I Can’t Believe You Can Still Ride These (9 Photos)

These Wooden Roller Coasters Are Over 90 Years Old

The oldest one here opened in Melbourne in December 1912, eight months after the Titanic sank. The youngest arrived in a Danish forest park in 1932. All nine are built of wood, all nine still sell tickets in 2026, and three of them were designed by the same man, John A. Miller.

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🎢 The Great Scenic Railway — By L.A. Thompson Scenic Railway Co. in Melbourne, Australia 🇦🇺

Hands up on the long white climb of the Great Scenic Railway at Luna Park, which opened on December 13, 1912. Each pair of cars still carries a brakeman in the middle, who controls the speed of the cars. It may be the only job where the commute is the whole point.

💡 Record Fact: Guinness World Records lists it as the oldest rollercoaster operating continuously.

📂Artwork File · Standing May 2025 — A brakeman still rides every train on the world’s oldest continuously operating coaster The full story, with every source

📷 Photo: Tom Reynolds / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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⛰️ Rutschebanen — By Valdemar Lebech in Copenhagen, Denmark 🇩🇰

The station sits right under a fake rock mountain, and the track runs in and around it. The Rutschebanen in Tivoli Gardens has run since June 12, 1914, and Tivoli says it is one of just seven rides in the world with a driver on board, called a brake man.

💡 War Fact: Saboteurs blew up sections of the ride in June 1944, and it reopened just 25 days later.

📂Artwork File · Standing Jun 2024 — Tivoli says it is one of seven coasters in the world with a brakeman on every train The full story, with every source

📷 Photo: Leif Jørgensen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🐇 Jack Rabbit — By John A. Miller in Rochester, USA 🇺🇸

White wooden hills on a summer evening at Seabreeze Amusement Park, where the Jack Rabbit opened on May 31, 1920. The American Coaster Enthusiasts call it the oldest continuously operating roller coaster in the United States. The trees around it have had a century to grow taller than its hills.

💡 Fire Fact: A 1923 fire destroyed the station, the lift hill and the first drop, and the ride reopened in 1924.

📂Artwork File · Standing Jul 2026 — Built in eight weeks by 120 workmen, and still running after a 1923 fire The full story, with every source

📷 Photo: Sarion / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🐇 Jack Rabbit — By John A. Miller in West Mifflin, USA 🇺🇸

A full train crests the turnaround above the leaping-rabbit sign at Kennywood, near Pittsburgh. This Jack Rabbit opened on June 18, 1920, less than three weeks after its namesake in Rochester, according to the ACE landmark marker at the ride.

💡 Technique Fact: It was Kennywood’s first coaster with Miller’s patented underfriction wheels, which lock the train to the track from below and made steeper drops possible.

📂Artwork File · Standing Aug 2026 — Four drops into a natural ravine, and a double dip after a mid-course lift The full story, with every source

📷 Photo: ThrillZing / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), cropped

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🏔️ Roller Coaster — By John A. Miller in Farmington, USA 🇺🇸

A brown wooden coaster with mountains for a backdrop: this is simply called the Roller Coaster at Lagoon, and it first ran in 1921. In 1953, a fire on the Midway damaged the coaster, and its station and lift hill had to be rebuilt. The mountains make the first hill look small; the riders at the top would disagree.

💡 Designer Fact: ACE counts it among the only eight Miller coasters left operating.

📂Artwork File · Seen Jul 2024 — Survived a 1923 flood and a 1953 fire that took its station and trains The full story, with every source

📷 Photo: Jeremy Thompson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🌊 Giant Dipper — By Arthur Looff in Santa Cruz, USA 🇺🇸

A red train leans into the curve on the white frame of the Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Arthur Looff’s crew put it up in 47 days in 1924, and it opened on May 17 that year.

💡 Rider Fact: The Boardwalk counts over 68 million riders so far. The coaster became a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

📂Artwork File · Standing May 2024 — Arthur Looff’s seaside coaster went up in just 47 days The full story, with every source

📷 Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, LC-DIG-highsm-21240 (public domain)

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🌴 Giant Dipper — By Frank Prior and Frederick Church in San Diego, USA 🇺🇸

Riders brace on the drop at Belmont Park in Mission Beach, where this Giant Dipper opened on July 4, 1925. It closed when the park went bankrupt in 1976, and volunteers saved it from certain demolition before it reopened in 1990.

💡 Comeback Fact: After a five-week renovation, it quietly reopened on March 14, 2026.

📂Artwork File · Standing Mar 2026 — Closed in 1976, saved by volunteers, and back since 1990 The full story, with every source

📷 Photo and cover crop: Rsamples / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🌪️ Cyclone — By Vernon Keenan and Harry C. Baker in New York City, USA 🇺🇸

A roller coaster on a street corner, with a crosswalk at its feet: the Cyclone at Coney Island opened on June 26, 1927. Its 2026 season started with the annual Egg Cream Christening.

💡 Landmark Fact: It became a New York City landmark in 1988, and coaster fans like to quote Charles Lindbergh calling it “more thrilling than flying”.

📂Artwork File · Standing Mar 2026 — Carried up once, then it runs on its own momentum The full story, with every source

📷 Photo and cover crop: Derick.k.chan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🎡 Rutschebanen — Bakken, Klampenborg, Denmark 🇩🇰

Brown timber rising over the ticket booth at Bakken, the amusement park in the forest north of Copenhagen. This Rutschebanen came to Bakken on May 16, 1932. Unlike its cousin in Tivoli, it has run without a brakeman since new trains arrived in 2010. The painted panels along the queue look like they have seen a few summers too.

💡 Designer Fact: Its drawings, supplied by Tivoli carpenter Valdemar Lebech, were later the basis for Vuoristorata at Helsinki’s Linnanmäki, which opened in 1951.

📂Artwork File · Seen Jun 2026 — Europe’s largest coaster in 1932, now called the old lady The full story, with every source

📷 Photo: K56e51g / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Which one is your favorite?