Dipper throws a curve
Land mark wooden coaster works 12-hour days to coax riders’ shrieks
The Giant Dipper chalked up its 90th birthday this year, but the grande dame of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has no plans to retire anytime soon.
Despite a National Historic Landmark designation and 62 million riders, the iconic wooden roller coaster that soars over the Santa Cruz beachfront regularly puts in 12-hour days, often running two trains at a time.
“It’s still running at full speed; it hasn’t slowed down one bit despite its age,” says Tom Canfield, vice president of operations for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
In fact, coaster connoisseurs swear that the Dipper runs faster as the day wears on, with the final ride of the night the most thrilling of all.
“That’s the difference between a wooden and a metal coaster,” says David Lipnicky, coaster fanatic and spokesman for American Coaster Enthusiasts, during the group’s recent convention at the boardwalk. “Wood gives a different ride every time. The Dipper warms up in the afternoon, and by nighttime that thing is screaming.
“This coaster is essentially the same as itwas in the 1920s, which is a tribute to the boardwalk’s historic preservation. Other places might have a facsimile of history, but this is the real McCoy.”
Built in 1924, the Giant Dipper replaced the boardwalk’s L.A. Thompson Scenic Railway, the longest roller coaster in the United States, when it debuted in 1908. The Scenic Railway trundled along the beachfront at speeds up to 25 miles per hour, more than double the speed limit on Santa Cruz city streets at the time.
But by the 1920s the Scenic Railway seemed dated, and carousel designer Arthur Looff persuaded the boardwalk to try something more daring. Looff envisioned a thrilling new roller coaster thatwould simulate the sensations of “a combination earthquake, balloon ascension, and aero plane ride.”
The Giant Dipper, constructed in 47 days for $50,000, still lives up to that promise.
Aride on the Dipper begins with a dive into darkness, and a few disorienting dips and turns. Then a square of light appears in the distance, and the train lurches as it bites on the chain that hoists the cars, rackety-clackety, out of the darkness and slowly up the first and biggest hill.
The squeals and shrieks begin as the passengers realize there is no turning back, and the screams rise to a crescendo as the rear cars top the 70-foot peak and the free fall begins.
“It’s sowell designed,” says Lipnicky, who has ridden the Giant Dipper scores of times. “It’s got suspense, and air time, and fan curves, and lateral G-forces that fling you from side to side. It’s old-school fun that makes you feel like you’re 6 years old again.”
The Dipper’s top speed is estimated at around 46 miles per hour, a big improvement on the Scenic Railway, if not exactly record breaking.
“The number is really a guesstimate. We’ve never had it officially clocked,” says boardwalk spokeswoman Brigid Fuller. “But we don’t claim to be the fastest or the biggest coaster out there. That’s not what it’s all about for us.”
What matter are simple pleasures that endure over generations: family fun, clean ocean air and cathartic screaming in the company of friendly strangers.
Behind the scenes, the machinery that powers the Giant Dipper is clean and simple.
Tucked away in a secure building beneath the tracks, a 75-horsepower electric motor turns a sturdy leather belt— yes, cowhide— looped over a 10-foot-diameter flywheel. The flywheel drives a 520-foot lift chain that pulls the coaster trains to the top of the first hill, and gives the ride its unforgettable clacking sound. And that’s it. “The motor gets the cars to the top of the hill,” says Brian Walters, head coaster mechanic for the Beach Boardwalk. “And after that, it’s powered by nothing but gravity.”
The machinery may be basic, but maintaining a historic roller coaster is full-time work for a crewof specialists. Many replacement parts must be built on-site or be custommade by crafts people who are increasingly hard to find.
“There are may be four or five rides like this left in the U.S. and none of them is exactly the same,” Walters says " We have our own patterns for some of the parts, and we either make things ourselves or search out other people to do it for us.."
An individual wheel for a coaster car cost about $1,500 for custom casting, hardening and machining, Walters says. And when the 52-foot- long leather drive belt needs replacement, the company will have to search out a qualified lea ather smith.
“This belt was made 20 years ago,” Walters says." And I'm
pretty sure the company that made it isn’t around anymore.”
Walters heads the five-person team of mechanics that tends the boardwalk’s coasters. They keep the machinery in top condition, but themajority of their time is dedicated to safety and preventive maintenance.
Every morning the boardwalk is open, one of the Dipper’s two trains is rolled into the train shed, where Walters and his crew inspect every nut, bolt and moving part. Mechanics walk the length of the track before the first run of the day, and every two hours while the ride is in operation.
They keep an eye out for wear and tear, cracks and loose boards, aswell as the unsecured personal belongings that rain down every day— hats, phones, sweaters, keys, sunglasses.
Workers replace portions of the coaster’s structure every year with 18,000 board-feet of treated Southern yellow pine, and the entire coaster was recently repainted at a cost of $300,000.
“This ride is really very reliable,” Walters says. “We average only about four hours of down time per year, which is very low for a roller coaster.”
Over the decades, the Beach Boardwalk has built, operated and replaced dozens of carnival rides. But th eGiant Dipper has never waned in popularity and still draws the longest lines of any ride at the park.
“The future of the Giant Dipper is to do everything we can to make sure it stays for another 90 years,” says Canfield. “It truly is the heart and soul of the park.”