Jack Rabbit
E10 · Wooden Wonders
E10 · № 66/150
Jack Rabbit
Kennywood · US · John A. Miller & Harry C. Baker Terrain out-and-back with double-down
“The ravine does half the work, and Pittsburgh applauds the rest.”
UNOFFICIAL · NOT PARK-ENDORSED
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Fast facts
- Opened at Kennywood in 1920 and still operating. kennywood.com
- Wooden terrain out-and-back coaster designed by John A. Miller and Harry C. Baker. ultimaterollercoaster.com
- Height is 12.2 metres, or 40 feet. ultimaterollercoaster.com
- Top speed is 72 km/h, or 45 mph. ultimaterollercoaster.com
- Its celebrated double-dip drop is 70 feet. kennywood.com
- The ride has zero inversions. en.wikipedia.org
- Estimated construction cost was $0.05 million, or $50,000. ultimaterollercoaster.com
The story of Jack Rabbit
The Jack Rabbit arrived with the new decade in 1920, when Kennywood was beginning one of its grandest periods of growth. Set upon a natural ravine in the Monongahela Valley, it made the park’s own hillside part of the journey. kennywood.com· kennywood.com
John A. Miller’s engineering was as important as the scenery. Kennywood describes the coaster as an early user of under-friction, or upstop, wheels, the quiet invention that kept the train to the track and allowed the famous double-dip to be taken with confidence. kennywood.com· kennywood.com
The National Park Service nomination for Kennywood noted the ride’s 2,132 feet of track running through a ravine at the park’s edge, with the higher part of the double dip above and the lower part at the ravine floor. It is a coaster that belongs to its ground. npgallery.nps.gov
Generations of Pittsburgh visitors have made a small ceremony of boarding it. More than a century on, Kennywood still presents Jack Rabbit as its oldest surviving coaster, and American Coaster Enthusiasts has recognized it as a Roller Coaster Landmark for historic significance. kennywood.com· aceonline.org
Sources
- kennywood.com Acceptable source
- ultimaterollercoaster.com Acceptable source
- kennywood.com Acceptable source
- en.wikipedia.org Acceptable source
- npgallery.nps.gov Acceptable source
- aceonline.org Acceptable source