Roller Coaster – also known as Scenic Railway or The Scenic – is a

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also ...

at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, Great Yarmouth, UK. The ride was built at the park in 1932 and has been operational since. It is one of only two scenic railways still in operation in the UK (the other being the

Scenic Railway Scenic railroad (American English) or Scenic railway (British English) may refer to: * Heritage railways operating leisurely train tours of sights such as mountain scenery, historic areas, and foliage tours *Scenic gravity railroad, early termin ...

at Dreamland Amusement Park, Margate) and one of only seven in the world. In common with most scenic railways, an operator rides the car. Traditionally referred to as a '

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...

’, the operator applies brakes on the car to control its speed and to stop it at the end of the ride, as there are no brakes on the track. It is the second tallest and second fastest wooden roller coaster in the UK. It is also a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

In 1931, Pat Collins, then owner of Pleasure Beach, and his son John, who was managing the park, were on the lookout for a large attraction to install at the park. The Collins' visited the Colonial Exhibition in Paris where there was an amusement park among the attractions. The largest ride there was a scenic railway being operated by German showman

Hugo Haase Hugo Haase (29 September 1863 – 7 November 1919) was a German socialist politician, jurist and pacifist. With Friedrich Ebert, he co-chaired of the Council of the People's Deputies after the German Revolution of 1918–19. Early life Hugo Haas ...

. At the close of the Exhibition, Collins purchased the ride for Pleasure Beach and it was dismantled, shipped to England and erected in the park. The ride opened on 14 May 1932.

The Ride

The ride's superstructure is entirely timber, predominantly fir and pine, and is clad in steel sheets. Like most scenic railways, it was originally clad in plaster and concrete sculpted to resemble mountainous terrain. It measures around 140 metres (460 feet) by 30 metres (100 feet), and the highest point of the track is 21 metres (70 feet). The track length is 982.40 metres (3,223.10 feet), which makes this ride the second longest scenic railway in the world. The track is wooden and the running rails are in a trough with walkways either side. The ride is often called a side-friction coaster, which is misleading as the train makes no contact with the side walls of the track and the running wheels are

flange A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase strength (as the flange of an iron beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer of contact force with another object (as the f ...

d like those of railway vehicles. The ride features two large drops, the first one of which is a 'headchopper' where the train dives under some of the support structure of the ride. There are also other large drops and a bunnyhop sequence which gives very good

air-time In the context of amusement rides, air time, or airtime, refers to the time during which riders of a roller coaster or other ride experience either frictionless or negative G-forces. The negative g-forces that a rider experiences is what create ...

both at the front and back of the train. In total there are nine drops. A typical ride time is 3:10, but can vary depending on the styles of the particular brakemen. There are five trains, although only three are currently in operation. Each train is made up of three cars, each of which has five 2-person bench seats, allowing 30 riders per train. There are manual lap-bars and grab rails for each seat. The brakeman rides between the first and second cars. The brakeman moderates the speed of the train as necessary, depending on the conditions to ensure it arrives in the station at the end of the ride at a safe speed. Unlike modern roller coasters, there are no brakes on the track at all.

Popularity

The ride is the most popular attraction at the Pleasure Beach; its popularity largely due to its uniqueness.Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach publications The ride is an

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

Coaster Classic, along with the Scenic Railway at

Luna Park, Melbourne Luna Park Melbourne is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. It opened on 13 December 1912, with a formal opening a week later, and has been operating almost continuously ever ...

, Australia; the only operational scenic railways to obtain this status. A copy of the ride was made by the Collins', which ended up at their amusement park in

Barry Island Barry Island ( cy, Ynys y Barri) is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Chan ...

, where it operated from 1940 until 1973. Part of the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the 1982 single

House of Fun "House of Fun" is a song by English ska/pop group Madness, credited to Mike Barson and Lee Thompson. Retrieved on 28 June 2007. It was released as a one-off single on 14 May 1982 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending nine we ...

by Madness was filmed at the Pleasure Beach with the band seen riding on the Roller Coaster.

Gallery

Image:GtYarmouthScenic1932.JPG, Roller Coaster seen soon after construction was completed in May 1932. Image:Mountains & Arches.jpg, The painted cladding of Roller Coaster seen in 1974. Image:Gtyarmouth scenicrailway rollercoaster.jpg, The top of the lift hill structure with the green train on the second drop. Image:Gtyarmouth scenicrailwayrollercoaster.jpg, The yellow train at the highest point of the ride in 2008.

References

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External links

Official site of Great Yarmouth Pleasure BeachImage set of the Scenic on Flickr
Out and back roller coasters Roller coasters in the United Kingdom Wooden roller coasters Great Yarmouth Roller coasters with brakemen Relocated buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Paris Colonial Exposition