Sleigh Ride Part 2
Take a Ride !!
Loading in tandem, in a seated position. Facing South. Your feet are pushed against the front of the wooden soapbox car. A huge metal ring is places over the car for arm support. A brake is released. The Cars coast forward making a left turn over the Chutes Canal just behind the Administration building. Completing a U-turn and now facing North, your car connects to the lift hill cable and you are pulled to the top of the 20+ foot lift hill. Over the lift hill, the cars picks up speed as it careens sharply to the left at steep angle. Crossing over the Midway, the car then turns North again. Now hugging parallel to the backside of the Bobs, the cars coast at a modernly slow rate on a slowly downward graded straight away. You can watch the Bob Sled Dipper cars racing up and down and overhead. Almost close enough to touch the Bobs passengers. As the car hits the North end of the Bobs, they match up with the Chutes massive lift hill..... pause.
At this location we find two unsolved mysteries.
1. In some photos in this era we find a wooden lathe tunnel that follows up the Chutes Hill. Was this part of the Sleigh Ride? Unsure! It appears ans then disappears, but the Sleigh ride can be found without this lathe tunnel. It's purpose is still a mystery. XXX This was part of Sleigh Ride. MW
- James R Smith Collection
2. Was the Sleigh Ride cars pulled up the Chutes hill utilizing the same Chutes lifting system? We don't know the answer to this either.
..... The Sleigh Ride cars are then pulled up the Chutes Lift Hill parallel to the ascending Chute Boats. The cars following the exact route as the Chute Boats, making the U-turn at the top of the drop hill. Probably picking up a little speed as it approaches the drop. The cars then plummet down the side of the Chutes drop hill. Before reaching the bottom of the Chutes hill, the Sleigh Car slightly levels and then thrown into some camel back hills. The hills are above Midway level but parallel to the Chutes lagoon. After the camel backs the sleigh ride would have been quickly braked as is came back into the loading station. We find the same couple disembark...
The Sleigh Rides Demise
Dated 3-9-1930
We find the Bobs and Sleigh Ride!
We can see the Roof of Noahs Ark and the Sleigh Rides cross over
track. Was the Sleigh ride still in operation after the 1929 closure
of the Bobs? We don't know, but they were both still there after
the rumored 1929 demise of the Bobs.
Photo by "Private Collector" from the Western Neighborhoods Project
The demise of the Sleigh Ride is a little bit tricky to date. On April 16, 1929, it was reported that one of the Bob's cars jumped the track.. There were several injured riders, including 2 that were severe. It is said, this incident greatly disturbed John Friedle as he feared of a major lawsuit. By this time, the Whitney's owned quite a few concessions and reportedly were making more money than Friedle. Friedle quickly sold off most of his concessions to George Whitney, giving the Whitney's control of the park. Rumor has it, Whitney kinda persuaded Friedle to sell his concessions to give him control of the park. This can't be proven by historical references. Freidle's motive were driven by his fear of a lawsuit. He fled to his Homeland of Germany for a bout 2-3 years, but eventually returned in before the 'Century of Progress Car Show' at Playland in 1934. Chutes at the Beach would now become, Playland at the Beach under the Whitney brothers.
Aerial photo 1930-31. We still see the Bobs track is standing, but we can see Sleigh Ride Track is being dismantled. We can also see that the CHUTES marquee over the Midway entrance has been removed. Prepping for the new PLAYLAND signage?
-Marilyn Blaisdell Collection
But, what does the Bobs accident have to do with the Sleigh Ride? First. The Sleigh ride surrounded all sides of the North Midway. If a Bobs car jumped the track it could have damaged to the Sleigh Ride which could have lead to it's demise. Second. Whitney was no fool, he followed up by closing the Bobs and had it demolished. It has been documented that John Freidle requested the demo of the Bobs, but we know this task was followed out by the Whitney's after Freidle left town. Ironically, the Sleigh Ride's demise seems to coincide with the removal of the Bobs.
The Sleigh Ride Track is gone from the Chutes
Structure and the Drop hill of the Sleigh Ride has
been dismantled. This photo would coinside with
the aerial photo above. 1930-31. >
- James R Smith Collection
< Another Sleigh Ride Demo photo shows the track being stripped away and the lift hill mechanics removed.
-James R Smith Collection
Photographically, Post The Bob's removal there are no photos of the Sleigh Ride. It's well documented that the Bobs closed in 1929, but we have photos showing the Bobs and Sleigh ride still in place in dated photos from March of 1930. It appears the Sleigh Ride was demolished before or at the same time as the Bobs. Why the Sleigh Ride before the Bob Sled Dipper? We'll never know..... or will we?
The photo above shows a the South East corner of the Chutes Block stripped away of the Noah's Ark, The Sleigh Ride and the Bobs. I'm sure there is construction going on in that area... During the 30's, that corner saw a Ferris Wheel, a Loop-o-plane and then the Windmill village. We can just make out the old Sleigh Ride Station which will soon be converted into a Fascination Game Building. We'd have to date this 1931-33. In !934, Whitney hosts the Century of Progress car show and he would have wanted everything cleaned up by then....
We can't really conclusively close the file of the Sleigh Ride, but we've acquired a more accurate view of it's layout. It's time-line is more shored up, but still a little sketchy. We can narrow the Sleigh Rides timeline to an opening in 1926 and probable removal in 1930. Maybe we should be lucky we can find out this much information on a ride that lasted only about 4-5 years?
