On a Big Roll : Opening of Giant Dipper Draws Crowds to Mission Beach

Hundreds of people lined up under hazy skies Saturday morning in Belmont Park to buy a $2 ticket for their seat on the 65-year-old Giant Dipper roller coaster, which many thought would never leave its station house after it was derailed in 1976 and threatened with demolition.

The grand re-opening of the wooden coaster, which was built in 1925, almost went off without a hitch until a minor brake adjustment shut the coaster down for about an hour, leaving some people stranded in line while others left to return another day.

But coaster officials said the adjustment was routine and riders were not in danger.

“It’s fine,” said Tim Cole, assistant manager of the San Diego Seaside Co., the people responsible for the $1.2-million coaster restoration. “Like with all new rides, you’ve got to allow a little break-in period.”

But when officials got the coaster running again shortly before 1 p.m., the shrieks of people being whipped around a half-mile of track at top speeds of 45 m.p.h. filled the air. Many of the people milling around the Belmont Park shops scrambled to get back in line for their shot at a two-minute, hair-raising ride. The first 500 people got a complimentary certificate commemorating their ride on the Giant Dipper’s inaugural day.

The patience of Louis Lopez of San Diego, who waited out the repair work, paid off because he got a seat in the front car.

“It was a great time and it was worth the wait,” said the 31-year-old Lopez, who hasn’t ridden the Giant Dipper since he was about 8.

The influx of people to Mission Beach for the coaster’s opening and a volleyball tournament forced police to restrict traffic in the area until Saturday evening.

“All the parking lots are full,” said Sgt. Charles Hogquist of the San Diego Police Department. “It’s really jam packed with traffic.”

The coaster was initially scheduled to open Tuesday but a faulty sprocket derailed plans. During the coaster’s restoration, officials decided not to replace one of the four original sprockets that turn the chain that pulls the cars up a 71-foot-hill, and during final testing a few teeth on the sprocket chipped.

But one of the three new sprockets was adapted to replace the faulty one and another new sprocket was made. Both were installed late this week, said Dana Morgan, vice president of San Diego Seaside Co.

With its new hardware in place, the Giant Dipper rolled out of the station house about 10:30 a.m. Saturday carrying a load of invited guests on the inaugural ride.

On that train was 81-year-old Les Hamm of Santee, who rode the coaster on its inaugural day back on the Fourth of July, 1925, when he was 16. It’s the only roller coaster he’s ever ridden.

“I remember it this way,” said Hamm, trying to catch his breath after he got off the ride. “It was well worth waiting for.”

Because of a lease dispute with the city, the Giant Dipper has been stationary since 1976 and faced the threat of demolition as late as 1982. But a volunteer army of roller-coaster buffs, calling themselves the Save the Coaster Committee, won a three-year lease on the land from the city and were given a chance to renovate the structure at West Mission Bay Drive and Mission Boulevard.

But a passion for roller coasters and a desire to ward off the wrecking ball weren’t enough to keep paying the bills, so the city suggested the group get some help.

A Northern California-based roller-coaster operator, the Santa Cruz Seaside Co., formed a joint venture with an amusement-equipment manufacturer to get a 31-year lease from the city to manage the ride. After a 1987 inspection of the coaster, the San Diego Seaside Co. was established and major restoration work started.

All of the track has been replaced, along with all 28,973 bolts and much of the Douglas fir framework. The coaster also sports a new set of signature colors with a pink track, white framework, and a green, 24-seat steel and fiberglass train of cars.

What the Giant Dipper might lack in speed and height compared with today’s metal, high-tech contraptions it makes up for in history.

During a ceremony July 4, the coaster claimed its spot in history along with such landmarks as Mission San Diego de Alcala and the Hotel de Coronado when it was designated a national historic landmark by the National Park Service.

The Belmont Park Giant Dipper and another Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz, operated by the Santa Cruz Seaside Co., are the only two seaside coasters in the West.

Rich Plechner, who recently moved from San Diego to Ashland, Ore., camped out overnight at Belmont Park so he could be the first paying customer to ride the coaster.

“To miss one of the great events in San Diego would be ridiculous,” the 27-year-old Plechner said. “The mystique and the ambience of the whole area creates a certain exhilaration before you even get on the ride.”

The coaster will run during the summer from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., except Fridays and Saturdays, when it will stay open until 11 p.m.