Balder (roller coaster)

Balder is a wooden roller coaster at the Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden. It opened in 2003 and was an instant success. Balder has twice, 2003 and 2005, been voted Best Wooden Tracked Roller Coaster in the world in a major international poll.

Balder is very different from a traditional wooden roller coaster because it is a prefabricated wooden roller coaster. This means that instead of trackers cutting, shaping, and laying down the track on site by hand, the track is laser cut in a factory . This means that the track is manufactured to a higher degree of precision than could ever be achieved by hand. The track is also made so that it snaps together like Lego pieces . The track also is made of more layers of wood that are tightly bonded together instead of nailed together by hand like a traditional wooden roller coaster. This has three major benefits, two being to the park and the other being to the riders.

The "Plug and Play" aspect of the coaster speeds construction of the coaster since track does not have to be completely manufactured on site. In addition, because of the speed of construction, the costs of building the coaster are lowered due to less manhours spent on the construction. The riders benefit from a coaster, that while being wooden, is near steel smooth. However, some roller coaster enthusiasts may find that aspect to take away from the ride since it would not have the same character as a traditional wooden roller coaster . Balder is praised by many roller coaster enthusiasts around the world, and is said to be one of the best roller coasters in Europe. Three other prefabricated wooden roller coasters currently exist, Colossos at Heide Park, El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure, and T Express in Everland .

Roller coaster

A roller coaster is an amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained a patent regarding roller coasters on January 20, 1885, which were made out of wood, but this patent is considerably later than the "Russian mountains" described below. In essence a specialized railroad system, a roller coaster consists of a track that rises in designed patterns, sometimes with one or more inversions (such as vertical loops) that briefly turn the rider upside down. The track does not necessarily have to be a complete circuit, as shuttle roller coasters demonstrate. Most roller coasters have multiple cars in which passengers sit and are restrained. Two or more cars hooked together are called a train. Some roller coasters, notably wild mouse roller coasters, run with single cars.

History

Russian mountain

The oldest roller coasters are believed to have originated from the so-called "Russian Mountains", which were specially-constructed hills of ice, located in an area that would later become St. Petersburg. Built in the 17th century, the slides were built to a height of between 21 and 24 m (70 and 80 feet), consisted of a 50 degree drop, and were reinforced by wooden supports.

Clapping game

A clapping game (or hand game) is a type of usually cooperative (i.e., non-competitive) game which is generally played by two players and involves clapping as a rhythmic accompaniment to a singing game or reciting of a rhyme, often nursery rhymes. Clapping games are found throughout the world and similar games may be known throughout large areas with regional variation.

Nature of the games

Due to the communication skills and coordination required, simple clapping games are age appropriate for children age 24 months and above. In many cultures clapping games are played by both sexes and all ages, but in many European and European-influenced cultures, they are largely the preserve of young girls.

Claps commonly included in patterns are clapping one's own hands, clapping both hands of a partner, and clapping one hand of a partner, generally across such as the right hand of each player. The clapping may include other activities such as thigh slapping, or a final move such as touching the ground and freezing. Sara Bernstein describes seventy-nine "basic hand-claps".

Roller coaster (disambiguation)

A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride.

It can also refer to:

Roller coasters

For roller coasters with other names, see Category:Roller coasters by name

Films

Coaster (commuter rail)

The Coaster (reporting mark SDNX) is a commuter rail service that operates in the central and northern coastal regions of San Diego County, California, United States. The service is operated by TransitAmerica Services on contract with North County Transit District (NCTD). The service has eight stops and operates primarily during weekday peak periods, with additional weekend and holiday service.

History

San Diego Northern Railway (SDNR) purchased the tracks used by Coaster from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1994. NCTD created the subsidiary San Diego Northern Railway Corporation in 1994 and dissolved it in 2002. Revenue Coaster service began February 27, 1995. Funding for right-of-way acquisition and construction costs came from TransNet, a 1987 measure that imposed a 0.5% sales tax on San Diego County residents for transportation projects. NCTD originally contracted Amtrak to provide personnel for Coaster trains. On July 1, 2006, TransitAmerica took over the day-to-day operation of the commuter train, based on a five-year, $45 million contract with SDNR. TransitAmerica is a subsidiary of Missouri-based Herzog Transit Services.

Coastal trading vessel

Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters, are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where deeper-hulled seagoing ships usually cannot.

See also

Roller

The rollers are an Old World family, Coraciidae, of near passerine birds. The group gets its name from the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform during courtship or territorial flights. Rollers resemble crows in size and build, and share the colourful appearance of kingfishers and bee-eaters, blues and pinkish or cinnamon browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one.

They are mainly insect eaters, with Eurystomus species taking their prey on the wing, and those of the genus Coracias diving from a perch to catch food items from on the ground, like giant shrikes.

Although living rollers are birds of warm climates in the Old World, fossil records show that rollers were present in North America during the Eocene. They are monogamous and nest in an unlined hole in a tree or in masonry, and lay 2–4 eggs in the tropics, 3–6 at higher latitudes. The eggs, which are white, hatch after 17–20 days, and the young remain in the nest for approximately another 30 days.