A century-old wooden coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach has drawn fresh attention this week, after footage circulating online appeared to show a section of track separating while a train was still on the course.
A Fixture of the Park Since 1923
Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Big Dipper is among the longest-running roller coasters still operating anywhere in the world. Built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc. and shaped in part by pioneering designer John A. Miller, the ride opened in 1923 and underwent a significant reconstruction in 1934 that brought it to its current length of roughly 3,295 feet. Today it operates at a modest top speed of about 56 kmph (35 mph), completes a cycle in approximately three minutes, and has a rated hourly capacity of 672 riders. The park promotes it as “the ultimate woodie coaster,” a nod to both its vintage and its continued place in the lineup alongside newer attractions like the Big One, the steel coaster that held the UK’s height record when it debuted in 1994.
The ride’s age has made it a recurring subject of safety discussion. Lancashire police opened an investigation in 2009 after two of the Big Dipper’s cars collided, an incident that left nearly two dozen riders injured. That case predates this week’s footage by more than fifteen years and is not connected to it, though it has resurfaced repeatedly in online discussions of the current video.
What the Latest Footage Shows
The video at the center of this week’s discussion was posted to TikTok on Thursday by a rider identified only as Erin. It shows her car stopped at an angle partway through the course, with its wheels appearing to have left the rail while the rest of the train sat motionless between two of the ride’s hills. A separate shot in the same clip pans toward the track ahead, where rail sections and crossties appear visibly out of alignment.
Asked in the comments why her car had come to rest at an angle, Erin described the sequence in her own words: “as we were going down the track split slightly sending the last cart sideways,” she wrote, adding that the split ended up “breaking all the rails up the way.” She said the disruption caused the train to lose momentum — “the last cart was pulling along the track,” slowing the group until “we all went backward” — at which point a trailing car struck hers.
As of this writing, Blackpool Pleasure Beach has not issued a statement addressing the video, and the underlying mechanical cause has not been independently confirmed. The Big Dipper continues to appear among the park’s 10 listed operating coasters.
@erins.o09 never in my life going on a rollercoaster again. #abcxyz #fyp #blackpool #saxaphone
How Riders and Enthusiasts Are Responding
Erin’s video has drawn thousands of comments since Thursday, and the response has broken along fairly consistent lines.
One group has treated the footage as validation of concerns they’d already held about the coaster’s age and upkeep:
“This is why I can’t trust Big Dipper. I’ve been on it but never again.” — @ThemeParkEnthusiast
“Its also 103 years old, so its just another ride i cant put on my cc [coaster count].” — @maple.muse
“This place needs knocking down. Blackpool pleasure beach is a joke.” — @Scoobyblue555
A smaller number went further, floating the idea that the ride could be pulled from operation altogether — one asked, “Is this the end for the big dipper?” while another asserted, “That’s the big dipper being shut down now.” Neither claim has been substantiated by the park.
Against that, a second group of commenters read the same footage as evidence that the coaster’s safety mechanisms functioned as designed:
“This is supposed to happen even at the slightest inconvenience — the rollercoaster is built to stop if even the littlest thing deems it unsafe… this just proves how safe rollercoasters actually are.” — @Ducky:b
“This is extremely rare to happen and coasters are completely safe.” — AJ
“Girl trust me don’t make the Big Dipper your example for all rollercoasters, it’s literally one of the oldest rollercoasters ever, you’ll be fine I promise.” — Soul slayer
A few riders added their own accounts of past incidents on the ride, including one unverified report of a prior collision:
“Me and my partner crashed on this last year, never ever catch me on this again!” — Elliemetty
Reading the Comment Section
Taken as a whole, the reaction skews less toward panic than toward a kind of weary familiarity — many commenters seem to have already made peace with the idea that an attraction this old will occasionally show its wear. Calls for retirement or renovation are present but represent a minority view, while a comparatively small but vocal group of enthusiasts continues to argue that an automatic stoppage under questionable track conditions is the system working, not failing.
What’s largely absent from the discussion is anyone claiming direct knowledge of the mechanical cause. Until Blackpool Pleasure Beach comments officially, that question remains open.
What’s your roller coaster breakdown story? Let us know in the comments down below!
