Big One (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

Roller coaster in the United Kingdom
Watch the on-ride POV
Big One
Big One, taken from the promenade
Pleasure Beach Resort
Location Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK
Coordinates 53°47′22″N 3°03′19″W / 53.789356°N 3.055345°W / 53.789356; -3.055345
Status Operating since 28 May 1994
Soundtrack Yes, by Notable Stranger[1]
Rider height 132 cm minimum
Statistics
Manufacturer Arrow Dynamics
Product Hyper Coaster
Type Steel - Hyper
Riders per train 30
Hourly capacity 1700
Propulsion Chain lift hill
Height 64.9 metres
Drop 62.5 metres
Top speed 119.1 km/h
Length 1675.5 metres
Inversions 0
Drop angle 65°
Duration 3:00
G-Force 3.5
HELP

Big One is a steel hyper roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK. The ride was formerly sponsored by Pepsi, during which time it was called Pepsi Max Big One. It is the tallest roller coaster in the United Kingdom and the tallest in the world when it opened on 28 May 1994. The ride was designed by Arrow Dynamics and manufactured by British firm Watson Steel, with Allott and Lomax acting as consultant.[2] The ride's supports were designed by Ride Centerline.[3]

History

The 1994 opening of Big One, Shockwave at Drayton Manor and Nemesis at Alton Towers resulted in 1994 being celebrated by UK parks and fans as the "Year of the Rollercoaster".[4]

At some point in the 1990s, both the first drop and the turnaround were reprofiled. Some of the old track was reused in the facade for Valhalla, where it remained until the replacement of the facade during the 2011-2012 off-season.[5] Big One's track was also used in the facade for the Lost Dinosaurs of the Sahara ride at Pleasureland Southport, which was destroyed by a fire in 2009.[6]

For the 2012 season, the Pepsi Max branding was dropped from the name.

From 2019 onwards, the track began to be replaced in portions of the ride.[7] Over the 2019-2020 off-season, the section passing under the lift hill was retracked, while the ride's ending was retracked over the 2020-2021 off-season.[8] The work was conducted by Taziker, a local engineering firm, and was believed to be a phased project happening over multiple closed seasons.[9]

Design

Elements

Color scheme

Red track and blue supports. The turnaround has a white support frame, with the normal blue supports under it.

Trains

2 trains with 5 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows, for a total of 30 riders per train. The ride originally operated with three trains.

Incidents

In July 1994, shortly after the opening of the roller coaster, a computer fault caused two trains to collide, injuring 26 people. It reopened on 31 August.[10] A similar incident occurred again on 31 August 2000, when 20 people were injured as two trains collided at low speed in the station.[11]

Images

References

  1. "National Rollercoaster day is sounding amazing for The Big One". Amusement Today. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. Pepsi Max - The Big One - Engineering Timelines
  3. "Rides List". Ride Centerline. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  4. Anniversary Features - Coaster Kingdom
  5. Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Theme Park Review
  6. Early Changes to The Big One - CoasterForce
  7. "Pleasure Beach Big One Re-tracking Work Gets Under Way".
  8. "Work Begins On Big One Retrack at Blackpool Pleasure Beach".
  9. "UK's Tallest Rollercoaster Retracked by Taziker".
  10. "Big One reopens". The Guardian.
  11. "20 hurt in Blackpool rollercoaster crash". The Guardian.

External links

The category Big One (Blackpool Pleasure Beach) contains additional media.
  • Big One on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster
May 1994 - July 1996
Preceded by
Magnum XL-200
Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster
May 1994 - July 1996
Succeeded by
Fujiyama


Articles on Pleasure Beach Resort