LEAP THE DIPS - Lakemont Park
The station.
Here one of 10 cars climbs the lift! Note the long green boards as anti-rollbacks!
The maze of lumber from the figure 8.
Here four riders are almost home as they complete the last 2 dips!
A view from the station shows a car on the transfer track, as others line up in the shed behind it.
Looking up through 3 layers of track.
Another angle
This sign stands at the park's entrance, letting everyone know about the treasure inside the gate.
DONATIONS ARE STILL NEEDED! With your help the debt from restoring this coaster can be paid back! Plus you get your name on a plaque which is mounted to the fence surrounding the coaster! For more info, click HERE. Thanks!
Side Friction--Built 1902 by Edward Joy Morris. It is the last figure 8 coaster in the US and is recognized as the oldest operating roller coaster in the world.
Another complete shock to me, Leap The Dips is not only nostalgic, but DARN GOOD! It is one of the most attractive rides anywhere, and certainly doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the park (or should that be the other way around!). After a lift height of 41', this coaster takes you on a 1 minute journey through 8 dips of varying degrees. One is a whopping 10' long! But don't laugh...this is a Side Friction coaster, which means the car sits right down on the rails, and bounces around along the inside rails as it putters along. These early coasters were built before the patented upstop wheels, so they can (and do) lift right off the track! You can feel the cars jump a good inch or two, depending on the weight. There is a sad note to this, however. By the early 80's Leap The Dips had become in such disarray that it was closed for good in 1985. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were needed to restore the coaster to a decent state of repair. Fortunately, everyone and their mother stepped in, and donated time and money for the repairs. In 1997 a local carpenter was hired to rebuild it, and this glorious piece of amusement history was once again brought to life. It re-opened on Memorial Day, 1999. If you are on I-99 driving through Altoona, you won't want to miss the chance to ride it! Admission is cheap, and the Skyliner coaster is easily seen from the highway. Only one other operating side friction is known to exist overseas.
Be sure to download my RCT creation of Leap The Dips for your park! Go HERE
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All images copyright Brad Sherman unless noted otherwise. Logos copyright their respective sources.