Leap-the-Dips Roller Coaster

The early period of the roller coaster, from the appearance of the first commercial coaster at Coney Island in 1884 through the World War I era, was dominated by two technologies: Scenic Railways and Side-Frictions.  

Scenic Railways were essentially miniature railways with flanged-wheeled cars running on narrow gauge tracks. Most Scenic Railways had brakemen riding the cars to control the speed of the trains, especially on curves. Many of the rides were constructed fully or partially within buildings, artificial mountains, and other structures housing elaborate scenery, giving rise to the generic term “Scenic Railway”. Side-Friction coasters employed cars with two sets of non-flanged wheels. One set of wheels supported the weight of the cars while the other set, called friction wheels, were mounted vertically on the sides of the cars and ran against sideboards mounted on each side of the track, steering the cars on their course. The arrangement gave the appearance of the cars running in a shallow trough. By eliminating concerns of derailment and overturning, Side-Frictions could operate without brakemen and could run at higher speeds, especially on curves. 

There were two general types of Side-Frictions: Figure Eights and Non-Figure Eights. The Figure Eight consisted of a gradually descending profile in a multi-layer figure eight plan with the track crossing under itself in the middle several times during the descent. The manufacturer used the term “Toboggan Slide” as a generic name for these rides, but many parks applied their own name. The Figure Eight was very popular and became a standard fixture in parks across the country and in many other parts of the world during the first two decades of the twentieth century. The Figure Eight was patented by Edward Joy Morris in 1894. Born in 1860 in Philadelphia, Morris was an earlier builder and operator of both roller coasters and carousels. In 1895, following his patent for a Figure Eight Toboggan Slide, Morris received a patent for an “Inclined Railway and Water Tobogganing Apparatus”, an early chute ride in which boats declined down an incline into a body of water. Morris was the designer and builder of a chute and a toboggan at Willow Grove Park which opened near Philadelphia in 1896. 

Morris was sued for his chute device by Mr. Paul Boyton who had erected a similar chute ride at Coney Island. The lawsuit was dismissed by a circuit court in 1897, and Morris began installing additional chutes as well as toboggan slides (Figure Eights). Morris’s office was located at 902 Walnut Street in Philadelphia, and the factory was located at 1416-1420 Callowhill Street in Philadelphia. In 1896, Morris’s three brothers joined him as salesmen of the chute patent franchise. The name of the firm was the Morris Chute Company. The Morris Chute Company also began building carousels with the first carousel delivered in 1899 for Chesnut Hill Park in Philadelphia.  

In the years following World War I, the Scenic Railways and the Side-Friction coasters, both Figure Eights and Non-Figure Eight, were rapidly supplanted by coasters employing the newly developed under-friction system with safety wheels which made possible the far more intensely thrilling designs typical of the 1920s. This third type of technology placed the friction or guide wheels below the car to run against the sides of deep rails constructed of a stack of several layers of wood, with the boards in some layers wider than others. It also featured an additional set of safety wheels which ride beneath a ledge or lip formed by the wider boards in the stack, thus locking the trains to the track. The under-friction/safety wheel system is the standard technology used for wooden coasters to this day.  

Leap-the-Dips, constructed in 1902, operated through the 1985 season after which the Lakemont Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania changed ownership and was substantially re-developed. The entire ride is fully intact. The Leap-the-Dips Preservation Foundation, Inc. has been founded for the purpose of raising funds to restore and operate the coaster. The Foundation has leased the ride from Blair County, Pennsylvania and has full responsibility for it. Leap-the-Dips is the only known remaining Side-Friction Figure Eight roller coaster in North America and it is believed to be the last of its kind in the world. It is also the oldest known standing roller coaster in North America and is believed to be the oldest standing roller coaster in the world. Leap-the-Dips is the sole surviving representative of a very important period in the history of the roller coaster and the amusement park. 

Accessed January 5th 2021. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994129.