Roller Coaster History - from Europe to Yarmouth

It's well known that Pleasure Beach's Scenic Railway Roller Coaster is the ride that has been at the park the longest, having opened there in 1932, and is one of the oldest roller coasters in the world. Not many are aware of the ride’s long and complex history though, so this article takes a look at the fascinating story of the ride before its time at Pleasure Beach.

The Scenic Railway Roller Coaster at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach in 1932, shortly after it opened.

Hugo Haase 
The story starts with Hugo Haase (1857 – 1933), who was born in Winsen (Luhe), Germany. He served an apprenticeship as a locksmith and military service before joining a company called Hövermann & Jürgens, where he worked his way up to manager. The company manufactured carousels powered by steam engines. In 1887, Haase, with the financial help of his father-in-law, started his own company manufacturing amusement rides which he called Hugo Haase AG. In 1907 he built a three-disk carousel called El Dorado which toured Europe before he sold it to Steeplechase Park in Coney Island in 1910. This ride still operates today at an amusement park in Tokyo called Toshimaen. It is the oldest carousel in the world that is still in operation.

Hugo Haase.

Haase took the step from amusement manufacturer to amusement park operator in 1914 when he opened his own amusement park in May that year. Commonly called HH Park, or Hugo Haase Park, it was situated next to Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg-Stellingen, Germany. The principal attraction at HH Park was a scenic railway. Haase also provided a scenic railway for the Swiss National Exhibition, held in Bern between 15 May and 15 October 1914.

Both scenic railways were clad in plaster sculpted to resemble mountainous terrain and decorated with miniature houses, castles and other objects as was common at the time. The structures themselves were virtually identical, although they were mirror-images of one another, with one scenic railway running clockwise (Hamburg) and the other anti-clockwise (Bern). The Scenic Railway at Hamburg was also home to a River Caves ride. This featured a water course that meandered through the structure of the Scenic Railway, and man-made 'caves' lavishly decorated, on which small boats travelled. 

Swiss National Exhibition, Bern, Switzerland, 1914

The location of the Scenic Railway among the other attractions at the Exhibition.

The Scenic Railway during construction. For reference, the station is centre of the image near ground level. Trains leave to the right in this image, round the turnarounds and up the lift hill from right to left.

The construction crew. It seems the man standing second row centre in the lighter grey suit is Hugo Haase.

The completed ride in operation.

Another view of the ride in operation

The track layout. Compare this to the similar view of the scenic railway at HH Park - the layouts are lengthwise mirror images of one another.

Hugo Haase Park, Hamburg-Stellingen, Germany, 1914 - 1922

Track layout of the Scenic Railway which opened in 1914 at Hugo Haase park. Compare this view to that above. The rides at Bern and Hamburg were mirror images (lengthwise) of one another. 

Der Grottenbach - translated literally as caves brook was a river caves ride installed underneath the Scenic Railway.

Boats on the River Caves ride. The water course meandered its way under the structure of the Scenic Railway. 

This is taken the other side of the Scenic Railway track to the image above and looking in the other direction from the perspective of the river caves ride.

The Scenic Railway that operated at Bern was dismantled when the exhibition closed and I have found no further reference to it. The Scenic Railway at HH Park operated until March 1922 when the park closed due to lack of visitors, no doubt not helped by World War I, and it too was dismantled. However, it would see a new lease of life in 1930 when it was constructed at Luna Park, the amusement park of the Antwerp and Liège International Exhibition (3 May to 3 November 1930), where Haase had been asked to provide the amusements.

Some of the scenic items were updated, particularly the addition of castles and minarets, whilst others, such as the station design, remained the same, as the images show. The track layout and structure itself saw only minimal changes, mostly to the profile of the long drop running diagonally across the ride's footprint. The ride was popular at Luna Park and Haase took the ride to Paris the following year for the Colonial Exhibition (6 May to 15 November 1931).

Luna Park, Antwerp and Liège International Exhibition, Antwerp, Belgium, 1930

The Scenic Railway at Antwerp in 1930.

Another view of the Scenic Railway at Antwerp in 1930.

The Scenic Railway at Antwerp in 1930, alongside a circular water chute, which Haase had designed.

Colourised postcard showing the decoration of Scenic Railway at Antwerp in 1930.

Parc des Attractions, Colonial Exhibition, Paris, France, 1931

Scenic Railway at the Paris Colonial Exhibition in 1931.

Pat Collins' Role

Patrick Collins (1859 - 1943) was one of five children of Irish parentage who had come to England in the 19th century. When he was ten, he and his younger brother John travelled fairs with their father, and he would go on to establish his own fairs in adulthood. By 1882, he ran many of the fairs around Birmingham and the Black Country, where he had settled with his wife Flora (nee Ross) and their children, named in the family tradition, Patrick and John. He had an interest in cinematography and included bioscopes (and early form of cinema) at his fairs. He was an accomplished and respected showman and served as president of the Showman's Guild of Great Britain from 1920 until 1929. 

This photo, taken at the Nottingham Goose Festival of 1936, shows Pat Collins (front left) and his son John (centre in the lighter suit)) among other showman who presented attractions at the Festival.

When Pat was awarded the lease of Pleasure Beach for the 1929 season, his son John went to Great Yarmouth to oversee day-to-day operations, assisted by general manager Mr R. J. Minns. The Collins' first order of business was to obtain a replacement for the scenic railway which had operated at the park since it opened in 1909, but which had been removed when the previous lease expired. In the end, two rides were built; a figure-8 roller coaster and a water chute, which both opened in 1929. However, the Collins' desired something that would really draw the crowd and Pat believed the future of amusements lay in, what he called, the big stuff. They looked to the continent for inspiration and found the answer at the Paris Colonial Exhibition. 

Pat and John went to Paris and saw the Scenic Railway in operation. They had already done business with Hasse, as they had bought the circular water chute he had invented and presented at the International Press Exhibition at Cologne in 1928, which the Collins reconstructed at Pleasure Beach in 1929. Haase accepted Pat's offer of £15,000 for the ride and John began arrangements to have it shipped to England once the Exhibition closed. 

The Collins' had become acquainted with the Wadbrook family, who had presented bioscopes in the West Midlands. When John Collins went to Great Yarmouth, he was followed by the Wadbrook family and their teenage sons Henry Harry (1913 - 1985), Edward Ted (1915 - 1982) and Percival Percy (1917 - 1982), who helped to set up and maintain the rides, in what today would be considered an apprenticeship in engineering. Harry and Ted accompanied the Collins' to Paris, and saw the ride in operation and assisted with its dismantling ready to ship it to Great Yarmouth. 

The component, totalling 525 tons, were loaded onto barges in Paris - five in total - and sailed down the Siene to Rouen. The journey took longer than expected as flooding had caused the river level to rise making bridges impassible until it subsided. Steam ship Circe was waiting in Rouen, and everything was transferred from the barges to Circe for the journey on to Great Yarmouth. Circe arrived on 11 February 1932. Electric cranes on the quay, which had only recently been erected, were used to transfer all the components to lorries for the journey on to Pleasure Beach. Haase's engineer Erich Heidrich and a team of German workmen arrived to construct the ride. Heidrich stayed to manage the ride until the outbreak of World War II and taught the Wadbrooks all they needed to know about the ride. 

The ride was clad in plaster sculpted to resemble mountainous terrain, and decorated with scenes depicting castles, viaducts, bridges and mills, as it had been before. The River Caves ride was included in the sale, and constructed in and around the Scenic Railway at the same time. Both opened on 14 May 1932. The scene greeting visitors to Pleasure Beach at the time was described in suitable awe by a local reporter:

Not only is it a tremendous erection with thrilling dives and climbs, but a piece of artistry that is a pleasure to the eye. Mountain peaks gleam white in the sunshine, while minarets, castles, and aqueducts merge realistically into the harmonious colouring. A rustic water mill has been built into the scene, and even the brilliant lights are concealed to prevent clashing. This, with its water caves, is considered to be the finest thing of its kind in the country.   

Pleasure Beach, Great Yarmouth, UK, 1932

The Scenic Railway during construction at Pleasure Beach, I'd estimate in April 1932. The course for River Caves meanders from bottom left, under the track in the foreground, then the track in the background, looping back on itself. Part of the course would go on to be used in the Caveland, and later, Snails and Fairy Tales ride.

The completed ride in 1932.

This view from a similar point as that of the ride at Antwerp, above, shows the similarities in decoration. A miniature railway was in operation at Pleasure Beach at the time. The tall tower is a ride called Jack & Jill.

The original trains were wooden, although they had a similar layout to the current trains, which entered service in 1964, and have now been in use far longer than the original wooden trains were.

50 Years Ago

82 pupils from Great Stony School in Ongar, Essex (since closed in 1994) descended on Pleasure Beach on Tuesday 22 June 1971. The day trip had been arranged through the Variety Club of Great Britain. Albert Botton of Botton Brothers, which ran Pleasure Beach at the time, was a member and paid for the double-decker buses the children travelled on to the seaside. They enjoyed lunch at the restaurant, opened only two years earlier, followed by run of the park and its various rides and attractions.

Pupils enjoy lunch at the restaurant. Albert and Lottie Botton can be seen in the background at top-right.

Pupils and a teacher wait their turn on the Snails ride...

...and arrive back in the station after their turn on the Scenic Railway.

Miniature Railway

Yarmouth Beach Amusements Ltd., the company operating Pleasure Beach at the time, applied to the council in 1912 for permission to install a miniature railway. This was to run from Pleasure Beach along South Beach to the harbour mouth, with terminus stations at each end. Whilst merit in this idea was seen by some, others were unhappy with the number of amusements already on South Beach (three at the time), and didn’t want any more, especially if this was to encroach on other parts of the sea front. Accusations were made that the company tried to canvass members of the council, which did not go down well and permission was refused. 

When the Collins' took on the lease of Pleasure Beach for the 1929 season, plans for a miniature railway were revived by John Collins. In July 1930, the Council permitted construction of a railway at Pleasure Beach on the proviso it be removed with a weeks notice if required. A 15-inch narrow gauge railway was built to the design of engineer Richard Marion Parkinson. The railway featured a grand, albeit suitably miniature sized booking office on a station with two platforms called South Denes. The fully-signalled railway ran from the station alongside South Beach Parade before looping north opposite Harbord Crescent, dropping down a gradient of 1:80, through a 100ft (30m) long tunnel dug into the sand dunes, and up a gradient of 1:72 back to the station. The total length of the railway was 1800ft (550m).

A variety of locomotives worked trains on the railway. The main locomotive was a Bassett-Lowke Class 10 Atlantic steam locomotive, built in 1908 and originally called Mighty Atom, it was later renamed Prince of Wales. Coaches were replicas of bow-sided vehicles common at the time, and featured decorative corridor connections. Diesel locomotives also worked on the railway from time to time, including one named Mighty Atom which was powered by an Austin Seven engine. Excellent footage of the railway and this train can be seen in the video below, an extract from an Austin promotional video. 

Parkinson requested permission to extend the railway to the harbour in 1935. The Council refused, seemingly for the same reasons they did over two decades earlier. The railway closed following the 1937 season and no trace remains. The rolling stock went to the Collins’ Crystal Palace Amusement Park in Sutton Coldfield for use on that park’s miniature railway. The locomotive Prince of Wales now resides at the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway. 

Only one other miniature railway would operate in Great Yarmouth. A narrow gauge railway called News Chronical opened at Wellington Pier Gardens in August 1946. It operated from Whitsun until September each year until 1949. 

South Denes station of the Yarmouth Miniature Railway. A Basset-Lowke Class 10 Atlantic locomotive, named Prince of Wales, shunts coaches. The large (for a miniature railway) signal gantry stands overhead. Railway engineer Richard Parkinson insisted on a fully signalled railway, operated from South Denes Junction Signal Box.

South Denes station of the Yarmouth Miniature Railway, left of centre in this image from 1932. The booking office was elevated, possibly to provide a shed for storage of the locomotives, and accessed via a covered ramp. The tall ride right of centre is called Jack & Jill, and was essentially a slide, although riders used moving chairs akin to a stair lift to reach the top. The Scenic Railway stands in the background. 

This image was taken from a footbridge built over the railway when the Scenic Railway was constructed in 1932, which provided another access between South Beach Parade and the park. Some of the railway's signals and a steam locomotive can be seen.

Some of the coaches of the Miniature Railway can be seen in this image from 1932.

The location of the Miniature Railway.

Basset-Lowke locomotive Mighty Atom/Prince of Wales in 2019. Credit: Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway.

Miamis

The Miami ride concept dates to 1978 and production of the Scheibenwischer-Welle (windscreen wiper wave) in Holland. The ride featured a bench of forward-facing seats supported each end by arms that drove the bench in a vertical circle in either direction and at a speed determined by the operator. Dutch showmen and a number of small ride manufacturers, vying for a share of the market against German manufacturers, initially developed the concept to produce a large ride similar to a Flying Carpet. Development was bought full-circle when Dutch showman Gerrit Tegelaar built a compact version in 1982 called Topper, which was subsequently sold to the Kroon family who rebuilt it with forward-facing seats and renamed it Disco Swing. This ride is considered the first Miami.

Isje Kroon built an improved version called Tropical Trip in 1988, before going on to develop his own company, KMG. Kroon built another ride the following year, which he called Miami Trip. That ride travelled UK fairs where the design and namesake were firmly established.

Miami rides enjoyed limited success at Dutch fairgrounds. However, the ride’s popularity in the UK went from strength to strength during the early 90s, and a variety of UK manufacturers, including Rutland Productions, Fairmatt and Emmett, struggled to meet demand from showmen. Showmen appreciate the compact ride design that can be packed into a single trailer, that is easy to set up and is popular with visitors. Riders appreciate the fast ride, which may feature air-time as the bench swings up and over the highest point at top speed, and the typically flamboyant operation and decoration.

Over 100 Miami rides have been built in the UK. Despite this, their domain is firmly travelling fairs and few have been installed at amusement parks. Just two have operated at Pleasure Beach, each for only one season. 

Shake-It
This ride was built in the UK by K. T. Enterprises. It operated at Pleasure Beach throughout the 1997 season. It then toured fairs with showman John Armitage before leaving the UK. It is now with Dutch showman Oppedijk-van Veen.

Shake-It at Pleasure Beach in 1997. Credit: Archant.

Outrage

This ride was built by Fairmatt in 1992 and has been owned by showman Joe White since. Artwork is by a Paul Wright, and is typical of the club scene which features prominently in current travelling fair artwork. It arrived at Pleasure Beach in 2011 on loan for the season as stand-in for Orbiter, which had been at the park since 2009 but was unavailable that year. Outrage was returned to White at the end of the season and Orbiter made one last appearance the following year.

Outrage at Pleasure Beach in 2011.

Paul Wright's artwork on Outrage in 2011.Credit: Pleasure & Leisure Corporation Ltd.

The ride control panel and view from the control box.

Dodgems

The Stoehrer brothers patented the first ride that we would recognise as dodgems in December 1920. However, Victor Levand, who worked for General Motors, could also stake a claim in their development. The first versions were not particularly robust, with cars made of tin and readily-available materials. They often needed repairing during a daily service. The Stoehrer brothers persevered though and subsequently improved versions caught the attention of cousins Joseph and Robert Lusse. Their company, Lusse Brothers, manufactured components for roller coasters, and they put their engineering shop to good use producing new dodgem car prototypes. These featured rack and pinion front-wheel steering, which made the cars more enjoyable to drive and gave riders more control over who they bumped. Their Lusse Autoscooter dodgems became popular in the US throughout the 1920s, although dodgems didn’t arrive in the UK until 1928.

Water Dodgems
Not long after dodgems arrived in the UK, the concept was applied to small boats on water. The boats, often handsomely crafted from wood, were usually large enough for two people. Steel mesh was hung over either natural or man-made lakes, through which the boats collected current via a pole-mounted shoe. Many amusement parks installed a water dodgems during the 30s, including at Clacton, Margate and Skegness. Pat Collins acquired a set built by Orton & Spooner, which the Collins’ exhibited at Olympia in 1931. This was installed at Pleasure Beach the following year, and it occupied a large space in the centre of the park. This was Pleasure Beach’s first dodgem ride, and it’s likely the ride operated at the park until it was closed following the outbreak of World War II.

I haven't been able to find close-up images of the original Water Dodgems, although they feature in this 1933 tourism video (footage starts 2:47), from which the still below is taken. 

Water Dodgems at Pleasure Beach in 1933.

Pleasure Beach would be home to at least one other set of Water Dodgems, owned by Reubin Wilson (Albert Botton’s brother-in-law). The images below show a Water Dodgems at the park in 1959, which may be Wilson’s model. 

This image from 1959 prominently features the helter skelter (slip). The structure with the 'windows' and Botton Bros sign houses the Water Dodgems.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield. 

Boats of the Water Dodgems ride shown above, also taken in 1959.

The First Dodgems 

John Collins, lessee of Pleasure Beach at the time, sublet the park to Botton Brothers ahead of the 1954 season. Botton Brothers had established their business in 1942, providing rides and attractions at fairs across London, and they had access to many and varied rides. They installed a dodgems at Pleasure Beach when they arrived in 1954, and this was the park's first dodgem car ride. This dodgems was built by Supercar, and previously operated by showman Wallis. It was at Pleasure Beach for possibly every season until the end of 1968. Ownership then passed to Billy Mayne, and subsequently Kay and Monty Hammond. Incidentally, Monty Hammond formed Sonacase Ltd, now known as Amusement Ride Manufacturers (ARM), which as Sonacase built the Twister ride that has operated at Pleasure Beach since 2000. 

Pleasure Beach's first dodgem car ride at the park in 1954.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

The same set of dodgems at Pleasure Beach in 1965. Compare this image to the one showing the Water Dodgems, which shows these rides both operated on the same site when the photos were taken. Both rides operated at the park at the same time, so one or both were moved from time to time. 
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Other Dodgems

Botton Brothers installed a set of dodgems south of the Scenic Railway in 1972. This set was built by A. P. E. of Spain, and operated at the park for three seasons. It then went to Stourport-on-Severn's Riverside Amusement Park (now Treasure Island), before going to Knowsley Safari Park, where it operated until 1998 before being scrapped. 

The A.P.E. dodgems was removed to make way for a set of dodgems that Botton Brothers had owned since at least 1950 (the ride itself dates to at least 1944), which they had operated at travelling fairs around London, and then at Battersea Fun Fair from its opening in 1951 until its closure in 1974. This dodgems, built by Supercar, operated at Pleasure Beach until the end of the 1979 season. The ride is still in operation with showman James Bates. 

The last set of portable dodgems opened in 1981. This was a set built for showman Norman Wallis. It operated at the park until 1987, before going on to Butlin's Bognor Regis where it operated until 2012.

A. P. E. dodgems at Pleasure Beach in 1973.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Botton Brothers Supercar dodgems at Pleasure Beach in 1978, occupying the space between the Water Chute and Slides.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

The same set of dodgems at Mitcham Fair in 1950.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield. 

Originally built for showman Norman Wallis, this is the last set of portable dodgems to operate at Pleasure Beach. This photo is from 1981.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

This is the same set of dodgems in 1982. Super Loops is the tall ride standing in the background, next to the slide. The Cake Walk is the attraction to the right. 
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

Dodgems Today

Botton Brothers’ request to the Corporation to allow catering at Pleasure Beach was finally accepted ahead of the 1969 season. Albert Botton’s vision of a first-floor restaurant met the Corporation’s requirement that the catering outlet be accessible only from within Pleasure Beach to reduce competition with sea front outlets. This provided a large area underneath, which was put to good use as a permanent dodgem track. Local contractor E. Moore & Son of Lichfield Road, Great Yarmouth was employed for construction. The Ocean Restaurant and Dodgems opened in 1969.

The Ocean Restaurant, recently opened in this photo from 1969, and Dodgems below.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield. 

Dodgems in 1978.
Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield.

The Restaurant is now the General Office for the park, but Dodgems still operates today, and has outlasted the various portable dodgems installed over the years. The large track, some 3000 sq. ft. (280 sq. m), is home to twenty dodgem cars. The cars running today, Majestic Rides' Ninja bumper cars are not original, but arrived in 1997.

Following the success of The Simpsons in the early 90s, the main characters were used on information boards such as 'no head on bumping' and 'one way round'. Whilst safety fences have since been added to the front of the track, many features are original, including the orange signage around the perimeter. New signage was installed in 2021 as replacement for The Simpsons, which features Pleasure Beach characters such as Leo the Lion, a Snail, the Giants which have stood near the entrance to the Snails ride, and a clown that used to feature on the park entrance sign until 1959. 

Dodgems continues to be a popular ride during opening season. During winter, it also serves as a shelter for ride components to protect them from the elements. 

Dodgems in 2008. Credit Lordspudz.

Components from various rides including Formula 1, Bonanza, Raft Ride, Watlzers and Evolution take shelter on the Dodgems track during winter 2014. Credit: Peter Middleton.

The Simpsons safety signs. Credit: Stuart Moss. 

Various Pleasure Beach characters seen riding dodgems. This is new artwork installed on Dodgems at Pleasure Beach for 2021. Credit: Pleasure & Leisure Corporation Ltd.