Strange Shoot the Chute question

Here's a rather esoteric question for the more historically minded. It's about the old Shoot the Chute rides, the ones that were built in the first couple decades of the 20th century and which were the ancestors of the modern log ride.

At the top of the lift, frequently under some ornate structure like a dome or a tower, did the boats pass through a semi-circled, u-shaped channel, as the modern equivalents such Snake River Falls and others do? Or was there simply a basin up there, where an attendant might have manhandled the boats around into position for the drop?

This is a literary question. Anybody help?

There was no water at the top, other than what was being pumped up there for effect. The boats actually ran on a track untill they hit the receiving pond where they floated back to the loading point.

Thanks for the help, Dutchman, and for being so swift. That's exactly what I needed to know. :)

...In other words, very much like the Intamin version (see Kings Island, for example).

Lake Winnie's Boat Chute dispenses with any kind of turnaround at the top of the hill altogether; it just crests the lift and drops down the chute.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Wow, you're right. I guess I don't ride the old school type very often. I prefer me some water-filled fiberglass...

RideMan said:
...In other words, very much like the Intamin version (see Kings Island, for example).

Lake Winnie's Boat Chute dispenses with any kind of turnaround at the top of the hill altogether; it just crests the lift and drops down the chute.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Lake Winnie's flume was one of the most...interesting I've ever been on. I am not generally claustrophobic or worried in dark places, but I most definitely did not *like* that extended tunnel.

Some of the original chutes rides didn't use a chain lift, they employed an elevator with a turntable at the top to route the boat in the proper direction.

Dutchman said:
Some of the original chutes rides didn't use a chain lift, they employed an elevator with a turntable at the top to route the boat in the proper direction.

A turntable similar to Skull Mountain at SF America? I like that ride a lot.

Is Skull Mountain still in operation? I was lucky enough to ride it my very first trip to SFA, but it was closed during my many visits afterwards.

It was an awesome ride, with a really cool skeleton pirate theme, and a realllly long last drop!

Lake Winnie's tunnel is a test of sorts. If you're afraid of the dark, or enclosed spaces, or journeying to the very center of the Earth...you might need to steel your courage. Its uniqueness and nostalgia factors rate VERY high...but it does take (what seems like) literally forever to actually reach the ramp up...

LostKause said:
Is Skull Mountain still in operation? I was lucky enough to ride it my very first trip to SFA, but it was closed during my many visits afterwards.

It was operating last season.

I would assume nothing has changed this year, but stranger things have happened.

Cool! I thought that I read a while back that it was being removed. Probably my imagination. It's a really fun ride- Not the absolute best water ride I've been on, but maybe in the top five.

Thanks for the photo, Gonch.

Edit - Wouldn't it be awesome if SFA would build a traditional tunnel for Wild One while it was traveling through the Skull Mountain facade? They could at least paint that exposed sheet of tin the same color as the mountain to make it less conspicuous. That wouldn't cost much at all...

They could also add something black behind the drop so the Wild One couldn't be seen from inside the skulls mouth cave exit. Just an observation.

Lord Gonchar said:

LostKause said:
Is Skull Mountain still in operation? I was lucky enough to ride it my very first trip to SFA, but it was closed during my many visits afterwards.

It was operating last season.

I would assume nothing has changed this year, but stranger things have happened.

You assume correctly, Gonch. Skull Mountain was open and running (floating?) when I was there in the middle of last month. Took two rides and got soaked. One of my fave flumes.

I love that ride! It's my favorite ride in the park.
I rode it both last year and the year before, but both days it did have some downtime. I think it is one of those tempermental rides that breaks down a lot. It is an Intamin right?

KnoebelsGrandCarousel said:
I love that ride! It's my favorite ride in the park.

After Superman, mine too.