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The Big Dipper has 3,302 feet of track and stands as a testament to brilliant design and engineering.
It was built by John Miller (together with H Baker he held the patent to the under track fraction wheel making possible steeper gradients and faster speeds).
W Strickler also had a hand in its building (he had built the Noah's Ark and Virginia Reel at the park).
The ride was 80 years old in August
2004. In 1936 the track was extended by Charlie Paige (Grand National and Southport Cyclone) and Joseph Emberton.
"The year 2000 saw the return of rollercoaster king, Richard Rodriguez, to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and his favourite ride of all time, The Big Dipper.
Richard’s previous rollercoaster marathons, which also took place on the Big Dipper, were blown apart as he doubled his previous World Record of 1013 hours.
At 11.40am on September 9th Richard completed his journey and carved a massive 2000 hours of non-stop rollercoasting into the book of modern day heroes, the Guinness Book of World Records.
After the final lap was over Richard was suitably revered with celebrations USA style, including being presented with a BBC “Linford’s Record Breakers” gold medal.
Richard spent an astounding 83 days, that’s nearly 3 months, on the Big Dipper - the equivalent to a rollercoaster journey of a lifetime to Australia and back.
The 12,000 miles were all the more worthwhile as throughout this epic feat Richard raised money for international children’s charity, Give Kids The World.
Richard, now safely ensconced back in the States, says the three months he spent completing this new world record were “some of the best, toughest, funniest, and most memorable times of my life.”
ALL DAY WRISTBAND ACCEPTED
SEPARATE 2004 TICKET PRICE: 4
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