Shoot the Chutes: Hidden Mysteries (Part 2)
(Left) Here's the Chutes Ticket Box and original Loading Area, found between the Playland Arcade on The Midway and Fascination Building. We find a large sign that states "Shoot the Chutes" ... 'Longest most Thrilling Water Ride in the World!' Leave it to the Whitney's to push the excitement... The entrance to the Chutes. In the distance we see people on stairs and standing at a higher docking level. (right) Top of the dock shows the loading area in photo foreground.
Around the time the Windmill and Waterfall added (1940ish), the Chutes moved the loading area to the old Noah's Ark Area.
These photos show the SECOND CHutes Loading area. NORTH of the Fascination building in the area of the old Noah's Ark bridge area.. We've found the Chute's Second Loading area! Across the canal we find the Chutes Dry Dock. If you look close, you'll see second canal, probably used for repairing Boats. I would bet that canal leads back onto the main canal just past the Loading Area. But how did this loading area work?
(John Bosko & Marilyn Blaisdell Collections)
This may look familiar to those of us who still enjoy Water Flume Rides. Whether you're at Knott's Berry Farm, Disneyland, Great American, etc..... This is the same mechanics that moved the Chutes Boats, as well as, todays flume rides. It's a basic water conveyor belt. It worked the same way then, as now. The boat rides up onto the conveyor and is pulled along. It can be stopped, so passengers can load and then dump ya back into the water... This is the patent for the water flume conveyor, dated 1902!
Since talking about the Mechanical Parts of the CHutes! How about this one!? The massive pulley used to haul the Chute Boats up the Lift Hill. This is obviously in the ground breaking stages of building the Chutes/Bob Sled Dipper. I'm willing to bet the guy on the LEFT is John Freidle, but the guy on the Right doesn't look like Arthur Looff? 1920-21.
Have we covered all the Mytseries? The photo above pretty much wraps up what this article discussed. A 1938 Rumsey Aerial photo fully labeling the South East corner of the Chutes Lot.....
On our Facebook Playland Group, we recently acquired a FIRST HAND account (memory) of the Chutes experience. C Dell Lindstrom of Minden, Nevada, shared this memory:
"After boarding the boat we (I think) floated over to a track with a chain hoist running between the side rails. Somehow the boat latched onto the chain and we went up a very short lift hill...perhaps only about 10-15 ft. The track leveled off and immediately there was a 90 degree right turn. Shortly thereafter, we plunged down into a tunnel which had another 90 degree turn. It was DARK. Afterwards we contacted the bottom of the long lift hill and engaged the lift mechanism. We climbed to the top of the lift hill, let go of the lift chain or whatever it was, coasted around those two curves and then....wheeeee. Down we went on that track. At the bottom of the track there was a slight uplift and then we were airborne. A big splash ensued as we hit the water. We floated over to where some of us soaked "passengers" disembarked. I hope this description is helpful. At least that is my memory of riding the Chutes."
BUT! There's one burning question that everyone of you Playlanders want to know.... Where does all that lagoon water come from??? The park had an ongoing contract with the Olympic Saltwater Company to have the Olympic Pumphouse pum ocean water into the Lagoon when needed. Of Course, the Pumphouse was on site on the Great Highway and was connected to the Lurline Pier Pipeline. Convenient! The lagoon could also be drained the opposite direction.
The Olympic Saltwater Pumphouse had been onsite on Ocean Beach since 1894. Shown above, we can see it's smokestack and round pumphouse. BTW, this is 1914 and we can see Looff's Hippodrome being built in preparation for the Merry-go-round. BUT.... these are all subjects for other articles...
