Before the monstrous death-defying roller-coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain, there was the Thompson Switchback Gravity Railroad. Mr. Thompson built first one was built at Coney Island in 1884. This one was outside the luxurious-for-the-time Arcadia Hotel in Santa Monica and carried passengers 500 feet from a Southern Pacific station across a ravine to the hotel. This seems rather tame compared to what we’re used to nowadays but at the time it must have been quite the thrill ride!