Super Loops

Super Loops was a popular ride during the four seasons from 1982 that it operated at Pleasure Beach, and it was immortalised in Madness' House of Fun music video. The ride wasn't popular all-round though, and nearly didn't make it through its first season. 

Super Loops at Pleasure Beach in 1982.
Reproduced with permission from the University of Sheffield.

Walter House, from Amarillo, Texas, developed the Super Loops ride concept and built three prototypes, each with a height of around 40ft, one of which toured North American carnivals and fairs for many years. House sold the rights to the name and concept to Larson International, which had been set up in 1965 to manufacture agricultural machinery. Larson International engineer Louie Wallace redesigned the ride from the ground up and the first machine was completed in the early 1970s. They feature a 55ft (17m) tall vertical loop of track on which a 20-person train runs. Despite its operational size, Wallace engineered an ingenious hydraulic system which could automatically unfold the loop of track from a single trailer, which was further supported by outriggers and cables that were fixed manually. Wallace's design allowed operators to construct the ride in less than three hours, making it an extremely attractive option for travelling showmen.

Follow this link for YouTube video of the ride in operation at the Texas State Fair of 1975, and an interview with Walter House about the ride (and an unfortunate incident). 

An arrangement called an inertia ring runs the length of the track and is attached to the train. A tyre drive, mounted under the track, drives the inertia ring and thus the train. Motion is akin to building up momentum on a swing, until finally the train has enough momentum to complete the loop. Its maximum speed is 34mph (55kph). The operator controls the ride using a toggle lever which determines the direction and speed of travel. The operator's chair also acts as a deadmans control, and the operator needs to be seated for the toggle lever to work, so as to prevent accidental movement of the ride. 

Super Loops specification. Credit: ride-extravaganza.com

The train seats 20 riders (10x2) and features lap bar restraints controlled by compressed air. The operator has to manually connect a compressed air line to the train to release the restraints. The train has a caged roof to provide another means of containment, should that prove necessary. The ride was popular and offered riders a thrill, in particular hang-time, which few other rides at the time could compete with. 

Super Loops opened at Pleasure Beach for the 1982 season. Whilst it was popular with visitors, residents living opposite Pleasure Beach complained bitterly about the noise. The complaints centered on two aspects - the general intrusive sound of the ride when it was running, which was caused by the sound of the numerous wheels of the inertia ring on the track, and the unpleasant squealing sound the drive tyre occasionally made, particularly during wet weather. 

Not long after the ride opened, residents had a petition for it’s closure. The complaint was investigated by the Council, and within weeks the ride was moved from the position it was originally installed, south of the Scenic Railway, to a position near the very end of the park, adjacent to an arcade and giant slide ride there at the time. It was hoped this would provide some shielding to the noise. Unfortunately, it had little effect on the situation as far as the residents were concerned, and another petition for removal of the ride followed. The local public health officer was involved and the Council and residents considered taking legal action to force the ride's closure, citing anti-pollution laws.

The future of the ride looked uncertain. In the end, the ride was moved again, to the north end of the park near the entrance. This, and replacement wheels for the inertia ring reduced the noise of the ride to a level residents found acceptable. After all this, the ride had a relatively short-lived existence at Pleasure Beach, and it moved to Mexico following the 1986 season. 

Super Loops at the south end of the park, next to the slides. It was hoped the slides would shield nearby residents from the noise of the ride. This didn't work, and the ride was moved again. 
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Madness on the Super Loops in 1982 during filming of scenes for the music video for their single House of Fun. The video shows Super Loops in its original location, just south of the Scenic Railway.

Super Loops features prominently in this advertisement for Pleasure Beach from 1983.

Super Loops at the north end of Pleasure Beach in 1982. The ride had been moved once already in attempt to reduce for nearby residents, and it was moved again to the north end of the park, where it stayed until the end of the 1986 season.

Although Pleasure Beach’s Super Loops is consigned to history, rides of this type continue to be popular. Improvements were made, including a redesigned inertia ring to reduce noise and maintenance and the ride renamed Ring of Fire in the 1980s. This was followed by the Fire Ball model, which premiered in 1998, and features an open train with over-shoulder restraints instead of lap bars. Larson International still manufacture this model, and the various models are collectively referred to as Larson Loops among enthusiasts. I don't believe there are any now operating in the UK, although they attend a variety of fairs and carnivals in the US. The most recent versions are rather taller - up to 100ft, feature open trains with over-shoulder restraints and computer control. Such rides can be found as permanent installations at many Six Flags parks, and other theme parks in the US.

Mulan (Caterpillar)

Mulan was a Caterpillar ride at Pleasure Beach. When it closed on 4 November 2019, so ended its 29 seasons of operation at Pleasure Beach - one of the longest runs a ride has had during the park's long history. Let's take a look at the history and operation of this popular ride. 

Mulan at Pleasure Beach in 2011.

The first Caterpillar ride opened in 1925 at Coney Island in Brooklyn. This ride, and its successors consist of a circular undulating track on which coupled cars travel at high speed. This provides a high level on centrifugal force, and riders sat on the outside are squashed by riders sat on the inside. To provide riders' additional thrill, the ride's inventor, Hyla F. Maynes, devised a collapsible canopy that could be extended to cover the cars during the ride cycle. Maynes patented his ride designs and the term Caterpillar was quickly attached to such rides in response to how the ride looks with the (usually green) canopy extended over the cars. 

A couple on the Coney Island Caterpillar in 1925.

Image from Maynes patent, showing his design for covering cars with a canopy during the ride.

From 1980, German ride manufacturer Mack GmbH & Co KG (known today at Mack Rides) built several trailer-mounted Caterpillar rides intended for travelling fairgrounds. The ride measures 60ft (18.5m) in diameter when set up, with a tall canopy. The circular track has three undulations - a wide shallow one at the front to assist loading, and two shorter, steeper ones at the back. They can seat up to 60 riders in twenty cars (20x3) and have a top speed of 14rpm in both forward and reverse directions. All the cars were built to resemble caterpillars, per the classic name. They all originally featured a fabric back-flash and a green fabric canopy was used to cover the cars part-way through the ride. One went to Albert and Christa Aigner, who named it Die Raupe (German for The Caterpillar) and toured Germany with it from 1981 until 1990. It was then sold to Botton Brothers, which was the company operating Pleasure Beach at the time, where it was installed for 1991 season.

die Raupe - the Caterpillar, as operated by the Aigner's. 

The ride at Pleasure Beach in 1993.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.  

The ride is fully manually controlled. A ten-position lever (five forward and five reverse) controls the speed of the ride. The canopy is hydraulically operated by a switch which the operator has to keep depressed, meaning the canopy can be fully on or off, or anywhere in between. An electrically controlled parking brake is used to keep the ride from moving during loading, or for emergency stops, and is released automatically when the control level was engaged.

Some of the ride's cars.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield. 

The mechanism used to pull the canopy of the cars. A cable rotates a disk mounted to the back of each car to which is attached a set of radial arms that interlock as the disk rotates. This causes the cover, attached to the ends of the radial arms to stretch over the cars. When fully extended, the arms resemble to diagram in the original patent, above. 
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield. 

Initially, it operated in the centre of the park, south of the Dodgems, but it was moved nearer the entrance to the park for the 1997 season. The ride proved instantly popular, and even made appearances at the Hull Fair from time-to-time before the season at Pleasure Beach was extended in 2001. Several modifications were made to the ride during its time at Pleasure Beach. In terms of design and operation, these include:

+ The back-flash was never installed

+ The ticket booth was never used, as operators or attendants check payment on the steps

+ The steps were removed and fences added along the front section of the ride together with entrance and exit gates - a more suitable setup for operation in an amusement park setting
+ Following the release of Disney's Mulan in 1998, the ride was rethemed with characters from the film, renamed Mulan and a new top sign with this name was installed

+ The lighting was updated to LEDs in 2015

+ The ride's maximum capacity was restricted to 40 (20x2)
+ Reverse was disabled, aside from step 1, which was to assist stopping the ride.  

Unlike modern rides, many of which are computer controlled, with fixed cycles and sometimes nothing more than the push of a button required; this ride was connected through the various controls directly to the operator, who could determine the speed, duration and intensity of the ride. As a ride operator, you would get a real sense of feeling that you had contributed to the enjoyable experience which riders had. From a maintenance point of view, it was a reliable ride that could often be fixed with simple tools and parts, and down-time was very low as a result.

Whilst once very common rides at travelling fairs and static amusement parks, most original rides were dismantled and few examples remain. In the UK, Caterpillar rides can be found at the Scarborough Fair Collection and Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo. Visually similar rides called Music Express are common at travelling fairs in the UK and Europe. These rides offer a similar experience to Caterpillars. Although they do not feature a canopy covering riders during the cycle, they can offer an entertaining ride as the operators usually adjust the speed and direction of the ride according to the tempo of the music they play.

Mulan at Pleasure Beach in November 2019, being dissembled for the last time. Credit: Peter Middleton 

After 29 seasons at Pleasure Beach, near the end of 2019 season, it was announced Mulan had been sold and would be relocated to Italy, to be replaced by a new ride the following year. A business cannot afford to be sentimental. As a small amusement park competing for its share of a competitive market, I understand why it would take advantage of limited opportunities to develop. Nevertheless, the ride will be missed by visitors and staff alike 

The Gallopers

Many people recognise the age of Pleasure Beach’s Scenic Railway Roller Coaster and assume it to be the oldest ride at the park. In fact that accolade is the Gallopers’, which was built in 1915. It has operated at Pleasure Beach each season since 1954, standing pride of place near the entrance. 

Gallopers at Pleasure Beach in 1954 - its first year of operation at the park. 
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

The first carousels were relatively simply affairs called dobbies. These rides were roundabouts with fixed horses or other objects on which riders sat. Early examples were hand-cranked, or pulled around by pony, but steam engines soon took over and more elaborate designs emerged. The application of steam engines to roundabouts piqued the interest of Frederick Savage (1828 - 1897), who had become a successful agricultural engineer by developing existing technology, including the application of steam engines to machinery.

So, why Gallopers and not Carousel?

Savage set up a company at St. Nicholas Ironworks in Kings Lynn for the purpose of fairground ride production in 1873. His first ride was a steam-powered velocipede (a bicycle roundabout), soon followed by a ride called Land on Sea. This featured a set of ships in which riders sat. As the roundabout turned, eccentric wheels under the platform imparted an up-and-down rocking motion. Savage built roundabouts with horses using this principle - so-called platform gallopers, for the motion of the horses as the roundabout turned. In time, the design was improved by use of overhead cranks causing the horses motion, which provided a more compact setup than eccentric wheels under the platform.    

Savage established a reputation for excellent craftsmanship in this field and many of his rides were exported all over the world. Following his death in 1897, the business was continued by his sons until 1910, when the company became insolvent. The business was saved with assistance of the local MP, and productions of Gallopers continued until the mid 1920's where manufacturing focus shifted to aircraft and then marine engineering. 

This ride at Pleasure Beach was built in 1915 for Charles Cain of Deptford, who supplied various attractions to fairgrounds of the time, and was originally called Colonial Galloping Horses. It consists of twelve rows of three horses and three chariots on a 47-foot (14 metres) diameter roundabout. Many of the horses are original, as carved by Savage's. The heads were made in three separate pieces from Siberian yellow pine with cast iron ears. Poplar and alder was used for the legs and the body, consisting of four separate pieces. The suspension rods were made from the waste ends of boiler tubes, a by-product of the steam engine manufacture. The original power unit for the ride was steam, but nowadays it is powered by electric. Likewise, the traditional fairground organ, operational for many years, has been replaced by an electronic sound system, although traditional fairground pipe music is still played.

The steam engine that powered the Gallopers.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Botton Brothers secured the deal as amusement caterers to Bertram Mills' International Circus, which performed at London’s Olympia each Christmas from 1953 until 1967. It’s not clear when Botton Brothers acquired Gallopers, but they took it to Olympia for the 1953 show, where Queen Elizabeth II rode it. It was then transported to Great Yarmouth and installed pride of place near the entrance to Pleasure Beach for the 1954 season. The ride featured in the Olympia line up in subsequent years, but has entertained visitors of all ages at Pleasure Beach each season since. 

Gallopers at Olympia in 1963.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Gallopers standing pride of place near the entrance to the park.

Many of the horses are original, hand carved at Savages' in Kings Lynn.

Each winter, the ride is dismantled, serviced, cleaned and repainted where necessary, before being reassembled the following year. Long may it entertain visitors to Pleasure Beach.  

Gallopers being rebuilt ahead of the 2020 season. Credit: Pleasure & Leisure Corporation Ltd. 

Super Jets

If you visited Pleasure Beach during the late 50s, 60s or 70s, or seen photos of the park from that time, you can't fail to have noticed the spectacular and colourful machine whirling daring riders round in small jet planes, high above everyone below. 

The Super Jets at Pleasure Beach in 1969.
The ride in front is called Satellite, and behind is the Gallopers and Sky Wheels. 

The first Jets machine was developed by Maxwell in 1952. It was an early example of a rider-controlled ride, for each of the plane-shaped cars featured a joystick control the rider could use to move the car up and down whist it was in motion. It debuted at the Hull Fair and proved to be a popular attraction thanks to the innovative experience it offered, and it’s decoration played on the public's imagination about man's first explorations in space. 

Lang Wheels built their first Jets in 1954 and subsequently developed the design to incorporate lifting the entire central rotor whilst the ride was in motion. Their first example of lifting Jets, completed in 1956, went to Botton Brothers, who at the time were lessors of the Pleasure Beach, where the ride was installed. Lang Wheels improved the design further, and in 1960 they modified Botton Brothers’ ride to allow the central rotor to tip whilst spinning, which vastly improved the ride experience. Such modified machines were called Vampire Jets. The original tubular shaped jets were also replaced. 

Botton Brothers Jets ride at Mitcham Fair in 1956. This was Lang Wheel's first lifting Jets model. Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Centre of the Super Jets ride (whilst it was installed at Olympia), showing some of the mechanics and the sign advising riders there were in control of the plane. 
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Super Jets spent their summers thrilling riders at Pleasure Beach until 1974. Botton Brothers also took them to London's Olympia Exhibition Centre from time-to-time, where Bertram Mills' International Circus was held each Christmas, to which Botton Brothers were amusement caterers. The ride was sold to Heals at Brighton and subsequently operated at Flamingo Land. Sadly, it is no longer operational, although it is in preservation. A different set of Jets operated at Pleasure Beach in 1978 and again in 1980 to 1982, but for a long time it seemed this ride would be lost to the past. 

Queue of riders waiting their turn on Super Jets.

The colourful Super Jets.

Singer and actor Helen Shapiro on the Super Jets in 1963.

Ahead of 2020 season, Pleasure Beach announced the arrival of a new ride - Lightning 360, which may be considered a modern take on the classic Jets. It consists of 8 two-person cars shaped like planes, which revolve around and ascend and descend a 15 metre tall tower. In traditional Jets style, riders can control movement up and down - but the vehicle also rotates 360 degrees, which riders can control too. This is the first ride of its kind manufactured by SBF Visa of Italy. It was installed at Pleasure Beach in June 2020 on the site of the Super Jets ride, which had first entertained visitors to the park 66 years earlier. 

Lightning 360 at Pleasure Beach in 2020. Credit: Pleasure & Leisure Corporation Ltd. 

 

 

Before Pleasure Beach

Great Yarmouth established itself as a destination during the 18th century, when wealthy people travelled to bathe in the sea to take advantage of its supposed healing powers. The railway arrived at the town in 1844 and bought working class families on their first leisurely holidays. Mass tourism followed and the town has since developed into the tourist destination it is today.

L. A. Thompson's switchback railway invention arrived in Britain in 1885 and the first example opened at Skegness. Numerous other examples followed at tourist locations across the country. Great Yarmouth's Switchback Railway opened in 1887, following successful application to the Council by Mr L. K. Skinner for lease of an area of sand dunes opposite Nolfolk Square. This was Great Yarmouth's first amusement ride.

Great Yarmouth's Switchback Railway

The Switchback Railway proved extremely popular, and the operator's takings on its first bank holiday exceeded the £100 ground rent for the year. The Council increased the rent to £150 the following year, apparently recognising the income it could generate from hosting such an attraction. The ride was relocated several times during its time at Yarmouth, including the year after it opened, when it was moved from the beach to the promenade. Subsequently, the ride was relocated in 1892 to between nearby Albemarle Road and Sandown Road on what is now Wellesley Road Recreation Ground. 

The Switchback Railway was joined by another American invention - the Bicycle Railway, which had been designed by Arthur Hotchkiss, who had intended it as a means for people to transport themselves. He opened the first example, a 1.8 mile (2.9km) stretch that ran from Smithville to Holly Mount in New Jersey in 1892. It consisted of an elevated monorail track along which specially adapted bicycles rode. As a means of transport, the idea was a failure and the railway closed just six years later. However, the design had been imported to the UK by William George Bean (1868 - 1929), who saw its potential as an amusement ride. He opened a Bicycle Railway at Great Yarmouth in 1895 on a site adjacent to the Switchback Railway.

Hotchkiss with his Bicycle Railway

In 1900 both attractions were relocated to between Beaconsfield Road and Salisbury Road, where Great Yarmouth High School now stands. Bean also owned the Switchback Railway for a while, before terminating his lease of the site in 1908 to focus on the amusement park he founded in 1896, which we know today as Blackpool Pleasure Beach. A scenic railway opened on the site that would go on to become Great Yarmouth's Pleasure Beach in 1909. The popularity of this newer ride spelled the end for the Switchback Railway and Bicycle Railway and they were both relocated to Hope Bank Pleasure Gardens at Honley, near Huddersfield, following the 1909 summer season.

Great Yarmouth was also home to the first of five revolving towers designed by engineer Thomas Warwick. It comprised a 140 foot tall steel structure surrounded by a cage in which passengers rode. The cage rotated whilst ascending and descending the tower - hence it was called the Revolving Tower. It was located on the seafront adjacent to North Drive and operated from 1897 until 1939.

View south along Marine Parade from the Revolving Tower. Britannia Pier is in the foreground. 

What is a Scenic Railway?

L. A. Thompson

LaMarcus Adna Thompson (1848 - 1919) opened his Switchback Railway at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York in 1884. It seems he based his design on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, which was a coal-hauling railway in the mountains of Pennsylvania. This is considered to be the world's first roller coaster, as it began carrying fare-paying thrill-seeking passengers in 1827. Thompson's Switchback Railway was the culmination of his ideas for gravity-driven devices constructed purely for pleasure. It was a long wooden structure consisting of a pair of tall towers between which ran undulating tracks. Riders would climb to the top of one tower and travel along the track on a small car with bench seats to the other tower, where it would be 'switched back' to the other track to return riders to where they started. The Switchback Railway was a success, and before long, every major tourist destination had one. Britain's first Switchback Railway opened in Skegness in 1885.

Skegness' Switchback Railway 

Thompson built on further developments by Charles Alcoke, who provided a loop of track to do away with the need to switch between tracks, and Philip Hinkle, who developed a mechanical lift to winch cars up an incline (the first lift-hill). Working with designer James Griffiths, he decorated his ride structures with elaborate scenery and lights to provide riders a journey as well as a thrill. Thompson opened his first scenic railway at Atlantic City in New Jersey in 1887. This ride proved even more popular than those which had come before, and soon Thompson's company, The L. A. Thompson Scenic Railway Company were building rides across America. The first scenic railway in Britain opened at Blackpool in 1907, and hundreds of other examples were built worldwide, although most were located in North America and Europe. 

Whilst they were the pinnacle of technology at the time, scenic railways are rudimentary roller coaster designs by today's standards. Structures and track are wood, and the cars are not locked to the rails like they are on modern roller coasters. Instead, the running wheels are flanged like they are on railway vehicles. Track design is limited as a result, and most scenic railways employ a brakeman to ride each car around the track to apply a brake to slow the train where necessary and to stop it in the station loading area at the end of the ride. 

John A. Miller (1872 - 1941) patented his underfriction wheel in 1919. These are secondary wheels mounted on the car in such a way they run underneath the running rail, which prevents cars leaving the track vertically. Initially, the lead to more extreme wooden roller coaster designs, featuring banked drops and turns and much steeper drops than had been possible before. Whilst scenic railways were built in the 20s, and 30s, the new technology started to take prominence and most roller coasters from then on were built using Miller's technology. Over time, Miller's technology progressed to a set of three wheels mounted around the running rail, thereby fully locking cars to the track. This was fundamental to the development of steel roller coasters, the first of which opened in 1959, and ride designers never looked back. 

Car of Great Yarmouth's Roller Coaster.
Like other scenic railways, the train simply sits on the running rails

The last roller coasters built to the scenic railway design were Big Dipper at Battersea Fun Fair, which opened in 1951 (although this was a rebuild of an older ride from elsewhere) and Big Dipper at Seaburn Amusement Park, which opened in 1955, and although based on the design of the Battersea Big Dipper, appears to be original. Today, only nine roller coasters of the scenic railway design remain, of which eight are operational and seven are still operated by brakeman. 

+ Scenic Railway at Luna Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1912)
+ Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens Copenhagen, Sjælland, Denmark (1914)*
+ Scenic Railway at Dreamland, Margate, Kent, UK (1920)
+ Hullámvasút at Vidámpark, Budapest, Pest, Hungary (SNBO) (1922)

+ Montaña Suiza at Parque de Atracciones Monte Igueldo, San Sebastián, Spain (1928)**
+ Roller Coaster at Pleasure Beach, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK (1932)
+ Rutschebanen at Bakken Klampenborg, Sjælland, Denmark (1932)
+ Hochschaubahn at Wiener Prater, Vienna, Austria (1950)
+ Vuoristorata at Linnanmäki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland (1950)

*No longer operated by brakeman
**This ride is unusual as it has no timber structure - instead the track is steel and supported by concrete

Barry Island's Scenic Railway opened in 1940. It was the last scenic railway to be built in the UK to feature the sculpted cladding and scenery themes commonly installed on scenic railways.