Thornhill teen's backyard rollercoaster years in the making
'I want to make people happy and this seems like a great way to do it'

YorkRegion.com
July 25, 2014
By Kim Zarzour

What kid hasn’t dreamed of a roller coaster in his backyard?

This Thornhill youth didn’t just dream of it - he built one.

Tucked behind his parents’ privacy fence, beside the backyard pool and playground set, is The Minotaur, David Chesney’s pride and joy.

The 12-foot-tall, 92-foot-long roller coaster is the top attraction these days on Chesney’s cul de sac.

The 19-year-old Queen’s University engineering student started building his personal amusement ride as a bit of a lark four years ago, never realizing it would bring him fame this summer.

When he first suggested the idea to his parents back in Grade 10, his father, an accountant, didn’t quite get why his son would want to fill up the backyard with a bunch of scrap wood and metal, and the answer was ‘no’.

But little by little, Chesney began putting his dream together anyway, first with scrap wood from a neighbour, an old treadmill, office chair and skateboard wheels.

Hampered only by his pocketbook, the sideyard fence and childhood swingset, Chesney tinkered away on a narrow stretch of grass beside the house.

He made some mistakes, figured out what he did wrong, and tinkered some more.

“I hadn’t taken physics, hadn’t done much math and I hadn’t even used a power tool before, but I started sawing and putting things together.”

He wandered around Home Depot and Canadian Tire, browsing the aisles to see what might work - a fence latch, swing set part, car battery - and used the savings from his summer job.

Finally, this summer, it all came together: a homemade, reverse incline shuttle rollercoaster that hits 13 miles per hour.

Suddenly national, and international, media began knocking on his door. Or rather, his Facebook page. Chesney recorded his project on a Facebook account he named Minotaur Coaster. TV, newspapers and even a U.S. magazine tracked him down.

His friends are eager to hop on board the local attraction, but insurance concerns mean he is the only one to take it for a spin so far.

It’s not exactly a whisper-quiet ride. The neighbours have been supportive, though. He thinks it’s because he only runs the machine during daylight hours. But it’s only a matter of time, he figures, before City of Vaughan bylaw officers take an interest.

“I don’t think I’m doing anything illegal. I looked it up and didn’t see any bylaws about roller coasters - not yet, at least.”

Chesney has had a season pass to Canada’s Wonderland for several years and even worked there one summer, getting an up-close view of how amusement rides make their magic.

“Most people who go on rides think about how much fun they’ll have, or how high it goes, but I think, how is this working? How does it stay on, what is that noise?

“They wonder if they’ll come back alive and they’re happy they do. I wonder about why they come back alive and what makes this thing go.”

As a future engineer, it’s how he has always looked at the world.

Now he’s hoping someone will take The Minotaur off his hands - the science centre, possibly. He’s not looking forward to taking it all apart, but his father is eager to get the backyard back.

Chesney sees more rollercoaster projects in his future, however, as he plans to use his engineering degree to build amusement rides.

“As an engineer I want to make people happy and this seems like a great way to do it.”