User:MelbourneStar/Scenic Railway (Luna Park)

Scenic Railway, also known as Scenic Rail or The Great Scenic Railway, is a wooden side friction double out-and-back scenic railway roller coaster located at Luna Park, Melbourne, Australia. The ride was built at the park in 1911, opened in 1912, and has been operational ever since - making it the world's oldest contiuelly operating roller coaster. It is one of eight side friction roller coaster's left in the world, and one of two that require a Brakeman.

History
In February 1906, an amusement park called Dreamland opened on the same site that Luna Park operates on today. The park was quickly dubbed "Deadland" by the Truth newspaper and closed in 1909, due to financial difficulties. The land was vacant until 1911, when the Greater J.D. Williams Amusement Company acquired a lease on the land, which would see the relaunch of the amusement park, as Luna Park. At that time, Robson's Figure-8 roller coaster, from the previous Dreamland amusement park, was still operational, adjacent to the park.

Building commenced on what was reported to be a replica of an Indian roller coaster built for The Great Durbar Exhibition of Old Bombay for the visit of King George V in 1911. Known as the "Scenic Railway", the roller coaster was designed by the L A Thompson Scenic Railway Company of New York. The founder of the company behind the design, LaMarcus Adna Thompson, was reknown for constructing the world’s first purpose built roller coaster at Coney Island in 1884 (Switchback Railway). Thompson's "Scenic Railway" company was so named in 1886 due to their designs usually incorporated painted "scenes" inside tunnels built over sections of the track.

When Luna Park finally opened on 13 December 1912, the Scenic Railway was the park's most popular attraction. In 1914, Robson's Figure-8 roller coaster, which survived for five years inside the relatively new amusement park, was demolished, making Scenic Railway the only roller coaster at the park. The First World War resulted in the closure of Luna Park in 1916. Throughout the 7 year closure of Luna Park (1916-1923), Scenic Railway was the only ride still operating. The park was re-opened in 1923, after major renovations and joining the Scenic Railway was another popular wooden roller coaster, the Big Dipper. During World War II, Luna Park was not closed; however the park had to comply with blackout curfews.

In 1982 multiple rides at Luna Park were closed, including the parks two most popular attractions, ''