Lina Beecher facts for kids

Lina Beecher (born January 2, 1841 – died October 5, 1915) was an American inventor and a talented roller coaster engineer. He is most famous for building the very first looping roller coaster in North America. This ride was called the Flip Flap Railway. Later, he also designed another looping coaster known as Loop the Loop. Beecher also created many other interesting inventions and held several patents.

About Lina Beecher's Life

Lina Beecher was born in 1841 in a place called Byron, New York. His parents were Julius Beecher and Orpha Taggart. When he was young, Beecher was a great athlete and even won running races. Later, he joined the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a member of the cavalry, which meant he rode horses in battle, and he became a captain.

In 1864, Beecher married Margaret Jeffers. They had two children, William and Lina Jr. Sadly, Margaret passed away in 1883. A year later, in 1884, Beecher married Harriet Johnson. They had one daughter named Jane. After the war, Beecher worked many different jobs and lived in various places. For example, he worked on the railroad in Tennessee. He also worked in Florida, helping with the orange industry. Later, he worked at the American Railway Company as a general superintendent, where he designed roller coasters.

Beecher's Amazing Inventions

Lina Beecher was a very creative inventor. He invented many things, including a special type of monorail. He also designed a portable telephone that could be used by the army. Another invention was a unique system for railways that didn't need wheel flanges. However, he was best known for his exciting roller coaster designs, especially his new ideas for looping roller coasters.

The Flip Flap Railway

The Flip Flap Railway was the first commercial looping roller coaster built in North America. Beecher built this coaster out of wood. He first tested his design in 1888 in Toledo, Ohio. To make sure it was safe, he tested it with sandbags, then with monkeys, and finally with people. A showman named Paul Boyton was very impressed. He bought the coaster and moved it to his Sea Lion Park in Coney Island, New York in 1895.

This coaster used a perfectly circular loop. Today's looping coasters use a more oval, or elliptical, shape. The circular design of the Flip Flap Railway created very strong forces on the riders, up to 12 Gs! This made the ride uncomfortable and sometimes caused neck injuries.

The Loop the Loop Coaster

After the Flip Flap Railway didn't work out as planned, Beecher designed a new coaster called Loop the Loop. For this design, he used a more elliptical loop, similar to what Ed Prescott had used in his coasters at Coney Island and Atlantic City. Beecher's new coaster also used a strong steel structure, just like Prescott's designs.

The main difference was that Beecher's design still had a single track. Prescott's new design had two tracks that raced through the vertical loop at the same time. Beecher's Loop the Loop was built at Olentangy Park near Columbus, Ohio. Even though this ride was much smoother, it wasn't very successful. It was removed from the park soon after it was built.

Other Coaster Ideas

Besides the Flip Flap Railway tests in Toledo, Ohio, Beecher also tried to show off a looping coaster in 1901. This was at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. However, the coaster was thought to be too dangerous. Because of this, it was not allowed to be set up at the exposition.