Leap-the-Dips, Altoona, Blair County

My apologies to anyone who missed a post last week. I had entirely too much happening at one time and I just couldn't give the blog the attention it deserved. Things are a bit calmer this week, though, so let's head back to beautiful Blair County. You might remember that I was there in July to celebrate my husband Kevin's birthday. 

Kevin is a big fan of roller coasters. I am not, mostly because I'm prone to motion sickness and I also have chronic pain. But Altoona happens to be the home of the oldest roller coaster still operating in the world, and said roller coaster happens to have a historical marker, so I said "Happy birthday, dear," and off we went.

The marker stands at the entrance to
Lakemont Park at 700 Park Avenue, Altoona

The trip did not go according to plan, exactly. Leap-the-Dips, the coaster in question, wasn't running on Kevin's birthday for reasons not specified. We still had a good time, though, and Lakemont Park is a beautiful and spacious facility that I imagine must be much loved by the locals.

(I have seen the name written as both Leap-the-Dips and Leap the Dips. I'm not sure which is correct, but the marker uses the hyphenated version, so that's what I'm using.)

Now, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that the first roller coaster in the world was the Switchback Railroad in Carbon County. It of course was not what we think of a roller coaster as being today, but it was the original forerunner. From that phenomenon, other designers around the world began trying their hand at replicating the experience. These rides were often known as 'toboggan slides,' since the nature of the thrill somewhat resembled a toboggan ride down a snowy hillside; they were also, like their forefather, known as 'gravity railroads.'

A ride actually called the Gravity Railroad was constructed at Lakemont Park, an amusement park in Altoona which opened in 1894. The exact year in which the coaster opened is unknown, but it operated until 1901, when it was destroyed by a fire. Following the disaster, Lakemont's owners decided to expand the property, and contracted with E. Joy Morris, a manufacturer of amusement rides in Philadelphia. They crafted a magnificent carousel, which is sadly no longer standing, and a state-of-the-art coaster to replace the Gravity Railroad. Originally known simply as the Figure 8, it was - and is - a wooden side-friction roller coaster. The ride only lasted a single minute, but was nevertheless a hit with park visitors. In 1910, the track was extended to make the experience last longer, and the coaster was renamed Leap-the-Dips.

Both park and coaster suffered a number of hits during its first century of operation. From the Great Depression causing attendance to drop to a 1936 flood submerging the entire property, Lakemont sometimes struggled to keep its gates open. But they always bounced back, and the atmosphere remained unchanged from its origins prior to World War I, a fact which attracted and charmed Smithsonian Institution representative Richard Flint when he visited in 1982. 

Unfortunately, just three years later, the park owners were facing hard times, and accepted an offer to buy the property. The new owners, the Boyer Bros. Candy Company, were trying to replicate the success of Hersheypark, and renamed their venture Boyertown. They redesigned the entire park and decommissioned the beloved Leap-the-Dips, declaring it too expensive to maintain, though at least they couldn't be bothered to have it torn down. But Boyertown at its best was not as successful as Lakemont at its worst. People were put off by all of the changes and also by the extreme price increases, and in 1988, the failing park was sold back to its previous owner, Ralph Albarano. He promised he would restore Lakemont back to its traditional, affordable roots.

Leap-the-Dips remained non-operational, but there was a light at the end of its tunnel. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, and named a National Historic Landmark in 1996, so it could not be torn down. A now-defunct non-profit group, the Leap-the-Dips Preservation Association, launched a massive fundraising operation and collected enough money to hire P. Joseph Lehman, Inc., a consulting engineering firm, to restore the ailing monument. Because Leap-the-Dips was originally built over a natural spring, the wooden supports rotted over the years due to moisture. Fortunately, the engineers worked out a plan, and through the use of both modern equipment and by-hand carpentry as had been used in its original construction, they were able to restore the entire structure, including the station house, motor house, and car shed. More than 70% of the original virgin lumber was used, keeping the coaster as authentically original as possible. The renovated Leap-the-Dips reopened on Memorial Day 1999, and has been in operation ever since, with the exception of the 2019 park season when it was refurbished. 

The design of Leap-the-Dips is, by today's standards, rather simplistic. A double-seater car is loaded with up to four passengers, and the chains carry it to the top of a hill. From there, the car coasts almost leisurely (though quickly) down a succession of small inclines, landing rather gently at the bottom. The nature of the design allows for a smooth ride. There are several spots where the track dips underneath itself, giving the attraction its name. When it was built, it was one of about 250 side-friction wooden coasters in existence. Today, it's the only one left, and at more than 120 years old, it is the single oldest roller coaster still operating in the entire world. And it's ours - another Pennsylvania treasure.

If you get the chance to visit Lakemont Park, definitely give Leap-the-Dips a try. But if you can't get to Altoona any time soon, try a virtual ride! In this video, the good folks at CoasterForce share the experience with us. 

---

Sources and Further Reading:

Official website of Lakemont Park

Fornwalt, Todd W. "Leap-the-Dips: A Thrill From the Past." Originally published by Penn State University, Fall 2010; now available through internet archives.

The Leap-the-Dips restoration details at the official website of Lehman Engineers

The National Historic Landmark application for Leap-the-Dips

Leap-the-Dips at the American Coaster Enthusiasts

Leap-the-Dips at the Historical Marker Database

---

Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.