By the 1930s, the popularity of the automobile and onset of the Great Depression resulted in the closure of the Switchback, and the last car descended the hill in 1933. The railroad was sold for scrap in 1937.

The original Switchback Railway at Coney Island, which opened on June 16, 1884, was a very short-lived attraction. While its exact closing date is not documented as a major event, historians generally agree that it operated for only a few seasons—likely closing or being replaced by 1885 or 1886. Its rapid closure was due to the "roller coaster arms race" it sparked; within just a year, more advanced designs like the "Serpentine Railway" (an oval-circuit coaster) and Phillip Hinkle’s "Gravity Pleasure" (which featured forward-facing seats and a mechanical lift) made the original Switchback’s manual operation obsolete. On the original ride, passengers had to climb a tower, ride 600 feet, get out while attendants pushed the car to another track, and then climb another tower to ride back. By 1886, the inventor LaMarcus Thompson had already moved on to designing "Scenic Railways" with dark tunnels, rendering the original 5-cent thrill ride a piece of rapid-fire amusement history.