Page 46: Rough Riders, The Dips

Page 46 of Coney Island - The People's Playground: Rough Riders, The Dips

Photograph of The Dips on the Rough Riders ride, which takes passengers through scenes of the Spanish-American War.

"Seventeen people in two cars were pitched from the top of a sixty foot peak on the Rough Riders switchback during the 1910 season. Incredibly, only three of them died (not all of them hit the street). The reckless driver got the train going to fast on the turn at 2 A.M. on June 22nd. Although the motorman had just turned off the power after the ascent, the mechanism jammed. The train, going too fast on the turn, caused the cars to overturn. Third rail coasters were run by a motorman with a throttle so that he could accelerate both uphill and on steep downgrades. Attendants wore Spanish-American War uniforms and the trains carried passengers past murals depicting that brief but heroic war before ascending the lift hill. Another similar accident where the train derailed and jumped the track occurred on August 7, 1915. The driver was killed instantly along with two passengers."
(http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/coasterlist.htm)

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