Roller coasters are fast. Well, some are faster than others. Just look at
Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure, which launches riders from 0 to 128mph,
206kmh in just 3.5 seconds. Or even the world’s fastest roller coaster, Formula Rossa,
which reaches the top speed of 240kmh 149mph. With that much speed, something substantial must be in
place at the end of the ride to slow you down. You want to be absolutely certain that the final
brakes will bring you to a stop. They will bring you to a stop right!? Phew. Fortunately for you,
modern roller coasters feature failsafe brakes - essentially, they’ll always be there to slow you
down. But how? What’s so special about roller coaster brakes and why do they never fail?
Brakes, what brakes?
For as long as roller coasters have existed, they’ve needed some form of braking. The first
‘real’ roller coasters, the switchback railways of the late 1800s, went so slow they didn’t require
any dedicated brake - someone could simply reach out and stop them. As roller coasters got bigger,
a more sophisticated way to stop the train was required. The solution - brake-men! Stick
a dedicated person on the train to slow it down when required. Simple. The brake-men
would control a lever, which when pulled, applied friction to the train’s running wheels,
slowing the entire vehicle down. This meant the ride’s speed could be controlled at all times,
including stopping to on-load new passengers. Several roller coasters still use brake-men,
brake-people, today. Including Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens in
Denmark, one of the world’s oldest roller coasters, which first opened in 1914.
Skid brakes Having a person ride
every single roller coaster, all of the time, every day is quite intensive. Excellent if you
like roller coasters, but perhaps a bit much for everyone else. To solve that issue, someone
thought to remove the brakes from the train and instead place them at the end of the ride,
genius. Now, the entire roller coaster could be controlled from a single point, the ride's
station. In the beginning skid brakes, elongated planks of wood with a rough metal surface were
used to slow the trains down. A lever in the station could be pulled to raise the planks,
causing them to contact the underside of the train, reducing its speed. A series of skid
brakes were placed at the end of the ride, as well as in the station, to bring the train to
a complete stop. Skid brakes were innovative, cool and efficient. But they had a drawback,
rain. In wet conditions, the brakes simply wouldn’t be as effective as the rain reduced
the friction between the brakes and the train. The solution? A roof. Roller coasters were designed
with enclosed brake runs to shield the skid brakes from the weather, allowing them to operate
effectively. For example, Phoenix at Knoebels, and many other classic wooden roller coasters,
feature enclosed sections at the end of the ride to allow the skid brakes to do their magic.
After a while, the levers used to control the brakes were replaced with pneumatic systems. Now,
a joystick could be used to raise or lower the skids on demand. Up until this point,
the brakes were entirely controlled by a person. They decided whether or not your train stopped at
the end of the ride. To drastically improve the safety surrounding roller coasters,
springs were added to the pneumatic system. This meant that the brakes were in the braking position
by default. If there was a loss of air from the system the brakes remained in the up position,
causing the train to slow down. This is the first failsafe found on modern-day roller coasters:
brakes in the braking position by default. Brakes on a roller coaster
will slow the train down unless they are specifically told not to.
Friction brakes
Roller coaster brake design continued to move forwards. During the mid-20th century,
National Amusement Devices, a company specialising in amusement attractions, debuted a new type of
brake - the fin brake. This consisted of two parallel pads that would create a tight grip on
a fin attached to the train to slow it down. These became the first form of modern friction brakes
found on roller coasters today. Fin brakes proved to be incredibly efficient at slowing roller
coaster trains down, and didn’t suffer from the rain problem plaguing skid brake designs. Though,
the new brake design didn’t initially take off. For a while, skid brakes continued to be the norm.
But, then came the widespread debut of steel roller coasters. Steel allowed rides to become
taller, faster, and more technically impressive. Ride designers needed new,
effective ways of slowing guests down. Disney and Arrow Development turned to the fin brake
when designing and constructing the original Space Mountain, at Disney
World’s Magic Kingdom in 1975. This reduced the space required to slow the trains down,
helping designers to fit the twin-tracked ride inside the small Space Mountain building.
However, there was an even more important reason for Space Mountain utilising fin brakes. The ride
was actually one of the world’s first roller coasters to use computer systems to monitor
the trains as they navigated the course. The computer would accurately control the speed of
the trains by applying the fin brakes at specific moments during the ride. This ensured that each
vehicle remained a safe distance apart. Fin brakes also meant any roller coaster train
could be stopped completely, in a short amount of space, if the track ahead wasn’t clear. This
was unheard of at the time but has since become commonplace on all modern-day roller coasters.
Fin brakes have one minor drawback - they can only be used on sections of straight track.
Compare this to skid brakes, which would often be found on the final corner of many
traditional wooden roller coasters. Space Mountain, therefore, features
an excessive number of small straight sections of track on which the fin brakes are mounted.
The exact design, and name, of the fin brake changes depending on the roller coaster in
question. The most traditional design sees callipers placed in the centre of the track
grab a metal plate located on the underside of the train. Roller coasters built by Schwarzkopf
saw their brakes placed beyond the sides of the track, which would grab a fin attached to the
side of the ride vehicle. Bolliger and Mabillard on the other hand, use pads instead of fins on
the underside of their trains, which the brakes grab in a traditional manner. As a result of the
different designs, friction brakes has become the term synonymous with these calliper-style
brake systems. Magnetic brakes
When I said fin brakes have one drawback, I lied. They actually have another,
one they share with skid brakes. Wear and tear. Friction brakes rely on just that, friction,
to slow the trains down. Over time, the brakes become worn as the material on the calliper
erodes. As a result, the brake pads attached to the callipers require maintenance and are
regularly replaced. If only someone could design a brake that doesn’t use friction…
Introducing the magnetic brake, now with 100% less friction. Instead of friction,
magnetic brakes rely on the magic of magnetic fields to slow roller coaster trains down. On most
rides with magnetic brakes, a metal fin placed on the roller coaster’s track slides between a pair
of permanent magnets placed on the underside of the ride vehicle. As the fin slides between the
permanent magnets, it begins to generate its own magnetic field, one which opposes the magnetic
field of the permanent magnets. This phenomenon, known as Eddy currents, therefore slows the train
down. Interestingly, the amount of braking force is directly proportional to the velocity of the
train. Meaning the faster the train travels into the brakes, the more braking force it
will experience. This also provides a smoother braking experience compared to other brake types.
The world’s first roller coaster to make use of magnetic brakes was Tower of Terror, at Dreamworld
amusement park in Australia. The ride, mostly identical to Superman Escape from Krypton at
Six Flags Magic Mountain in the USA, used linear synchronous motors, LSMs to accelerate the trains.
These magnets would propel the ride vehicles from 0 to 100mph 161kmh in 7 seconds. At the end of the
ride, the magnets used to accelerate the trains would also decelerate the trains. After this,
the idea of using magnets to slow roller coaster trains down began to gain traction.
In the following year, Mr Freeze at Six Flags Over Texas, built by Premier Rides,
became the first roller coaster to use dedicated magnetic brakes
to slow the trains down. This was followed by the likes of Intamin,
with the debut of Superman Ride of Steel in 1999; and other companies several years later.
The exact placement or design of magnetic braking systems varies from ride to ride.
Many use metal fins placed on the ride’s track which slide between permanent magnets placed
underneath the train. Other rides feature a metal fin on the sides of the train,
which slides between permanent magnets placed on the sides of the track to slow it down. Metal fins
placed on the track often feature the added benefit of being retractable. Pneumatics are
used to retract the fin, when required, to stop the train from being decelerated too much. Once
the air-pressure is removed, the fins rise back into their default braking position.
Today, magnetic brakes can be found on most modern roller coasters. Why? Because they’re the second
type of failsafe brake system. Magnetic brakes don’t wear and are always active. If the train
travels over the magnet the ride vehicle will always slow down. Ultimately, this has led to
permanent magnetic brakes being placed at the end of many of today’s roller coasters.
Magnetic brakes do have their own drawback however, they can’t stop a train completely.
As the ride vehicle slows down, the braking force provided by the magnets reduces, until it
has little effect. As a result, magnetic brakes are often found in front of friction brakes, or
other methods of stopping a train completely, such as drive tyres. The magnetic brakes slow the ride
vehicle down to a crawl, while the friction brakes stop it completely. Together these two failsafe
braking systems ensure modern-day roller coasters come to a stop successfully, every single time.
Brakes aren’t just found at the end of the ride Brakes aren’t just found at the end of the ride,
however. You might find additional brakes partway through the track on many roller coasters. Rides
like Silver Star at Europa Park, and many other hyper-coasters built by Bolliger and Mabillard,
feature trim brakes. These brakes aim to control the train's speed during the ride, slowing it down
at specific points if required. The ride’s computer system will monitor the velocity
of the ride vehicle and can alter the strength of the trim brake to reach the desired speed.
Sometimes this might mean no braking at all. Other roller coasters, like Sheikra at Busch
Gardens Tampa, feature unconventional brakes. Towards the end of the ride,
Sheikra drops into a pool of water. Large scoops attached to the train spray water behind the
ride vehicle, and onto nearby spectators. The water acts as a spectacle and a brake,
helping to shed speed at the end of the layout. Some launch coasters feature long stretches of
brake fins along the launch straight. While the train is launched these fins are in the down
position. As the train passes over, the fins rise. If the ride vehicle fails to crest the
roller coaster's highest point, it will roll back into the brakes, bringing it to a controlled stop.
Other launch coasters feature magnetic brakes at the top of their highest point. This way,
the ride can launch faster than required, ensuring it crests the highest point every
time. The magnetic brakes at the crest are then used to bring the train’s speed back down to the
desired level. Block brakes
Small sections of straight track, like on Space Mountain, can be found on many roller coasters
today. These sections, known as block brakes, often feature friction brakes or other methods
to stop the trains completely. Block brakes divide a roller coaster’s track into separate segments,
known as block sections. Only a single train can occupy each block section at any one point
in time. A ride’s computer system monitors the position of each train - if the block
section ahead is occupied, the computer system will deploy the block brakes to stop the train
completely. Only once the block section ahead is clear can the ride vehicle continue forwards.
We’ve already made a whole video about block sections, including why they exist,
and how they keep roller coasters safe - click the link in the description or the ‘i’ button.
Conclusion So there you
go - now you know why roller coaster brakes are failsafe. From brake-people, to magnetic brakes,
the industry has continually evolved to create safer and more efficient ways to slow down roller
coasters. Magnetic brakes require no power, are frictionless, and provide more braking force
the faster a train goes. Friction brakes, which are in braking position by default,
are extremely effective and can stop the ride vehicle completely. Together, magnetic brakes
and friction brakes provide the perfect system, ensuring you’ll come to a complete stop at the
end of the ride everytime. Thank you for watching, and, we’ll see you all next time.