The 25 Oldest Roller Coasters in the World Still Running (1912-1936)

This list ranks the 25 oldest roller coasters in the world that still carry riders, by the year they opened, from the earliest survivors of the wood-and-side-friction era through the mid-1930s. Nearly every entry here has kept its original layout and structure largely intact for close to a century or more, which is a rarer feat than it sounds — most coasters built in this window were dismantled decades ago for scrap, fire damage, or simply going out of fashion.

The top spot goes to the Great Scenic Railway at Luna Park Melbourne (1912), followed by Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens (1914). After that the list is dominated by the 1920s boom, when parks across America and Britain built wooden coasters faster than they have at any time since.

The Oldest Survivor Isn’t on the List

The oldest roller coaster still standing is Leap-The-Dips (1902), built when side-friction coasters — cars that ride a shallow trough and rely on friction wheels along the sides of the track, rather than underneath it, to stay on course — were essentially the standard design being built across American amusement parks. It’s a National Historic Landmark at Lakemont Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and it’s the last surviving side-friction figure-eight roller coaster.

One caveat worth knowing if you’re planning a trip specifically to ride the oldest coaster on record: Leap-The-Dips has been standing but hasn’t run since the 2023 season, along with the rest of Lakemont Park’s rides, and preservation groups are actively pushing for a reopening. That’s why it isn’t ranked below. If you want the oldest coaster you can actually board today rather than just look at, that’s the Great Scenic Railway in Melbourne.

How ‘Oldest’ Is Measured — and What It Feels Like to Ride

Age here means opening year, not ‘unchanged since day one’ — every coaster on this list has had track boards, wheels, and safety systems replaced many times over; wood coasters simply don’t survive a century otherwise. What stays constant is the original layout and structural design, which is why riding one of these feels genuinely different from a modern coaster. Most entries already run on the underfriction and upstop wheels that let wood coasters go faster without cars jumping the track, but a few, such as the scenic railways in Melbourne, Copenhagen and Great Yarmouth, still use older side-friction cars with a brakeman aboard, which run slower and rattle more.

Some entries take that old-school feel further than others. Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, dating to 1914, still requires an onboard brakeman to control the car’s speed by hand on every ride — there’s no automated braking system at all, which is part of why it’s treated as a living piece of coaster history rather than just an old ride.

The Surprises: Same Names, Different Decades

The name ‘Jack Rabbit’ shows up twice on this list, and Rutschebanen twice more — a reminder that ride names got recycled constantly in the early amusement industry, and a shared name doesn’t mean a shared coaster. The 1920 Jack Rabbit pair is the one most enthusiasts point to as the oldest continuously operating coasters in the U.S., built weeks apart at Kennywood in Pennsylvania and Seabreeze in New York. Further down, the Coney Island Cyclone (1927) is arguably the most famous coaster here, having been rescued from demolition decades ago and kept running today by Luna Park, which operates it for its owner, the City of New York. And the twin Giant Dippers — Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (1924) and Belmont Park in San Diego (1925) — share designers (Frank Prior and Frederick Church worked on both), which is why they still look and ride like siblings today.

Explore more: Browse more roller coaster rankings.

Oldest Roller Coasters FAQs

What is the oldest roller coaster in the world?

Leap-The-Dips (1902), a National Historic Landmark at Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania, is the oldest roller coaster still standing, though it hasn’t run since 2023. The oldest one still operating is the Great Scenic Railway at Luna Park Melbourne (1912).

What is the oldest roller coaster you can still ride today?

The Great Scenic Railway at Luna Park Melbourne (1912) is the oldest in the world. The 1920 Jack Rabbit pair at Kennywood (Pennsylvania) and Seabreeze (New York) is widely cited as the oldest continuously operating in the U.S. In Europe, Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen (1914) holds that title, and still runs with an onboard brakeman controlling the speed by hand.

Are 100-year-old wooden roller coasters actually safe to ride?

Yes — the layouts are original, but the track boards, wheels, restraints, and braking systems are inspected and rebuilt on an ongoing basis, the same way any operating ride is maintained. What survives from opening day is the design and structure, not every physical board.

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.