Homemade Roller Coasters

Have you ever wished you had your own private roller coaster? One you could visit anytime and not have to wait in line? Several people have taken that dream and made it happen.

Jeremy Reid singlehandedly built his own wooden backyard roller coaster in Oklahoma City. The project took four years and almost five tons of wood, and was completed in 2001. You can see Reid's coaster in action at YouTube.

John Ivers of Indiana loves roller coasters, but he was tired of waiting in line for them, so he built a metal coaster named The Blue Flash in his backyard!

Ivers learned a lot building the first one, so he felt compelled to build a second, improved coaster called The Blue Too.

More homemade coasters, after the jump.

Eighth-graders in California designed and built this 1/4 scale roller coaster in their school gym! The wooden track is 400 feet long and features a 360 degree loop.

In 2005, 14-year-old David Mossman of Offenburg, Germany began building a 100-meter long wooden coaster in his aunt's garden. The story made the news when authorities ordered him to take it down due to safety concerns. You can read the story in Speigel about halfway down this page. Two years later, there is no word on whether he ever finished the project.

You don't have to ride your coaster to make an impression. Matt Chiles has an extensive gallery showing how he made this working Lego roller coaster.

Dave created what became known as the Redneck Roller Coaster.

I do not recommend trying this. But in case you're curious,

Or there was, til it was pulled just as this was published.