Musical Pete

Beautiful is the only word. Such a shame we don't have the right patrons over in the UK for this type of machine. Our chavs only want high, fast, [cheap] looping steel tracks and puke-inducing flats. We've gotta ban those tits and attract cultured, classy foriegn custom!

Jesus Titty-F00ing Christ - that's so good it's going straight on Facebook!

Amanda is fantastic. She's refurbished the Casino building, Derby Racer and Noah's Ark just this last year, and the wood coasters have seen more repair in the last two years than they'd seen in the previous ten. She's also brought a classy deco style back to the park that her grandfather let lapse in his later years and which her father took very little notice of, turning the place into a shabby mess - the same father who caused major problems for his once great signature park by wasting money buying out and refurbishing three other parks in a declining market, only to lose out on two in his lifetime, and with the potential to lose even more by expanding his company's last standing sister park (Pleasureland, ofcourse). In a very sad way it's a benefit that he wasn't around quite long enough to realise his expansion of Pleasureland, as the market just wasn't there and the PB would suffer even more because of it. I won't mention sources, I won't mention figures. However, PB finances are in a bad way because of the late great Geoffrey Thompson and his whims - a man I met, a man whose private railway I visited and enjoyed for several years, a man who'd always have time to chat with likeminded people:- enthusiasts (he was one of the biggest himself, to his great misfortune). I was talking to him once when he felt genuinely annoyed that he had to leave to go to talk with the local mayor who'd just turned up, as he liked parks and rides (particularly old ones) on the same level as us and loved talking about them - and that was his great unfortunate flaw. His heart led him many times when his head should've taken the lead. Fantastic old-school showman; poor modern businessman - the reality like it or not. Now the chap's daughter is at the helm. She does not share her late father's enthusiasm for all things old and unique whatever their cost. What she DOES realise is the true value of her assets, she appears to be cleverer within the market. It's such a simple game:- attractions get built, they're popular; they grow old and popularity either stays the same or decreases. Derby Racer is very popular as is Noah's Ark, hence their continuation and recent refurbishment. Whip, Turtle Chase, Vikangar and even the Log Flume (which was irrepairable) lost popularity to the point where their operation ceased being profitable, even in her father's time - and if a ride stops paying for itself then you have some serious questions and a decision to make. Can you do anything to bring back its popularity (sadly, very rarely not)? Therefor does it stay or does it go? Only a rose-tinted fool choses 'stay'. It's the way of the world. And within our world, there's so much diversity - a ride that is popular in America may have lost all credibility for customers in Britain. That's the clincher - we are enthusiasts. Parks generally like us, they welcome us with open arms. However, we earn very little revunue for them, and they often even give us freebies and discounts ontop. The regular, non enthusiast public are the big fish, and us enthusiasts aren't even mere tadpoles. So does it makes sense to keep rides running just for us, when the public don't care or pay for them anymore...? I love Kennywood and Knoebels, most of my favourite rides are pre 1950s/60s. I loved the vintage rides that the Pleasure Beach has lost during my time. I loved the fated sister parks - Frontierland was my favourite as a kid and Pleasureland was a lovely place. But I also love the reality that life changes, progress happens and things stay fresh and new so therefor survive. We'd never have had the Big Dipper if the old Switchback hadn't made way for it on the beach (the Irish Sea lapped up against the Switchback, then with the Dipper came a vast reclaimed promenade in the 1920s - the Big One sits where the sea washed the sand less than a century ago), we'd never have had the fantastic Grand National if the Scenic Railway hadn't made way for it in the 30s. Grand Prix, Revolution and Avalanche would never have come if the ponies had carried on plying their trade up and down the vast sandy field that the south half of the park once was. I could go on but I've got much more important things to be doing. Pleasure Beach is my favourite park tied with Liseberg, and I'm preparing for my weekend at the latter. The parks are both great, but Blackpool the town isn't a patch on the city of Gothenburg, and the people aren't a patch on the Swedes either. See what Amanda's up against? - the climate for amusement parks in the UK is very different to how it once was due to our society becoming very different. Different to the rest of Europe, different to the US, different to the rest of the world. Amanda and her team have to do what's necessary for the Pleasure Beach to survive today and tomorrow, not yesterday - and if that's doing things that upset enthusiasts then so well damn be it, if those same things make the public happy and bring the trade in - that's what counts. Sadly, enthusiasts are largely blind to this. Which member of the normal general public is going to go to Alton Towers "to ride a new Intamin or B&M" when they have no idea where rides come from and that they differ technically in many ways? To them Infusion is 'a Nemesis in Blackpool'. That's what the public see, and that's why it's been a great investment as it's raking the punters in. Traumatizer should always have come straight to Blackpool, whether as that, Infusion, or some other guise. Instead it wasted vast resources being installed at a park that was already sucking life out of the Pleasure Beach because it could not earn its own keep. And to that end, I will leave this here after just one more remark:- give 'new Pleasureland' a couple of years and the place will be deserted once more, but that's nothing PB related and is another topic...

My tone? This is the real world. Grow up mate, grow up! You're one of those 'enthusiasts' who moans about everything then eh... think about that long and hard... while you're breaking park rules at the same time. If I find out who you are, you're not entering PB ever again. A quick message to my ops mangement friends is all it takes... DON't be a dick. Dick isn't even harsh enough, it's actually rather flippant, and I'm being dead serious, NOT flippant. I'm positively Infused. Anybody else?... Don't get me started on copyright technicalities. They own the rights, they can give permission to TV people. You do not have permission. The ride is private property, not yours, understand that concept? Signs, yeah, if a sign doesn't say... use some common sense. Society today is in the litigious compensation mess because people stopped using common sense and thought that they can do something if it's said nowhere that they can't. It's called using your brain - we're humans, we're a clever species. We can think for ourselves, we don't need signs for every last little thing. Sadly, due to idiots like you in every walk of life, more signs will appear here there and everywhere and the whole sordid mess will continue to spiral into anarchy - the breakdown of society. Use your damn brain, properly.

Are you a stupid tit or just a great actor...? Infusion is 100% Traumatizer with bits added - water effects etc, and the odd support modification. Track is the same, trains are the same but refurbed. As said previously, the 'extra' piece of track is old PMBO track, used for Traumatizer's sign (Spin Doctor did the same). It was likely used as a paint sample. The real 'stupid tit' bit comes in when you brag about filming onride. Now, I used to do it, I'm sure most of us did. But there's always been very valid reasons for parks to prohibit it and some of us see this and have changed our ways. ONE - think of the park you 'love' - you let go of your camera, it smacks someone on the head, the PARK is in trouble, not you. That's unfortunately how the system works - they can't help this, they simply have to prevent people doing stupid things as best they can. If there's incident, THEY get the rap, you maybe just get banned from the park while they pay out compensation and have their insurance premiums bumped up. Don't be a dick. If I'm there and I see you, you're not getting away without being banned from the park. I grassed on an idiot who filmed on the Grand National recently, he was told to put his camera in his bag and keep it between his feet during the ride. He didn't, he got it out and filmed once out of staff view. I told staff when we arrived back in the station, and that tit isn't coming back. TWO - getting hit by a camera, or just a tiny mobile phone is just NOT nice on a high speed ride. THREE - there's actually copyright issues you know. Remember, they own the damn rides and all the rights to them. You are just lucky enough to be allowed to enjoy them, you don't own any part of them or any rights to them. Use your brain (properly, for a change)and DON'T BE A DICK. As for Infusion - I couldn't applaud the park more for what they've achieved with a bog-standard issue, second hand ride. They're in trouble, Pleasureland was in trouble so they let go nomatter how hard it was (trust me, BPB Ltd are real people too you know, they have feelings like the rest of us and are in the job for what it does for customers i.e fun and happiness, escapism... they're not in it to make loads of money - there's sod all money coming in, trust me!). They literally can't afford brand new fancy B&Ms or Intamin rockets or whatever. In this case, what they've achieved with what they had to hand is bloody fantastic, and it's transformed that part of the park from dingy dirty knackered flume area, to bright, fresh & funky Infusion. I love it.

Since woodies require close daily inspection involving a full trackwalk, the rails have to be there for safety (it's VERY rare for a steel coaster to be similarly walked, hence the lack of rails and walkways). Regulations vary from country to country, state to state etc but handrail or technically 'ballustrade' height is set at around 42" by most building regulatory bodies today. Also, some areas stipulate intermediate gaurd rails and toe boards too - a rail halfway down (often substituted by a cable, also used to clip onto) and another at the bottom - this has become pretty much standard practice for pathways and stairways etc, and naturally applies to wood coasters. Structural width is an issue too, barely ever mentioned. Woodies right up until the 1980s tended to have bents/trestles with legs set to 8' centres, causing the possibility of your hand striking structure if you extend it out sideways. Handrail height varied while the 8' bents stayed pretty much unchanged, until the late 80s when new builds were typically made with 9' leg centres. That's why modern woodies get away with smaller, more open cars while older ones tend to have gaurds fitted to their cars to prevent you sticking your arm out the side far enough to break your fingers. Blackpool Pleasure Beach (as then) rebuilt their 1980 Grand National & Big Dipper PTC cars with 6" taller bodywork in 1988 partly to counteract this problem. As an aside, it was also done to make people feel safer with the thigh cracking airtime those coasters give (before lapbars you genuinely had to hold on, my friend and housemate Beck was held down by her collar by her dad as a kid, and your seat on occasion broke as you slammed back down from 8" above) - funny that those designs were so simple, built via guesswork with barely any dynamic calculation, were also built quite poorly and even to this day have no true foundations (wooden footing plates in the sand is all they have, no hint of concrete - the odd one or two even sit right ontop of the ground rather than within - they've got away with it for over 70 years since they're not too high, although the late Pleasureland Cyclone did lose its lift and first drop in the 60s due to a strong wind!), but give arguably some of the best pure shake, rattle & rolling coaster rides in comparison to a lot of mediocre, big, fast but dull modern equivalents. Anyway, building regulations ensuring staff, and on rare occasion public safety (those rare evacuations once every few years), is the reason for the handrails existence and their increased size. PTC used to build with 30" rails and John Allen carried this on into the 70s. With the exception of Skyliner (which appears to have structure even narrower than 8' and handrails closer to 24" high), the remaining Allen coasters have had their rails raised up to a foot (exact amount depending on local building regs). The only one to have its rails widened to 9' centres however is Starliner - they're chopping the legs at ledger level and bolting taller versions to the outside of the old legs. Trouble is with pre existing coasters using the 8' leg centres, the track would have to be shifted across 6' where it runs beside its own structure, such as small return hills up against big out hills on an out & back design. In Starliner's case since it's effectively a new build, they're just widening out the ledgers on the return run to set the track the right distance from the legs. Another anyway: ...I'm now off.

I was there this weekend. Here's some unremarkable shots from Sunday:

It's not closing - it closed two days ago! I was only just there on Saturday - good job.

For anyone who knows me this is predictable, but it's Grand National for me (and I've been further afield than Blackpool - 235 coasters so far). It's small compared to your silly huge US coasters (which I've ridden a lot of) but the airtime is superb, with a lovely rocketting feeling you just don't get from modern coasters. You can feel the track oscillate as the cars slam into the bottom of the double drop. You're flying for a heavenly couple of seconds then you're hilariously bouncing up toward the sky. No nasty stiff track with jarring vibration here - instead it's correctly ductile, greased and well maintained. Something America just doesn't seem to 'get'! Weeeeeeee FLYYYYY SLAM BOUNCE - nothing else like it. It's perfect hand-drawn circular 30s coaster magic - no precise CAD ledger plotting, no docile parabolic arcs. Only problem is PTC going wimpy with lapbar springs - the first drop of immense fun has become the first drop of painful pinning. I make sure to hold the bar up with both hands which results in a lovely ride, sometimes better than ever before, sacrifing hands up in the process.

Well here's me driving mine..

But where's the donkey?..

Shockwave, SFOG six weeks ago.

Ah, the old 8ft bents. There's a reason CCI brought a new standard at 9' wide (I think Stengel/Intamin have gone even further at 3m with the prefabs, which is just under 9'10").. though 8' looks much better (i.e 1920s to 80s.. coasters of that period are better regardless). Just don't stick your arms out sideways!

Nash is still playing up? I was under the impression it had improved but I've not been for quite a while. Its computers like to freak out and shut the system down.. we all look forward to Roller Coaster and Big Dipper going the same way don't we! Don't take Roller Coaster's platform for granted.. it might not be that way much longer. Health & safety rules, bitch! Yeah.. We're so lucky our society has been influenced by America - showing us the insane dangers of life and letting us know we can get compensation for suffering a scratch. Thanks!

My understanding is this: By making you go around, there can be no doubt that you are agreeing to go again, and are in a proper state of mind to consciously make that decision. If that sounds a bit extreme...well, it is. But here's a hypothetical: You go on the ride and have a stroke (or something). When the train comes back in, you're conscious, but you make no move to get out. The op asks if you want to go again, and you either answer yes (not really understanding where you are or what's going on), or you make some noise (or say nothing) and the op takes it as acquiescence. Perhaps an unlikely occurence...but it only takes one. No wonder our world is going to pot with stupid rules and litigation. It's already on its way over here to the UK too (our Health & Safety Executive goes way too far in many cases), and it's your fault in the US, you started the whole mess. Apart from the fact your president is a monkey, that's the other thing I really dislike about America.

KT Tunstall - Big Black Horse & the Cherry Tree I'm sure it's hinting at beastiality.. LOL

Some random personal cat stuff ..her sister didn't want to feel left out. Yeay for MS Paint! This cat belonging to a good friend came to me in a dream while a kitten, saying she wanted to be this way. I made it so.. Mr Squeek says "The box is mine. THE BOX IS MINE! I WILL LICK YOUR FACE OFF THE BOX IS MIIIINE!!!" Vell vell vell Mr Bond, I av been exprecting you..

Lovely to see. For a full ride on the coaster (if you like that sort of thing, can't imagine anybody here like that..) then download your quality file of choice from here (there's lots of nice stuff at the IA). The coaster part is about 13 minutes in. Worth it though..

Track was built better (certainly in twisters - look at Fred Church's lap laminate track) in terms of withstanding force and lasting longer. Today it seems the lazy approach of laying short boards flat and cutting them out is the only way. Shame - by its very nature that formation moves and loosens over time. Lap laminate holds out better there, but it's not as quick and easy to lay (well, with the right people it probably is). Also, far too much structure is designed into coasters now. Years ago it was a case of 9' bent spacing all the way round, and positive G moments had the odd radial leg or two directly beneath the laminate between bents - this provided necessary increased support but allowed better flex to absorb vibration and minor track imperfections. However today, whole extra bents are used to the extent that in some places there's one every three feet or less, which is bad news - couple that with that way oversized modern laminate and you have a laminate that can't flex near enough and a structure that wouldn't allow it anyway! I suppose it's all in the name of good engineering.. "look how we build or structures, aren't we great".. there's likely numerous codes to conform to aswell now which mess things up. They've lost the plot though I'm afraid. Coasters have to be solid enough to stand and cope with various climactic and geographic forces, but damn you can let the track flex a little.. I mean atleast a good couple of inches between nominally spaced bents - track built with the aim of being safely flexible, which isn't quite the case anymore! What saddens me most is we're seeing old coasters being fudged up by structural enhancement as above, with extra bents, ledgers and deeper laminate. Misguided modern regulations, coupled with penny pinching on maintenance - partly why the structures are built so stiff in the first place and partly why they age badly, vicious cycle! Grr.. ^Good point there about the rate wood is grown. I doubt though that much of the wood in old coasters is actually that old. The way they were built and faithfully maintained is probably the key to their success. These day's it's taller, faster, steeper, bigger means better.. my arse. There's a point when things go too far, and that point was crossed along time ago. The bigger and faster, the sooner it turns bad.

Yeay cheers for those pics. I love looking back at parks from a few years ago, before true modernity started to sweep in, and somewhat tarnish things. When watching Rollercoaster, I always love the Rebel Yell footage - those are the trains a good woodie SHOULD have and those are exactly the right colours, too. There's far too much plain white, or bare wood these days. Pure loveliness back then, ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Ok so I didn't experience any of it myself, but I know I'd prefer it to today's equivalents.

The big round thing was the Rainbow Wheel - kind of like a reversed internal ferris wheel, where people sat inside at the bottom and the wheel rotated around them, showing various scenes painted on the walls.. atleast I think that was how it worked. Scenic Railway was there yep, with its double decker station (station at ground level, with a return loop above to send the trains back out for the second part of the ride). Nash replaced the scenic a decade after that footage. Dipper's there yep, but if you look closely you should see it's the original configuration, just a year or two old too - there was a turn at the top of the third hill (which now swoops down under PMBO and the Monorail) sending the track off for some dips (including a double one, inspiration for Charile when the built the Nash) with a turnaround, where Space Invader was built. The old configuration there followed exactly parallel to PMBO's lift of today, just a few feet over on the other side of the PB Express train track. Lovely to see so many tubs descending the Reel at once. No blocks back then, they hadn't got pissy like that.. hence the reason for old coaster cars having large springs or buffers on them! Ahh, bootiful, lol. Take a good look round here too: Pleasure Beach Postcards - if you liked that footage you'll like these postcards. I certainly do! ..Did anyone bet on me finding and replying to this topic early on eh?..

Jesus Hindu Christ! This and the Holy Land version are the best topics anywhere ever.

Hmm, not the Wakefield near me in West Yorkshire, England then. LOL

3. These (inside with high non pinning bar) 2. These (inside) 1. And these (inside roughly as above)

I've already posted two pages ago, but here's a couple of uncommon views from scarcely documented eras. As we know it's been bastardised this year, so it's nice to look back to a time it had no restraints at all, and even when it was being built. No point giving a name.. About 30 years on from the photo above, and about 20 years before any restraints. Boobs too - hooray! Carpenters building an eyeball job in 1934. Forget computers, forget parabolas, forget heartlining. They did it the best way - guesswork, circular hills and straight 10° banking.