Dual-tracked roller coaster

A dual-tracked roller coaster is a roller coaster which consists of two tracks. There are three types of dual-tracked roller coasters: racing, dueling, and Möbius loop roller coasters.

Riders slap hands on the Racer at Kennywood

Not all parks choose to operate both sides of their dual-tracked coasters; Rolling Thunder and Colossus are two examples of this. Other parks operate one side frontwards and one side backwards.

Variants

Dragon Challenge in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a dueling inverted roller coaster.

Racing roller coaster: consists of two separate roller coasters that travel along parallel or mirrored tracks to simulate a race between the trains. The coaster trains travel along tracks just a few feet apart from one another. They often get close enough for riders to reach out and slap hands with riders on the opposite train, though this is extremely dangerous. These coasters are usually old wooden coasters.

Dueling roller coaster: features two (or more) roller coasters, usually with a similar layout, built close to each other. The rides are designed to do just as the name indicates: to duel. The coaster's layout often consists of strategic maneuvering to produce near-hits between the two coaster trains, designed to induce a greater adrenaline rush for the rider than a stand-alone roller coaster.

Möbius loop roller coaster: this can be a racing roller coaster or a dueling roller coaster; however, there is one continuous track shared by both trains. As a result, the side of the station that a train begins on is not the same side in which it will return. For each cycle, each train travels half the track. In less common configurations, a Möbius loop coaster train will travel the entire length of the track before returning, such as with Twisted Colossus and West Coast Racers at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Examples

Coaster NameParkLocationTrackTypeBuilderYear OpenedNotes
American Eagle Six Flags Great America Gurnee, Illinois Wooden Racing Intamin 1981 Tallest, fastest racing wooden roller coaster in the world.[1]
Batman & Robin: The Chiller Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, New Jersey Steel Dueling Premier Rides 1997 Closed in 2007, sold for scrap 2018
Battlestar Galactica Universal Studios Singapore Sentosa, Singapore Steel Dueling Vekoma 2010 Themed on the Battlestar Galactica television series with "Cylon" and "Human" coasters.

Closed in February 2013 due to technical issues, and reopened on 27 May 2015.

Tallest duelling roller coaster in the world.

Dauling Dragon Happy Valley Wuhan Wuhan, Hubei, China Wooden Racing Martin & Vleminckx 2012 China's first racing roller coaster. Designed by The Gravity Group.
Dawson Duel Bellewaerde Ypres, Belgium Hybrid Racing Wiegand 2017 First-ever gravity-powered racing mountain coasters, and the first to use an artificial slope.
Dragon Challenge Universal's Islands of Adventure Orlando, Florida Steel Dueling Bolliger & Mabillard 1999 Formerly known as Dueling Dragons. Although this ride was listed as dueling, the individual tracks do not run synchronized due to a variety of incidents. Inverted roller coaster. Closed and scrapped 2017.
Gemini Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio Steel Racing Arrow Dynamics 1978 With wood structure.
Grand National Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Lancashire Wooden Möbius loop Charles Paige 1935
Gwazi Busch Gardens Tampa Tampa, Florida Wooden Dueling Great Coasters International 1999 Only the Lion side was operating as of 2012, and closed officially in 2015. Currently being reconstructed by manufacturer Rocky Mountain Construction into a hybrid roller coaster entitled Iron Gwazi.
Joris en de Draak Efteling Kaatsheuvel Wooden Dueling and Racing Great Coasters International 2010
Lightning Racer Hersheypark Hershey, Pennsylvania Wooden Dueling and Racing Great Coasters International 2000
Matterhorn Bobsleds Disneyland Anaheim, California Steel Arrow Dynamics 1959 Weaves around and through a replica of the Matterhorn. World's first tubular steel roller coaster.
Max Adventures Master Thai Mirabilandia Italy Steel Möbius loop Preston & Barbieri 2011 Riders simultaneously board on both halves of the Möbius loop.
Milky Way Mitsui Greenland Arao, Kumamoto Steel Racing Senyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. 1991 Stand-up roller coaster
Le Monstre La Ronde Montréal, Québec Wooden Racing William Cobb & Associates 1985/86 One track opened in 1985, the other in 1986
Montaña Rusa La Feria Chapultepec Mágico Mexico City Wooden Möbius loop National Amusement Device Company 1964 Closed 2019, demolished 2020
The Racer Kings Island Mason, Ohio Wooden Racing Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters 1972 Credited for starting the "Second Coaster Boom". One train formerly ran backwards until 2008. World's fastest racing coaster (1972–1976).
Racer Kennywood West Mifflin, Pennsylvania Wooden Möbius loop Charile Mach 1927
Ramses Parque de Atracciones de Zaragoza Zaragoza Steel Racing Safeco 2002 Opened in 1987 at Parque de Atracciones de Montjuic, named as "Vikingo". It stayed until the park's closure in 1998, and reopened with a new theming, location and name in 2002. First half pipe roller coaster ever built in a park.
Racer 75 Kings Dominion Doswell, Virginia Wooden Racing Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters 1975 One train formerly ran backwards until 2008.
Rolling Thunder Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, New Jersey Wooden Racing William Cobb & Associates 1979 Ride has two tracks in a figure 8 pattern, but the hills are arranged differently on each track. Closed in 2013 to make way for Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom.
Space Mountain Magic Kingdom Bay Lake, Florida Steel Arrow Dynamics 1975 Oldest operating roller coaster in Florida.
Thunder Road Carowinds Charlotte, North Carolina Wooden Racing Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters 1976 Crosses the North Carolina/South Carolina state line. One train formerly ran backwards until 2008. Closed and demolished in 2015.
Twisted Colossus Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia, California Steel Quasi Möbius Rocky Mountain Construction 2015 With wood structure. Formerly known as Colossus; opened in 1978 closed on August 16, 2014 after 36 years of operation. Opened on May 23, 2015 as Twisted Colossus. Unlike most "Möbius loop" racing/dueling coasters, Twisted Colossus has one station and trains go through both sides of the "Möbius loop" on one cycle. The original Colossus was a traditional two-track racing wooden coaster.
Vertigorama Parque de la Ciudad Buenos Aires City Steel Racing Intamin 1983 Track built but electrical never completed.
Vleermuis Plopsaland De Panne, West Flanders, Belgium Steel Racing Caripro 2000 Suspended roller coaster. Sold in 2018 to Trans Studio Bali, a park outside Europe.
West Coast Racers Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia, California Steel Quasi Möbius Premier Rides 2020 Dual racing coaster.
Windjammer Surf Racers Knott's Berry Farm Buena Park, California Steel Racing TOGO 1997 Closed in 2000 due to various problems.

References

  1. "Six Flags Great America: American Eagle Coaster Goes Backwards". 2012-06-03. Archived from the original on 2012-06-03. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
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