One of the first “roller-coaster” rides in the U.S. was actually a short coal railway in Pennsylvania that hauled coal downhill between mines and used mules to bring the empty cars back up the hill.

Woodworker extraordinaire [Matthais] was approached by a toy company to create a ‘marble run’ toy. [Matthais]’ jig-building skills are beyond reproach, so whipping up a prototype for this toy was ...