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"The Giant Dipper is a historic wooden roller coaster located at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. It took 47 days to build at a cost of $50,000. It opened on May 17, 1924, and replaced the Thompson's Scenic Railway. With a height of 70 feet (21 m) and a speed of 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), it is one of the most popular wooden roller coasters in the world. As of 2012, over 60 million people have ridden the Giant Dipper since its opening. The ride has received several awards such as being named a National Historic Landmark, a Golden Age Coaster award, and a Coaster Landmark award; it has been ranked annually in Mitch Hawker's Best Wooden roller coaster poll.
History
The Thompson's Scenic Railway was built on the site of Giant Dipper in 1908 as the longest roller coaster in the United States. In October 1923, manager R.L. Cardiff and Walter Loof began negotiations to build a new ride to replace the Scenic Railway. The price was set at $50,000, $15,000 more than the Scenic Railway. In January 1924, the permit to build the Giant Dipper was granted to Arthur Loof. He wanted to create a ride that had "the thrill of a plunge down a mine shaft, a balloon ascent, a parachute jump, airplane acrobatics, a cyclone, a toboggan ride, and a ship in a storm." The Scenic Railway began to be demolished in January 1924 to make room for the Giant Dipper. It took 5 months to demolish the Scenic Railway and construct the Giant Dipper. The actual construction of the Giant Dipper took 47 days. The ride opened to the public for the first time on May 17, 1924. The ride had a few incidents over the years in which three people have died.
In 1974, the ride received a new coat of paint with Victorian-style architecture around the station. In the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Giant Dipper was almost completely untouched. The ride was closed for about a month to be inspected. The park held a benefit for victims of the earthquake. In 2002, the ride celebrated its 50 millionth rider.[6] Ten years after the 50 millionth rider, the park celebrated the Giant Dipper's 60 millionth rider on July 27, 2012. The park gave out trivia coasters leading up to the event. The 24 riders that were on the train when it hit 60 million riders received a hoodie among other prizes.
The Giant Dipper was built by Arthur Looff and designed by Frederick Church. It required 327,000 feet (100,000 m) of lumber, 743,000 nails, and 24,000 bolts to construct. The lumber was provided by Homer T. Maynard Lumber, and the 70 horsepower motor, which is still used today, was provided by Santa Cruz Electric. The concrete was done by T.F. Costello, and the steel work was done by Berger and Carter."