A Big Dipper train at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool came to a stop partly off its track Thursday after rolling backward between hills, according to rider video and a passenger who described the incident.
The original video was posted on TikTok by Erin, under the account @erins.o09. It shows the view from the back of the train as the cars move backward through the wooden structure. Broken crosspieces are visible beneath the rails.
Passenger describes rollback and evacuation
A passenger who said they were aboard the train gave a firsthand account on Reddit. The rider said the train cleared its first two hills, stopped before the top of the third hill and rolled backward before coming to rest. One carriage was then found hanging between the rails, according to the account.
The passenger said park employees arrived within minutes and riders were evacuated within about an hour. The passenger reported that no one was hurt. Pleasure Beach Resort had not publicly addressed injuries, the cause or the ride's status by 12:35 a.m. Friday in Blackpool, so those details remain unconfirmed by the park.
Pleasure Beach Resort scheduled Big Dipper for planned maintenance July 20-22. That schedule ended one day before the incident. Nothing published by the park connects the maintenance period to Thursday's derailment.
A Blackpool coaster dating to 1923
Big Dipper opened in 1923 and was extended during the 1930s. Pleasure Beach Resort lists the wooden coaster at 3,295 feet long, with five drops, a top speed of 56 kilometers per hour and a three-minute ride time.
The park has not announced when the ride could reopen or how much repair work will be required. The video and passenger photographs show damaged wood around the stopped train, but they do not establish what caused the derailment.
Sources: Erin's original TikTok video, the passenger's firsthand account, and Pleasure Beach Resort's official Big Dipper and ride availability pages.
Image: Pleasure Beach Resort.