanks to you as well. We'll see you 800 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:40,640 Speaker 2: next time, folks. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 801 00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:43,880 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 802 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:44,680 Speaker 2: favorite shows.