SCBB To Celebrate Giant Dipper's 85th!

And what a grand coaster it is!

...More than just a draw for tourists, the Dipper is a connoisseur's roller coaster, its famous white-and-red track still powered by the same electric motor that was running the day it debuted in the era of bootleggers, Babe Ruth and Charlie Chaplin.

The most twisted, hair-raising and scream-inducing landmark in Santa Cruz turns 85 years old this year, an anniversary that will be commemorated with a fireworks show Saturday night.

Inside the Giant Dipper's subterranean wheel room, the motor powers the ride with only half the horsepower of a Volkswagen Beetle, and the thick leather belt connecting it to the coaster is state-of-the-art 1920s technology, still going strong....

http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_1...?nclick_check=1

Seriously, one of my favorite woodens...anywhere. Even with the Morgan trains. Oh, what I wouldn't give to ride it with its original rolling stock back in the days right after it was built! And I used to delight in reading the review of the Grizzly at what is now California's Great America which compared it to the Giant Dipper, and was proudly hung in a place of honor in Giant Dipper's station!