Out and back roller coaster#Triple out-and-back

{{Short description|Roller coaster layout}}

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File:The Comet Drop.jpg at Hersheypark, a double out and back roller coaster.]]

Out and back refers to the layout of a roller coaster. An out and back coaster is one that climbs a lift hill soon after leaving the station, races out to the far end of the track after the initial drop, performs a 180 degree turn and then returns to the station. Some out and back coasters perform more complicated turns at the far end of the track.{{Cite web |title=Out and back roller coaster |url=https://coasterpedia.net/wiki/Out_and_back_roller_coaster |access-date=September 3, 2024 |website=Coasterpedia}}{{better reference needed|date=September 2024}}

This particular design is very popular and is easy to design and construct. With an out and back design, the hills on the way "out" usually are quite large and gradually decrease in size. The hills on the way "back" are usually "bunny hops", or small hills created to maximize air-time.

Design variants

The simplest out-and-back layout resembles a flattened oval when viewed from above. In profile, the train leaves the station (point A) and ascends the lift hill; after gaining kinetic energy from the initial drop, the train ascends a second hill to slow the train before it enters the first turn-back at the far end of the track (point B). Exiting the turn-back, the train descends the second hill to gain speed again before entering a third hill (or a braking area) to slow for a second turn-back at the near end of the track (point C) and the return to the station.

=Double out-and-back=

File:The Great Escape (48331708481).jpg at Great Escape has ascended the first large "out" hill and is about to turn to the left to head "back"; the second "out and back" loop can be seen at a lower elevation outside the first loop.]]

A variation on the theme has the track traveling from the station (point A) out to the far end (point B), then returning past the station before traveling out to the far end again, and finally returning to the station. From above, the simplest double out-and-back would appear as a flattened oval spiral with a crossover for the final return to the station.

Examples of this type of ride include the venerable Comet, which was moved from Crystal Beach Park in Ontario to Great Escape at Queensbury, New York, the Phoenix at Knoebels' Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, and GhostRider at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

=Triple out-and-back=

These coasters travel back and forth between A and B thrice; the resulting appearance is often hard to discern from true twisters, which are usually free-form in design. An example of this type of ride is the Coney Island Cyclone.

=Quadruple out-and-back and higher=

While no roller coasters of this type are known, they would travel between A and B more than three times. Like triple out-and-backs, they are hard to discern from twisters, and sometimes wild mice.

Examples

class="wikitable sortable"
style="width:30%;"|Coaster

! style="width:30%;"|Park

! style="width:10%;"|Year opened

! style="width:30%;"|Manufacturer

American Eagle

|Six Flags Great America

|style="text-align:center"|1981

|Intamin

Apollo's Chariot

|Busch Gardens Williamsburg

|style="text-align:center"|1999

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Arkansas Twister

|Magic Springs and Crystal Falls

|style="text-align:center"|1993

|Michael Black and Associates

Behemoth

|Canada's Wonderland

|style="text-align:center"|2008

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Big One

|Blackpool Pleasure Beach

|style="text-align:center"|1994

|Arrow Dynamics

Blue Streak

|Cedar Point

|style="text-align:center"|1964

Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Boulder Dash

|Lake Compounce

|style="text-align:center"|2000

|Custom Coasters International

Cannon Ball

|Lake Winnepesaukah

|style="text-align:center"|1967

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

Cheetah

|Wild Adventures

|style="text-align:center"|2001

|Custom Coasters International

Comet

|Hersheypark

|style="text-align:center"|1946

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

The Comet

|Great Escape

|style="text-align:center"|1994

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

Fury 325

|Carowinds

|style="text-align:center"|2015

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Giant Dipper

|Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

|style="text-align:center"|1924

|Arthur Looff

GhostRider

|Knott's Berry Farm

|style="text-align:center"|1998

|Custom Coasters International

Goliath

|La Ronde

|style="text-align:center"|2006

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Goliath

|Six Flags Over Georgia

|style="text-align:center"|2006

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Great American Scream Machine

|Six Flags Over Georgia

|style="text-align:center"|1973

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

High Roller

|Valleyfair

|style="text-align:center"|1976

|Rauenhorst Corporation

Intimidator

|Carowinds

|style="text-align:center"|2010

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Jack Rabbit

|Seabreeze Amusement Park

|style="text-align:center"|1920

|Harry C. Baker

Judge Roy Scream

|Six Flags Over Texas

|style="text-align:center"|1980

|William Cobb & Associates

Leviathan

|Canada's Wonderland

|style="text-align:center"|2012

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Magnum XL-200

|Cedar Point

|style="text-align:center"|1989

|Arrow Dynamics

Mamba

|Worlds of Fun

|style="text-align:center"|1998

|D. H. Morgan Manufacturing

The Mighty Canadian Minebuster

|Canada's Wonderland

|style="text-align:center"|1981

|Taft Broadcasting

Millennium Force

|Cedar Point

|style="text-align:center"|2000

|Intamin

Nitro

|Six Flags Great Adventure

|style="text-align:center"|2001

|Bolliger & Mabillard

Phoenix

|Knoebels' Amusement Resort

|style="text-align:center"|1985

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

Predator

|Darien Lake

|style="text-align:center"|1990

|Dinn Corporation

The Racer

|Kings Island

|style="text-align:center"|1972

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

Racer 75

|Kings Dominion

|style="text-align:center"|1975

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

Roller Coaster

|Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach

|style="text-align:center"|1932

|Erich Heidrich

Rollo Coaster

|Idlewild Park

|style="text-align:center"|1938

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

Screamin' Eagle

|Six Flags St. Louis

|style="text-align:center"|1976

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

Shivering Timbers

|Michigan's Adventure

|style="text-align:center"|1998

|Custom Coasters International

Tornado

|Adventureland

|style="text-align:center"|1978

|Frontier Construction Company

The Voyage

|Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

|style="text-align:center"|2006

|The Gravity Group

Wildcat

|Lake Compounce

|style="text-align:center"|1927

|Dinn Corporation

Wild Beast

|Canada's Wonderland

|style="text-align:center"|1981

|Taft Broadcasting

The Wild One

|Six Flags America

|style="text-align:center"|1986

|Dinn Corporation

Wild Thing

|Valleyfair

|style="text-align:center"|1996

|D. H. Morgan Manufacturing

Yankee Cannonball

|Canobie Lake Park

|style="text-align:center"|1930

|Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters

{{Rollercoaster tracks}}

References