Three MIT mechanical engineering juniors – Ben Katz, Jaguar Kristeller, and Wesley Lau – spent one week building a working wooden roller coaster, named the “East Campus Roller Coaster”, for a rush week celebration. Incoming freshmen are invited to ride the coaster strapped into a small buggy. Katz says, “In total I’d estimate around 400 people were able to ride the roller coaster between Sunday night and Thursday afternoon, when we closed it down.” Continue reading to see it in-action.
Katz also adds: “Once the plywood track had been laid down, we slowly rolled the cart along the track, so make sure it traveled smoothly, then we did an unmanned test run with an empty cart, followed by a test run with 150 lbs of sand in the cart. Then I got to go. This was my first time riding a roller coaster of any kind. It was awesome. Unfortunately, we had to scrap the loop.”
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