Out and back roller coaster

Drop off the Comet at Hersheypark, a double out and back roller coaster.

Out and back refers to the layout of a roller coaster. An out and back coaster is one that climbs a lift hill soon after leaving the station, races out to the far end of the track after the initial drop, performs a 180 degree turn and then returns to the station. Some out and back coasters perform more complicated turns at the far end of the track.

This particular design is very popular and is easy to design and construct. With an out and back design, the hills on the way "out" usually are quite large and gradually decrease in size. The hills on the way "back" are usually "bunny hops", or small hills created to maximize air-time.

Design variants

The simplest out-and-back layout resembles a flattened oval when viewed from above. In profile, the train leaves the station (point A) and ascends the lift hill; after gaining kinetic energy from the initial drop, the train ascends a second hill to slow the train before it enters the first turn-back at the far end of the track (point B). Exiting the turn-back, the train descends the second hill to gain speed again before entering a third hill (or a braking area) to slow for a second turn-back at the near end of the track (point C) and the return to the station.

Double out-and-back

The red train of The Comet at Great Escape has ascended the first large "out" hill and is about to turn to the left to head "back"; the second "out and back" loop can be seen at a lower elevation outside the first loop.

A variation on the theme has the track traveling from the station (point A) out to the far end (point B), then returning past the station before traveling out to the far end again, and finally returning to the station. From above, the simplest double out-and-back would appear as a flattened oval spiral with a crossover for the final return to the station.

Examples of this type of ride include the venerable Comet, which was moved from Crystal Beach Park in Ontario to Great Escape at Queensbury, New York, the Phoenix at Knoebels' Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, and GhostRider at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

Triple out-and-back

These coasters travel back and forth between A and B thrice; the resulting appearance is often hard to discern from true twisters, which are usually free-form in design. An example of this type of ride is the Coney Island Cyclone.

Quadruple out-and-back and higher

While no roller coasters of this type are known, they would travel between A and B more than three times. Like triple out-and-backs, they are hard to discern from twisters, and sometimes wild mice.

Examples

Coaster	Park	Year opened	Manufacturer
American Eagle	Six Flags Great America	1981	Intamin
Apollo's Chariot	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	1999	Bolliger & Mabillard
Arkansas Twister	Magic Springs and Crystal Falls	1993	Michael Black and Associates
Behemoth	Canada's Wonderland	2008	Bolliger & Mabillard
Big One	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	1994	Arrow Dynamics
Blue Streak	Cedar Point	1964	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Boulder Dash	Lake Compounce	2000	Custom Coasters International
Cannon Ball	Lake Winnepesaukah	1967	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Cheetah	Wild Adventures	2001	Custom Coasters International
Comet	Hersheypark	1946	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
The Comet	Great Escape	1994	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Fury 325	Carowinds	2015	Bolliger & Mabillard
Giant Dipper	Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk	1924	Arthur Looff
GhostRider	Knott's Berry Farm	1998	Custom Coasters International
Goliath	La Ronde	2006	Bolliger & Mabillard
Goliath	Six Flags Over Georgia	2006	Bolliger & Mabillard
Great American Scream Machine	Six Flags Over Georgia	1973	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
High Roller	Valleyfair	1976	Rauenhorst Corporation
Intimidator	Carowinds	2010	Bolliger & Mabillard
Jack Rabbit	Seabreeze Amusement Park	1920	Harry C. Baker
Judge Roy Scream	Six Flags Over Texas	1980	William Cobb & Associates
Leviathan	Canada's Wonderland	2012	Bolliger & Mabillard
Magnum XL-200	Cedar Point	1989	Arrow Dynamics
Mamba	Worlds of Fun	1998	D. H. Morgan Manufacturing
The Mighty Canadian Minebuster	Canada's Wonderland	1981	Taft Broadcasting
Millennium Force	Cedar Point	2000	Intamin
Nitro	Six Flags Great Adventure	2001	Bolliger & Mabillard
Phoenix	Knoebels' Amusement Resort	1985	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Predator	Darien Lake	1990	Dinn Corporation
The Racer	Kings Island	1972	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Racer 75	Kings Dominion	1975	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Roller Coaster	Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach	1932	Erich Heidrich
Rollo Coaster	Idlewild Park	1938	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Screamin' Eagle	Six Flags St. Louis	1976	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Shivering Timbers	Michigan's Adventure	1998	Custom Coasters International
Tornado	Adventureland	1978	Frontier Construction Company
The Voyage	Holiday World & Splashin' Safari	2006	The Gravity Group
Wildcat	Lake Compounce	1927	Dinn Corporation
Wild Beast	Canada's Wonderland	1981	Taft Broadcasting
The Wild One	Six Flags America	1986	Dinn Corporation
Wild Thing	Valleyfair	1996	D. H. Morgan Manufacturing
Yankee Cannonball	Canobie Lake Park	1930	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters