Not your father's roller coaster

At RMC, Coon gets to indulge in both fantasy and nostalgia. He imagines new roller coasters and brings them to life while also turning aging wooden coasters into state-of-the-art attractions. “We don't just copy the old layout of the original coaster,” he says. “We add higher and steeper drops and multiple inversions to provide a new, thrilling experience.” Coon and his colleagues do this by replacing the original wooden track with a steel-track system, allowing for higher speeds and lower maintenance.

If it seems like coasters are bigger and more exciting than before, that's because they are. Advanced materials science lets engineers like Coon build bigger thrills. Steel components, for example, are galvanized by submerging the bare steel into molten zinc. “The iron in the steel reacts with the molten zinc to form an alloy coating, thus giving it incredibly high corrosion protection,” Coon says. This protection is important to keep the ride smooth, reliable, and thrilling for many years.

Building bigger, safer hybrids of wood-and-steel structures or all-wood roller coasters requires the right lumber. Coon explains that hard-to-break southern yellow pine is the wood of choice. The wood is placed in a vacuum chamber, where all the air is sucked out and moisture is removed. Next, to prevent decay, fungal growth, and insect infestation, alkaline copper quaternary and chromated copper arsenate are pumped in under pressure to force them into the wood.

When designing roller coasters, Coon explains, builders make it impossible for the train to jump the track. There are three sets of wheels on the train and three running surfaces on the track.

The correct application of lubricating grease is a balancing act that plays a vital role in controlling the speed of the ride. Perhaps surprisingly, too little grease speeds up the train, while too much slows it down, even causing it to grind to a halt mid-ride. Coon typically uses a lithium-based grease which has the consistency of peanut butter at room temperature but changes to a liquid state as the wheels heat up.

“Adding grease means there is more grease to absorb the generated heat from the bearings, so the grease stays thicker in consistency,” he explains.

Thicker grease makes for a slower ride. But, by contrast, if there is less grease to absorb the heat, the grease itself heats up and thins out.

“The thing I find most exciting and thrilling about designing new roller coasters is seeing which limit we are going to push next,” Coon says. “Just this year we built a 205-foot-tall [62.5-meter] record-breaking monster of a roller coaster and two highly innovative next-gen Raptor roller coasters.”

Like their dinosaur namesakes, these Raptors are nimble and fast, designed to reach heights of over 61 meters and speeds of up to about 121 km/hour. The Raptors have a single rail, whereas most coasters have two. The track is just over 30.5 cm wide, Coon explains, and each passenger is seated in his or her own car, in single file. People's legs are positioned on either side of the track, meaning they straddle it as they ride.