Track-supported playground shuttle

A playground shuttle device comprising:

• a track having an upper surface and a lower surface;
• a support structure connected to and supporting the track;
• a shuttle having a housing defining a chamber through which the track traverses and a transport assembly carried by the housing within the chamber, the transport assembly including a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted thereto and positioned so as to ride along the upper surface of the track;
• and
• a brake assembly carried by the transport assembly and operably connected thereto by a biasing element, the brake assembly including two brake elements spaced from one another and engagable with the track, said braking elements being adjacent to opposite end portions of the shuttle, the brake assembly being movable relative to the transport assembly between a brake position wherein the brake elements engage the track and a free-roll position wherein the brake elements are disengaged from the track,
• wherein a force applied to the brake assembly against the biasing element disengages the brake elements from the track to move the shuttle to the free-roll position and wherein removal of the force from the brake assembly engages the brake elements with the track to move the shuttle to the brake position.