This wasn't the first fatal incident at Battersea. My mum remembers the Emmett Railway, with its strange locos and carriages in the style of the cartoonist Emmett's machines. 2 trains would run at any one time, but they didn't have the signalling (or block working) that most railways, big or small, have. This meant that one day, one train rear ended another at some speed, and a lady passenger would die.
@@Luubelaar Hell, it blows my mind that we didn't have laws in the US to protect children from horrific abuse until 1973. And people wonder why our Boomers and Gen X are so messed up lol. Even stranger is that during the Black Plague, the British (who were notoriously shitting and drinking from the same rivers) blamed the Jews for the plague, even though the reason the Jews weren't contracting the plague is because they washed their hands and cleaned themselves. Humans (mostly Europeans) have been arrogant idiots for about as long as they've been around lol.
..... Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
I think it's important to note that you may not have known to include - the safety systems to prevent this kind of rollback have been widely used and available since the 1920's, called Anti-Rollback Devices (ARBs). These create the classic "click clack"-ing sound that most roller coasters make as they go up the lift hill, which comes from multiple medal "dogs" underneath the train riding & bouncing along a jagged sawtooth-like rail mounted on the track, in which the design allows the train to move forward over the "teeth" of the ARB rail, but not backwards. In the UK, early examples of this system being used on coasters are the Big Dipper and Grand National at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, both from the 1920's. That makes it extra egregious that this accident even occurred at all, as a simple and common ARB system could have been installed really at any time in the coaster's history and that would have prevented this. The Scenic Railway at Dreamland in Margate is an example of this same brakeman-style coaster with a cable wire lift that had ARBs installed at some point in its life. While I'm sure they could have argued that a brakeman could serve as this function, I don't think their brake system was designed to be able to stop the train gaining full momentum from the lift hill as seen here. I'd also like to mention that forms of automatic braking have been common on non-brakeman style coasters since the 1920's as well. Rides of this era like Big Dipper at Blackpool typically had friction bar "skid" brakes that the train slides along, and there's often a stretch at the end of the ride that's permanently in place to automatically trim off most of the train's speed, followed by another set adjustable by a hand lever that the operator can adjust to stop or control the train's speed forward at that point. While maybe not ubiquitous, it was very common on other types of coasters. Coasters with a brakeman did not typically have these, though. Long time viewer here and love all your work! Just figured I'd supplement the information a little as a coaster nerd.
I don’t get why he left out so much. There WAS an ARB. But the dog brake on two different trains minimum weren’t making contact. We know it was 2 trains because days prior the lift rope (what a phrase) snapped then too, but much earlier and lower to the ground. Instead of the dog brake grabbing, they went back into the station. But even though the brakeman essentially said “hey, idiots, the coaster is screaming at you to fix her before she really hurts someone” they shushed him and sent him back up. One of two things caused this. First, general lack of upkeep. Obviously those brakes wear down from the constant clack-clack-clack. But also there was a big coaster fire in 1970. Instead of buying new wood and parts, they replaced as little as possible with recycled parts from a 1920 coaster. They literally fixed a rotting 1951 coaster with second hand and very poor 1920 used material. No matter what the absolute reason is, it’s due to the owners doing this all as cheaply as possible.
By the way, everyone is aware the brakeman here weren’t there to stop rollbacks, right? They were never hired to stop a train on a 45° hill going 30mph+ instantly, all while weighing 2,500 pounds. The train is over 1,000 pounds and with 19 people inside, that’s about 1,500 more. Boom. 2,500lb. It sounds ludicrous because it is, and they knew it, especially by 1951. If this was something they wanted there would’ve been a HUGE amount of straight track before the lift hill to let rollbacks slow it down by hand. Instead they seemed to realize this would just end up in someone dead so let’s add an anti rollback device and then build everything super compact. Problem solved! As long as the cars are maintained. And that’s where the real issue came in.
That Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank, noise at the first hill of modern rides is a ratchet to keep the train from rolling back. It seems such an obvious thing now, but we had to learn we needed it somehow. RIP to those kids
Yes but that was actually common practice by this point. This ride was just extremely outdated and did not have anywhere close to the safety standards most rides of that time had.
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
I believe the ride did have the ratchets installed, but they were made of wood and rotten as a pear, simply breaking instead of restraining the train. I certainly remember the "clank-clank" noise when I went on it.
@@rogerking7258 The ratchets themselves wee steel. but they were bolted onto the wooden framework. My late father was one of the design engineers for the festival of Britain and as a child I went with him on repairs and maintenance. He died in 1957, it was probably the last time that they were properly inspected. The biggest problem at Battersea park was the pumps that operated the fountains. They had to be opened up and cleaned twice a day.
Kids from the 90's might remember the game 'Rollercoaster Tycoon' from 1999. One of the parks featured was called 'Bumbly Beach' and it featured a large rollercoaster called 'Big Dipper'. It would usually crash just before meeting the park's attendance objective, causing you to miss the objective deadline. It was a nod from game creator Chris Sawyer to the real park
I play RCT2 every morning...still. I do remember the RCT1 Big Dipper - Bumbly Beach was pretty fun, once you realized the only solution is to make a very long-narrow waterslide at the bottom (parallel to the Big Dipper), after you put in the larger of the mini coasters...OK I spend too much thought on this
@@MisterVercetti The irony of it all is that if they had been convicted, the public may have felt a sense of justice, and the park may have continued to operate for much longer under entirely new management. When we don't get answers or justice, we f*ck right off.
Correct Pennie! I waited through the rest of the video expecting to see an interview or picture of “JOHN COLLINS” whose name is so proudly displayed as “JOHN COLLINS BIG DIPPER”. Maybe he was the original designer or inventor I’m not sure but I was at least expecting an explanation and the fact that this was put down to “just an accident” is absolutely pathetic, I don’t know how the parents dealt with this outcome when their children were killed so horrifically and yet nobody is held responsible! The fact the ride was allowed to reopen I find absolutely mind boggling. Surely following the extensive fire that damaged and destroyed much of the ride months earlier, you would think that there would have been extensive and intensive checking and testing of the entirety of the structure by both the owner and operators as well as health and safety, as well as insurance investigators? I know people tended to just move on with things back then but this is well, I just can’t get my head around it.
@@garethtaylor1470 they had civil engineers then. They also had underwriters, as the dipper would have been insured to pay for the rebuild following the fire.
@@macaylacayton2915Laws and regulations were probably much more lax back then. Unfortunately, lessons are learned from the blood of others. The safety systems we take for granted today were created because of accidents like these.
✊🏻 I rode a rollercoaster once. The high speed whooshing was fun. It was the long, slow grind to the top of the first hill that makes me still not want to do it again twenty years later. 🎢😬
People made fun of me for what was deemed an "irrational fear" of coasters. The more I learn, the more I realize... that fear was fairly justified. I always figured I'd be the one with the luck to end up talked about in one of these videos.
i was there that day and had been on the big dipper with my mates we left the park about 2 pm and didnt hear about the disaster till watching the TV news that night
That's nuts, if you're telling the truth. If you're making this up just to look cool on the Internet, it's a dick move. Either way, glad you're still alive!
@@karate_girl_ibiza Why would you think it so surprising to hear from people who were there that day? It was a gorgeous day and the park was packed. Us kids of the time are only in our 50s and 60s today. Naturally any of us who knew the park and the crash are going to be drawn to this article.
Right up until the 1980s, it was common for workmen to go to the pub at lunchtime for a pint or two. This included builders working high up on buildings.
Incidents like these make me thankful not to have been born a few decades ago when safety standards were so relaxed. Watching someone fall to their death and making your way down the coaster while stepping in others' blood is insane.
I still remember that day, Shirley Nash was a friend of mine, we all lived in Reading, on the same estate, and went to the same school. That day she, her sister and their parents had intended to visit Madame tusauds, but it was closed, so the parents not wishing to disappoint their daughters on their day out, decided to go to Battersea fun fair instead. Shirleys sister, who I think was called Julie, was also seriously hurt as well but thankfully I believe she survived.
The lack of memorial here is so sad. The thought of a survivor coming back and finding zero acknowledgement of the tragedy they went through is just devastating.
@@insertgenericusernamehere2402 Some businesses don't do it for that reason as well as being associated with something so negative. Hell , Disney World has had SEVERAL accidents and a few violent situations that involve fatalities. Yet, we hear practically nothing about it unless covered by true crime and the like.
Never knew there was rollercoaster in Batteresa Park whilst living in London for 20 years but that was in the 2000s era. It's a shame it took them 50 years to put any sort of memorial. And I do get why people we're angry of how public money is spend ,Alway baffled me too
This is the Roller Coaster 🎢 that was used in the title sequence of Journey to the Unknown, a tv series shown in 1969/ 70, has a young Dennis Waterman in one of the episodes.
The Boardwalk at Santa Cruz, CA near where I live has an old wooden rollercoaster that celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. (It's called the Giant Dipper, presumably so it sounded like more of a thrill than the various Big Dippers operated by competitors.) While there have been a few fatalities on it over the decades due to riders deciding not to remain in their seats, there have never been any injuries from mechanical issues. That's no accident. The ride has always been meticulously maintained, with regular updates including automatic braking systems when they became available, is on its third set of cars, and undergoes walking inspections every day before opening and every 2 hours while in operation. With only 3 fatalities over 100 years and more than 68,000,000 riders, it's safer to ride this coaster than it is to get to Santa Cruz from San Jose by car. (No joke that. Highway 17 over the Santa Cruz Mountains was the most dangerous highway in California for many years, and it still sees regular accidents and fatalities.) To not properly maintain a ride like this is to needlessly endanger every rider, who probably climb aboard assuming it's perfectly safe.
The Giant Dipper was the first roller coaster I ever rode at seven years old. That was over forty years ago. I remember starting to cry going up the hill, with the chain clanking as the cars made their way up. Then, I was exhilarated by the ride. I know I went back on it later at night. I've ridden it a few more times since, but not for many years. I saw a recent video detailing the maintenance that is put into it to ensure its safety, and the improvements made over the years.
I remember the Fun Fair very well. Me and my brother went to Battersea Fun Fair in 1968/9 with mum and I was about 8 at the time. While getting on the big dipper I dropped my favourite toy (an action man I think), the attendant reached between the carriage and the platform to grab it when unexpectedly the train started moving, he was dragged down and we thought he had been seriously injured or worse. When the carriage returned to the station he was standing on the platform, forlorn and bloodied but smiling with my toy safe and well in his hand. While writing this comment it dawned on me as to why I never went on those type of rides in later life with my kids, my wife always had to take them as I hated the sight of rollercoasters but had forgotten about that incident until I fell upon your video, wow, every day is a school day.
Long time watcher, first-time commentor - I have always liked the respect for the victims, either voicing their names or listing if the tragedy was large. They are remembered and not just used as click bait
I mean I have insurance, so my insurance is gonna pay for me to learn to cope with my trauma even if the insurance is pretty shit state aid. Get you conspiracy stuff outta here. Youve clearly never been to therapy.
@@arturoaguilar6002 Not necessarily. The truth is that whereever there is tragedy, there are ppl willing to exploit it for their own gain. It isnt appropriate for a one-size-fits-all approach to recovering from a bad experience.
The train involved in the accident was borrowed from Dreamland, Margate's Scenic Railway. You can clearly see the carved dragon's heads on the front of the cars of the crashed trains, whereas Battersea's normal trains had undecorated flat fronts as shown earlier in the video. The train was not totally compatible with the track. What happened was that the rear cable grip failed to engage with the pull-up cable so when the front cable grip disengaged just after the peak of the lift hill, there was nothing holding the train to the cable and so it rolled back. The brakeman was unable to stop the train as the brakes are simply two wooden blocks which are pushed down onto the tracks when the lever is pulled. There was no chance of these stopping the train on the lift hill .
FH is a short and very informative history lesson every Tuesday morning that I am obsessed with. I've been an avid fan for years and there's no other channel like it 👌 keep up the great work ✌️
It maybe worth noting that ambulance men back then didn't have much medical training, about the level of a first aid certificate. So children would only get pre-hospital medical care if there happened to be a doctor visiting the park or one close by that might be summoned to help.
They called what ambulance crews did "scoop & run" back then. The job was basically to get people to hospital ASAP, and hope the patient didn't die on the way.
@@dawnstorm9768, true, paramedics and EMTs were still a pretty new concept in 1972 in the US while ambulances were still basically white hearses. And the paramedics were often firefighters. I don’t think the rolling “emergency room” type of ambulance we know today started being purpose built until the mid 70s
@dawnstorm9768 I'm in the UK born in 1980,when I was about 7 years old I was rushed into hospital having a really bad asthma attack, the ambulance guys literally carried me into the ambulance and all they could do was tell me to just keep breathing while he gave me oxygen, that was it. I'm so glad now paramedics actually have medical knowledge and can do more than just take people to hospital
To be clear, roller coasters did have brakes by the time this one was installed. But this model dating back further, was one of the last brake man roller coasters. These often didn't have up stop wheels to keep the trains on the track as the brake man controlling the speed could keep it from getting too untamed. Coasters by the 30s onward had up stop wheels and brake runs to prevent easy derailing or collision.
The brakes on this type of roller coaster aren't very efficient, consisting just of wooden blocks which are pushed down onto the tracks when the brake lever is pulled. None of the wheels are braked.
@@TruckingVideos I was more trying to clarify. The video made it almost sound like wheel mounted brakes became the norm, which is far from accurate. A handful of old coasters use a brake man like you described, and most coasters then and now use external brakes and block zones.
2:47 a.m. here. I've been scrolling through TH-cam for over an hour and got stuck on shorts. So freaking glad something intelligent dropped. Woke up in excruciating pain. Cannot lay back down. I love Fascinating Horror.
There's also one lovely wooden roller coaster still operating (from 1951) in Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. And they still have a person working the brakes on every train.
There’s a wooden coaster in the uk called The Wicker Man that caught fire because someone dropped a vape pen while riding… Me and my partner went on it last week and we said the wood didn’t even look treated. It looked like it could rot! Scary.
...you do realize that's the design of the ride right? The coaster is meant to look like it's on fire at points, it's literally a pagan sacrifice thing, like in the movie@@Deedeevenye
@@MadameChristie What are you even saying? The ride has controlled fire effects when you go through the wicker man but it isn’t meant to set the ride on fire ffs. They closed the ride for 3 weeks. How can you say it’s apart of the design for it to set on fire? 🤣
I remember this incident; I rode the Big Dipper at Battersea with my girlfriend of the time about 2 or 3 days before the crash. If I remember correctly we went round several times with no problem, if you went at an off-peak time you could stay on for just the price of another ride if there were not many others waiting. Got a bit of a shock when I heard this had happened. 50 years + ago now, rarely hear of it any more. There are a few movies that feature the park in it's heyday; my favourite being "The day the earth caught fire" which has a number of scenes set in or near the park.
You haven't done a roller coaster story in years! This is a very special episode..a new amusement park horror story. That's what made this channel famous!!
We have the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz, California, that just celebrated its 100 year anniversary back in May. It’s had 3 fatalities, none of which were caused by negligent operators or faulty maintenance. The cars were updated twice I think. The first time was after the second fatality. I’m glad the company that owns and runs the Giant Dipper is keeping up with its care.
Right around 1972, when I was 12 years old, I rode the Giant Dipper against my mom's wishes. She was afraid for my safety. Wish we'd known its excellent safety record; that might've reassured my poor mother. It's a great roller coaster!
The story of this was my first introduction to roller coaster accidents. I have since developed a SPIN (autistic special interest) in them, and coasters as a whole. Its very wonderful to see you cover such a thing in your consistently respectful way.
Dude there are so very many roller coaster accidents. And just amusement park ride failures in general. You should totally start up your own channel of epic theme park fails, targeted at neurodivergent peoples. I would totally be a Patreon!❤
@Clownacy do you get irrationally excited and over exuberant at the sheer mention of a hobby? Does the very thought of it make your mind spiral and your heart race? Will you go literal days without eating or sleeping because you cannot physically or mentally break yourself away from the task at hand? Will you go out of your way to avoid other key om facets of your life just to obsess over your passion? If not, then it's not SPIN. It's just "normal hobby."
@@Clownacy Actually, just calling it a special interest would have been just as fine. Special interests are a real thing, and they are more intense than a hobby or interest; however, they are not explicitly autistic. I've never heard of a "SPIN" and it seems completely unnecessary. Like, why bother typing it and then clarifying what it means when one can just say "special interest"? It sends off a red flag that this person is probably a self-diagnosed faker. Most of the autistic people I know (who are actually diagnosed) talk just like anyone else; they're not always trying to slang-ify their symptoms. Basically OP is probably just a kid with a hobby, but your response seems a bit dismissive of special interests as a whole, so I wanted to clarify.
I was there when it happened. I was only 6 at the time and don't remember it too well. I do remember all the noise of the crash and the ensuing panic. My mum and dad left with me straight away as I was very scared. They took me to the Wimpy in Elephant and Castle shopping centre and bought me a burger and chips with a milkshake to calm me down a bit.
Real Horror did this when they first started their channel and I have to say; this is one of my favorite things to watch!! I love hearing how everyone basically winged it and it cost so many lives and could've been prevented
Its always great to hear the voice of this narrator. The mother tongue is unmistakable. Its always a tragedy hearing how a harmless love of fun and excitement can turn deadly in a split second. i remember a fairground accident that happened in the IBM playing fields in Cosham Portsmouth on one guy Faulks night firework display and bonfire. It happened every year and we would meet at our uncles house and walk to the bonfire which was a short walk from their house with our cousins with us. there was an accident in the travelling fair ground one of the rides came off and it landed on the ground with a young girl who was killed and a few more were injured. I don't remember the year it happened but i was there, i saw the fire trucks and ambulances coming onto the grounds we couldn't see much it was dark at this time and we needed to leave to catch the bus back home. our parents were with us too but they didn't want us to stick around to watch what had been a fun night out. It was the late 19702 early 80's maybe it was in the Portsmouth daily news paper. There was another accident in a stationary fair ground in Southsea Portsmouth as well on their roller coaster ride i don't remember if anyone died but i remember hearing what had happened, the thing collapsed it was made of wood then too being right beside the sea the salt from the water would have rotted through the wood in no time. They replaced it a few years later with metal. i have not been able to have fun at fair grounds since those days when a kid should be able to have fun i didn't enjoy them at all. one of their swings gave way too and a young person was badly injured. i think fairs have too laxed rules and regulations for safety and security of the patrons. i haven't been able to go to a fair ground since and i had told my kids when they were kids not to go to the travelling fairs they are dangerous But kids being kids don't listen to their parents much and i have never taken them, if they did go with their friends i would worry about them till they came home, I will never take my grand Daughters to a fair of any kind. Great video i haven't heard about this one. now you have three more accidents to research plus others in the comments section. Good luck!
I don’t think wooden roller coasters are the problem. There’s a beautiful, well-maintained, old one at Canobie Park in New Hampshire. As usual, the problem in this Horror was humans.
Yup, a turn of events that surprised absolutely no viewer here 😂 FH's channel is made possible entirely by greed, corruption and incompetence. And those three qualities tend to combine in people like a formula, as seen on most of FH's content. I've watched almost every FH video to date. I don't think he's covered a single case where the root cause wasn't at least one of those three qualities in humans.
I rode the similar wooden roller coaster called the Scenic Railway in Margate this past April, and it was a 5 plus minutes fun ride. I really enjoyed it.Sadly, cracks were discovered on the tracks recently. As far as I know it is still out of service.
At 4:51, there is a picture of my sister standing next to Carolyn, whom you quote in the video. We lived in Hackney at the time, and she went to Battersea without telling our mum. The old girl was quite rattled by the whole chain of events. Fast forward 50 years, and my sister attends the memorial event. Still tinged with sadness after the passage of years. Respect for speaking the names of those who tragically died.
Everyone knows brakemen never stopped rollbacks, right? Not their job. And was the 1970 coaster fire mentioned? So to reiterate, brakemen were employed only to stop the coaster going FORWARD. No one expected a man to stop a thousand pound train with 18 riders plus him, rolling back at nearly a 45 degree angle, all with a hand brake. That’s a good 3000 pounds, going down a hill faster than the ride was designed to go. (They normally only managed 30mph.) The coaster had rollback teeth, because they had those even back in 1951. The issue is the coaster was so rotten that the train couldn’t even engage them, so the man tried his hardest to slow it just to save people. And the 1970 fire is to blame in my book. It was absolutely caused by no upkeep, but quickened by a fire. Instead of replacing burnt wood and parts with new, they brought in 50 year old second hand parts. Yes folks, they fixed a burned up wooden 1951 coaster with a 1920 coaster. So it’s no wonder things like the evacuation walkway for stuck trains on the lift hill was so rotten you could see the ground in spots. When you fix burned wood with rotten wood, and toss in 50 year old rusted metal parts? You might not succeed in a safe coaster.
I feel like this is the inspiration for the Canadian musical Ride the Cyclone. It’s literally about a half a dozen kids who die on a rickety wooden roller coaster at a fair. Though the show creators say the inspiration was Hurricane Katrina.
I was lucky enough to ride a vintage roller coaster at St. Kilda Luna Park in the mid 1980s. It was old, the wood moved about an inch when you watched it from the ground close up. And it would be considered tame by modern standards. Except, i dont know why but those unbanked corners were terrifying, and knowing that you had some bloke pulling a pole to brake on his own judgement added to the unsettling feel to the ride. The age of it was palpable. The wood was visibly rotted around the rusted bolts and when you watched it from the que to ride it you could see the whole thing bend and groan whenever the carriage passed. The human "pilot" also scared me. He was a tough scary looking dude and he held your life in his hand, literally. I know why these wooden monsters are rated highly by fans. They are from a time before computer modeling and built by trial and error engineering, and although the modern ones are radical, you know they are sanitised. With the old ones you were just happy for it to end without crashing or collapsing. Thats a scary ride.
@@NyanPoptartCat I call this is as the wealthy have an unlimited F around budget, Find Out will never find them because their wallet is so thick. Or if it does at least here in the USA they get a slap on the wrist and go to Club Fed. *For Non-USA readers, Club Fed is a term in this country for the really easy Prison. They are still in Prison as in they cannot leave but its more like a country club than the "iron bar motel"
I'm from California over here in the US and we have a very, very, very similar looking coaster that's also called The Big Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park between the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas - which, if I'm remembering right, was similarly built in that ~1920s time frame. I'm assuming it must be a sister/maybe a cousin to this coaster... never knew that it had any siblings so to speak!
Delay, obfuscate, and, above all, make sure there is at least one person you can blame for your own failings. Throw in a bit of intimidation so staff won't report obvious faults and you can ensure no-one can be found guilty.
What a wonderful surprise upon waking at 4am! Coffee and an interesting video. I'm so impressed with the number of subscriptions. I've been a su subscriber since you only had 12,000. Brilliant work! Cheers😊
This is one of the few times I wish that some sort of diagram or digital recreation of the incident had been included. I am just having trouble visualizing how this all happened.
Think about driving your car 60mph and then suddenly doing a sharp right turn on a neighborhood street corner. The car will flip over. Thats basically what happened here, the train flipped over and crashed into another train full of people.
This made me think of the Thunder River Rapids Ride accident from a decade ago - would you consider making a video about that incident? I love your content ❤
One of the ways to know a group is highly guilty of not fulfilling their obligation to safety, They settled it out of court. I obviously as an American do not really have knowledge of the UK legal system. But here in the USA a business owner is usually quick to settle out of court when they know a jury trial lawsuit will cost them dearly, Will be a total PR crap storm or both.
I have not forgotten this day. As a 12 year old I had a number of very specific premonitions. On this day I did not have a specific premonation but my father wanted to go to the Battersea 'pleasure gardens' on that day. We had gone to other places & gone on the roller-coaster at every one. Suddenly I knew we must not go to the Battersea fun-fair. I had no inkling of what would happen but I felt dread. Being the oldest child I managed to influence my brothers to say they did not want to go there either. If I had not had that feeling of dread we might not have survived that day.
I remember this, the first coaster accident I remember hearing about. I had seen this ride when we lived in London so it stuck in my mind ever since. Back then there was no counselling only those with physical injury would go to hospital and many would go home from he park, they did not even close the park after the accident, many would watch as the emergency workers went to work, very different to today where the whole site would be evacuated and closed off.
People back then weren't obsessed with injury, physically or mentally, like now. Most things were taken in stride. I think most of us turned out okay without some psychologist or would-be holding our hands. Nowadays, a kid gets a boo-boo on their finger and an army of counsellors troop in to mess with their heads.
@@RockwellRhodes Thats right. I went to an old stone built school with thick plaster ceilings mixed with horse hair, there was a huge thunderstorm the likes of which I have never seen since even in these days of our changed climate. A thunderbolt struck and blasted some stone apart right above my desk causing a huge crack in the ceiling, the teacher said my friend and I had better moves desks and the lesson carried on suddenly a huge piece of plaster crashed down on the place we had just moved from. I was shaking with fear but still expected to stay in class and next day was just a normal day, apart from lots of chatter about this huge storm that had done so much damage, not only to my school but to several buildings over a wide area
It would have been interesting to know what called the train to roll back in the first place, as this had evidently happened more than once. Rotten safety rails was obviously an issue, but there must have been some serious mechanical defect as well, which was presumably raised at the inquest?
Used to go to Battersea’s fair regularly back in the late 60s early 70s. It was only a no 19 bus ride from our homes in Islington. We wasn’t there on the day the disaster happened, but I still remember the shock when the news of it was made public. Although we wasn’t there it felt very personal. It was our play ground. There were other smaller accidents in the fair before the Rollercoaster happened, so I suppose the signs were there for some time. People trusted the fair to maintain its rides. Although we still went to the fair for a while, it was never quite the same and eventually closed for good. !!!
My brother begged our parents for the money to go on a parish trip to Battersea that day. He didn't get the cash but was glad he didn't. One boy from our school died that day (Tommy Harmer), and my brother's friend was injured (I remember the drum kit he bought with the compensation he got; I think it was £2000). The whole school went to the funeral. I'll never forget the little white coffin, and I'm sure that the funeral was the cause of my life-long hatred of the smell of lillies.
I was there on the 29th of May. Even as a 9 year old at the time, i rode the dipper once and had no wish to go again. It felt incredibly dangerous as rattled and tipped off the rails on the bends. One day later this happened.
If I remember right, this was an older, side-friction design. Most coasters, even at the time, had undercarriage wheels, so they didn't need brakemen. They also had anti-rollback devices by the time this ride was built, so it shouldn't have been able to slide backwards at all.
Unfortunately, accidents like these and others are the reasons why there are the safety regulations that we have now. There are still accidents, but they are not as bad as earlier ones and inspectors have the laws to punish the people who are responsible for the deaths and injured.
2:11 😮 No kidding!? I love The Gravitron and I had no idea it was that old of a design! That's amazing! ....the reason I find it so amazing is because The Gravitron allows riders to experience the same amount of G-force that astronauts on the shuttle experience during liftoff! 👍
I spent a lot of time at Battersea park, from 1955 until the late 60s. I loved the tree-top walk. They had a huge Easter parade each year. The entrance to the park had the Guinness clock, featuring the toucan, and the park keeper.
I always hate how they say that rollercoasters these days are always so dangerous, especially in those clickbaity videos. They should've compared those incidents to this one and see for themselves how kuch safer they are now.
I went to Battersea county school,from 70-76, we went to the funfair every weekend,a lot of my friends from school,worked there sometimes,& sadly,most off there tree,with drink.The big dipper,as I remember,always looked unsafe,so I never rode it,but it was a great place,for us kids,to go.
Let me just preference this by saying I love roller coasters, but the fear of riding one, especially after this tragedy, is valid. No amusement park should be labeled a "death trap."
If you want to know what the park was like at it's heyday, and what the coaster looked like, it appears on the film The Day the Earth caught Fire, 1961. I always wondered where it was and so looked and saw the remains on the modern day map.
One other prominent UK rollercoaster crash was the Smiler accident in 2015. Here's the video I made on that: th-cam.com/video/Q0gsj9Qtyuo/w-d-xo.html
I appreciate that you honor the victims in your videos by saying their names. We mustn't forget them.
I agree!
This wasn't the first fatal incident at Battersea. My mum remembers the Emmett Railway, with its strange locos and carriages in the style of the cartoonist Emmett's machines. 2 trains would run at any one time, but they didn't have the signalling (or block working) that most railways, big or small, have. This meant that one day, one train rear ended another at some speed, and a lady passenger would die.
It still blows my mind that "health and safety" rules just didn't exist in the past. Sometimes I'm astonished that humans survived at all.
Wow. I can't find much on it, but thanks for turning me on to Roland Emett!
@@Luubelaar Hell, it blows my mind that we didn't have laws in the US to protect children from horrific abuse until 1973. And people wonder why our Boomers and Gen X are so messed up lol. Even stranger is that during the Black Plague, the British (who were notoriously shitting and drinking from the same rivers) blamed the Jews for the plague, even though the reason the Jews weren't contracting the plague is because they washed their hands and cleaned themselves. Humans (mostly Europeans) have been arrogant idiots for about as long as they've been around lol.
@@Luubelaar I find it odd that although this was a strange looking novelty railway, that it had no signalling.
.....
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Romans 6.23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
I think it's important to note that you may not have known to include - the safety systems to prevent this kind of rollback have been widely used and available since the 1920's, called Anti-Rollback Devices (ARBs). These create the classic "click clack"-ing sound that most roller coasters make as they go up the lift hill, which comes from multiple medal "dogs" underneath the train riding & bouncing along a jagged sawtooth-like rail mounted on the track, in which the design allows the train to move forward over the "teeth" of the ARB rail, but not backwards. In the UK, early examples of this system being used on coasters are the Big Dipper and Grand National at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, both from the 1920's.
That makes it extra egregious that this accident even occurred at all, as a simple and common ARB system could have been installed really at any time in the coaster's history and that would have prevented this. The Scenic Railway at Dreamland in Margate is an example of this same brakeman-style coaster with a cable wire lift that had ARBs installed at some point in its life. While I'm sure they could have argued that a brakeman could serve as this function, I don't think their brake system was designed to be able to stop the train gaining full momentum from the lift hill as seen here.
I'd also like to mention that forms of automatic braking have been common on non-brakeman style coasters since the 1920's as well. Rides of this era like Big Dipper at Blackpool typically had friction bar "skid" brakes that the train slides along, and there's often a stretch at the end of the ride that's permanently in place to automatically trim off most of the train's speed, followed by another set adjustable by a hand lever that the operator can adjust to stop or control the train's speed forward at that point. While maybe not ubiquitous, it was very common on other types of coasters. Coasters with a brakeman did not typically have these, though.
Long time viewer here and love all your work! Just figured I'd supplement the information a little as a coaster nerd.
Thank you! Good facts to know.
Thank you, that's fascinating!
This is the best info about ARBs I've ever heard and I watch a lot of ride disaster videos. Love it!
I don’t get why he left out so much. There WAS an ARB. But the dog brake on two different trains minimum weren’t making contact. We know it was 2 trains because days prior the lift rope (what a phrase) snapped then too, but much earlier and lower to the ground. Instead of the dog brake grabbing, they went back into the station. But even though the brakeman essentially said “hey, idiots, the coaster is screaming at you to fix her before she really hurts someone” they shushed him and sent him back up.
One of two things caused this. First, general lack of upkeep. Obviously those brakes wear down from the constant clack-clack-clack. But also there was a big coaster fire in 1970. Instead of buying new wood and parts, they replaced as little as possible with recycled parts from a 1920 coaster. They literally fixed a rotting 1951 coaster with second hand and very poor 1920 used material. No matter what the absolute reason is, it’s due to the owners doing this all as cheaply as possible.
By the way, everyone is aware the brakeman here weren’t there to stop rollbacks, right? They were never hired to stop a train on a 45° hill going 30mph+ instantly, all while weighing 2,500 pounds. The train is over 1,000 pounds and with 19 people inside, that’s about 1,500 more. Boom. 2,500lb. It sounds ludicrous because it is, and they knew it, especially by 1951.
If this was something they wanted there would’ve been a HUGE amount of straight track before the lift hill to let rollbacks slow it down by hand. Instead they seemed to realize this would just end up in someone dead so let’s add an anti rollback device and then build everything super compact. Problem solved! As long as the cars are maintained. And that’s where the real issue came in.
That Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank, Clank, noise at the first hill of modern rides is a ratchet to keep the train from rolling back. It seems such an obvious thing now, but we had to learn we needed it somehow. RIP to those kids
Yes but that was actually common practice by this point. This ride was just extremely outdated and did not have anywhere close to the safety standards most rides of that time had.
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Romans 6.23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
I believe the ride did have the ratchets installed, but they were made of wood and rotten as a pear, simply breaking instead of restraining the train. I certainly remember the "clank-clank" noise when I went on it.
@@rogerking7258 I love the phrase "Rotten as a pear"
@@rogerking7258 The ratchets themselves wee steel. but they were bolted onto the wooden framework.
My late father was one of the design engineers for the festival of Britain and as a child I went with him on repairs and maintenance. He died in 1957, it was probably the last time that they were properly inspected.
The biggest problem at Battersea park was the pumps that operated the fountains. They had to be opened up and cleaned twice a day.
Kids from the 90's might remember the game 'Rollercoaster Tycoon' from 1999. One of the parks featured was called 'Bumbly Beach' and it featured a large rollercoaster called 'Big Dipper'. It would usually crash just before meeting the park's attendance objective, causing you to miss the objective deadline. It was a nod from game creator Chris Sawyer to the real park
I loved that game, played it all the time in the 90s.
I played that game and remember that ride! That’s crazy it was referencing that!
I played that game earlier today 😊
I spent hours on that game
I play RCT2 every morning...still. I do remember the RCT1 Big Dipper - Bumbly Beach was pretty fun, once you realized the only solution is to make a very long-narrow waterslide at the bottom (parallel to the Big Dipper), after you put in the larger of the mini coasters...OK I spend too much thought on this
Before it was even said, I knew both of those charged would not be convicted. It's like clockwork. Accountability is an extremely rare thing.
It's sickening because they don't get convicted.
No doubt some “monetary considerations” of the dim, smoke-filled back room variety were involved.
@@MisterVercetti The irony of it all is that if they had been convicted, the public may have felt a sense of justice, and the park may have continued to operate for much longer under entirely new management. When we don't get answers or justice, we f*ck right off.
Correct Pennie!
I waited through the rest of the video expecting to see an interview or picture of “JOHN COLLINS” whose name is so proudly displayed as “JOHN COLLINS BIG DIPPER”.
Maybe he was the original designer or inventor I’m not sure but I was at least expecting an explanation and the fact that this was put down to “just an accident” is absolutely pathetic, I don’t know how the parents dealt with this outcome when their children were killed so horrifically and yet nobody is held responsible!
The fact the ride was allowed to reopen I find absolutely mind boggling.
Surely following the extensive fire that damaged and destroyed much of the ride months earlier, you would think that there would have been extensive and intensive checking and testing of the entirety of the structure by both the owner and operators as well as health and safety, as well as insurance investigators?
I know people tended to just move on with things back then but this is well, I just can’t get my head around it.
@@garethtaylor1470 they had civil engineers then. They also had underwriters, as the dipper would have been insured to pay for the rebuild following the fire.
A more than 50 year old wooden construction in sunny England without proper maintenance. What could possibly go wrong? Those poor kids.
Sunny England. 😂
I’m British, and I must ask. What is “sunny”?
@@The_Mimewar A little-known fact: It's what happens above the permanent cloud cover.
Bit like Grenfell
The reality of it being in a perpetually rainy environment is actually quite a bit worse
Those in charge should have been held accountable, they ignored employees reporting the brakes not working, and ignored substance abuse.
Most likely on drugs themselves, and the lawyers and judge.
Exactly.
@@scobra5941Yup
Ok who the fuck allowed the employees and/or guests to use drugs?! That’s a safety violation right there
@@macaylacayton2915Laws and regulations were probably much more lax back then. Unfortunately, lessons are learned from the blood of others. The safety systems we take for granted today were created because of accidents like these.
It proves that my fear of rollercoasters as a kid wasn't completely unfounded it took my several years to muster the courage to sit in one
Definetly not unfounded, I love them but as fears go it's pretty rationale.
✊🏻 I rode a rollercoaster once. The high speed whooshing was fun. It was the long, slow grind to the top of the first hill that makes me still not want to do it again twenty years later. 🎢😬
Very safe it’s not an irrational fear but the chances of an accident occurring are less likely than spending the day driving around in a car
I've never been on one, and I never will
People made fun of me for what was deemed an "irrational fear" of coasters. The more I learn, the more I realize... that fear was fairly justified. I always figured I'd be the one with the luck to end up talked about in one of these videos.
i was there that day and had been on the big dipper with my mates we left the park about 2 pm and didnt hear about the disaster till watching the TV news that night
Me too. We lived on Park Gate Road. My mum hated that Big Dipper and always said it was a death trap.
Yeh sure you were 😂😂😂😂😂😂
That's nuts, if you're telling the truth. If you're making this up just to look cool on the Internet, it's a dick move. Either way, glad you're still alive!
@@karate_girl_ibiza Why would you think it so surprising to hear from people who were there that day? It was a gorgeous day and the park was packed. Us kids of the time are only in our 50s and 60s today. Naturally any of us who knew the park and the crash are going to be drawn to this article.
@@amandahugginkiss55why would someone need to 'look cool on the internet'? The fact that he was there is not that big of a stretch.
Taking alcohol and drugs on the job thats beyond negligence
Right up until the 1980s, it was common for workmen to go to the pub at lunchtime for a pint or two. This included builders working high up on buildings.
@nlwilson4892 it helped calm their nerves when they fall off due to an imbalance 😞
@seandelap8587 have you ever seen a carni? They basically run on drugs and alcohol.
Unfortunately back in the 1970's health and safety wasn't really considered.
@@sarahudson108 The 70s were also a decade of heavy drug use and experimentation.
Incidents like these make me thankful not to have been born a few decades ago when safety standards were so relaxed. Watching someone fall to their death and making your way down the coaster while stepping in others' blood is insane.
Could still happen today though...
Makes us tougher
People in the future will probably think the same thing about us today.
@@Rincypoopooyou don’t get used to those things. You only become more traumatized.
@@chadcovey1626less likely now that safety standards are stricter and safety mechanisms are improved
I still remember that day, Shirley Nash was a friend of mine, we all lived in Reading, on the same estate, and went to the same school.
That day she, her sister and their parents had intended to visit Madame tusauds, but it was closed, so the parents not wishing to disappoint their daughters on their day out, decided to go to Battersea fun fair instead. Shirleys sister, who I think was called Julie, was also seriously hurt as well but thankfully I believe she survived.
The lack of memorial here is so sad. The thought of a survivor coming back and finding zero acknowledgement of the tragedy they went through is just devastating.
If I was a survivor of a tragedy I don't think I'd want a memorial, don't want to be reminded of past trauma but that's me
@@insertgenericusernamehere2402 Some businesses don't do it for that reason as well as being associated with something so negative. Hell , Disney World has had SEVERAL accidents and a few violent situations that involve fatalities. Yet, we hear practically nothing about it unless covered by true crime and the like.
How expensive is it for a marble or granite memorial statue? I just don't understand why these memorials are always so controversial and complicated.
@@nysockexchange2204 quite expensive marble isn't cheap
No need for that. Move on.
I haven't forgotten, I was living in the UK at the time and had been on the Big Dipper perhaps a month or two before? A brakeman? Crazy in retrospect
"Hey Bob, do you think we should get these kids looked at by a doctor, or a therapist, or anything?" "Nah they're fine, send em home"
In those days I doubt it was even discussed, they wouldn't have thought about it.
“Don’t worry about it!”
They didn't do anything for soldiers returning from wars either. Same with car, plane, ship or train accidents.
Wet paper towel should do the job
Nobody thought of that stuff then. You just picked yourself up and got on with things. Thankfully we have more knowledge about trauma these days.
Never knew there was rollercoaster in Batteresa Park whilst living in London for 20 years but that was in the 2000s era. It's a shame it took them 50 years to put any sort of memorial. And I do get why people we're angry of how public money is spend ,Alway baffled me too
I went or the rollercoaster ride with my late parents. It was a highlight of my life in 1962 in England London. Won't forget the ride. Was wild
This is the Roller Coaster 🎢 that was used in the title sequence of Journey to the Unknown, a tv series shown in 1969/ 70, has a young Dennis Waterman in one of the episodes.
The Boardwalk at Santa Cruz, CA near where I live has an old wooden rollercoaster that celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. (It's called the Giant Dipper, presumably so it sounded like more of a thrill than the various Big Dippers operated by competitors.) While there have been a few fatalities on it over the decades due to riders deciding not to remain in their seats, there have never been any injuries from mechanical issues. That's no accident. The ride has always been meticulously maintained, with regular updates including automatic braking systems when they became available, is on its third set of cars, and undergoes walking inspections every day before opening and every 2 hours while in operation.
With only 3 fatalities over 100 years and more than 68,000,000 riders, it's safer to ride this coaster than it is to get to Santa Cruz from San Jose by car. (No joke that. Highway 17 over the Santa Cruz Mountains was the most dangerous highway in California for many years, and it still sees regular accidents and fatalities.)
To not properly maintain a ride like this is to needlessly endanger every rider, who probably climb aboard assuming it's perfectly safe.
The Giant Dipper was the first roller coaster I ever rode at seven years old. That was over forty years ago. I remember starting to cry going up the hill, with the chain clanking as the cars made their way up. Then, I was exhilarated by the ride. I know I went back on it later at night. I've ridden it a few more times since, but not for many years. I saw a recent video detailing the maintenance that is put into it to ensure its safety, and the improvements made over the years.
I remember the Fun Fair very well.
Me and my brother went to Battersea Fun Fair in 1968/9 with mum and I was about 8 at the time. While getting on the big dipper I dropped my favourite toy (an action man I think), the attendant reached between the carriage and the platform to grab it when unexpectedly the train started moving, he was dragged down and we thought he had been seriously injured or worse. When the carriage returned to the station he was standing on the platform, forlorn and bloodied but smiling with my toy safe and well in his hand. While writing this comment it dawned on me as to why I never went on those type of rides in later life with my kids, my wife always had to take them as I hated the sight of rollercoasters but had forgotten about that incident until I fell upon your video, wow, every day is a school day.
Long time watcher, first-time commentor - I have always liked the respect for the victims, either voicing their names or listing if the tragedy was large. They are remembered and not just used as click bait
"Sorry that you had an incident on a roller coaster little children. Now go home with no therapy and keep a stiff upper lip!" 😂
Or…relive the bad thing that happened to you or weeks/months so a therapist can get paid 1000s from your torment.
I mean I have insurance, so my insurance is gonna pay for me to learn to cope with my trauma even if the insurance is pretty shit state aid. Get you conspiracy stuff outta here. Youve clearly never been to therapy.
@@Bintexas Trauma means they will be reliving the bad thing for years, therapy or not.
@@arturoaguilar6002 Not necessarily. The truth is that whereever there is tragedy, there are ppl willing to exploit it for their own gain. It isnt appropriate for a one-size-fits-all approach to recovering from a bad experience.
@@Bintexassounds like conspiracy theory nonsense
The train involved in the accident was borrowed from Dreamland, Margate's Scenic Railway. You can clearly see the carved dragon's heads on the front of the cars of the crashed trains, whereas Battersea's normal trains had undecorated flat fronts as shown earlier in the video. The train was not totally compatible with the track. What happened was that the rear cable grip failed to engage with the pull-up cable so when the front cable grip disengaged just after the peak of the lift hill, there was nothing holding the train to the cable and so it rolled back. The brakeman was unable to stop the train as the brakes are simply two wooden blocks which are pushed down onto the tracks when the lever is pulled. There was no chance of these stopping the train on the lift hill .
FH is a short and very informative history lesson every Tuesday morning that I am obsessed with. I've been an avid fan for years and there's no other channel like it 👌 keep up the great work ✌️
Hear hear
agreed
I love to listen to him while I am getting ready for work. I never miss one.❤
this comes across as algorithmically generated...
@@recurvestickerdragon my comment?
It maybe worth noting that ambulance men back then didn't have much medical training, about the level of a first aid certificate. So children would only get pre-hospital medical care if there happened to be a doctor visiting the park or one close by that might be summoned to help.
They called what ambulance crews did "scoop & run" back then. The job was basically to get people to hospital ASAP, and hope the patient didn't die on the way.
@@stephendavies6949Pretty much. The idea of a paramedic has only been around for 50 years, at least here in the US.
@@dawnstorm9768, true, paramedics and EMTs were still a pretty new concept in 1972 in the US while ambulances were still basically white hearses. And the paramedics were often firefighters. I don’t think the rolling “emergency room” type of ambulance we know today started being purpose built until the mid 70s
@dawnstorm9768 I'm in the UK born in 1980,when I was about 7 years old I was rushed into hospital having a really bad asthma attack, the ambulance guys literally carried me into the ambulance and all they could do was tell me to just keep breathing while he gave me oxygen, that was it. I'm so glad now paramedics actually have medical knowledge and can do more than just take people to hospital
I gotta say though, some paramedics I have come across in the last few years have been just a useless. They still need better training.
Sad that a memorial didn't get put there sooner. Tragic. Love your videos FH. They are short, concise, no filler & and they don't take an hour or 2.
To be clear, roller coasters did have brakes by the time this one was installed. But this model dating back further, was one of the last brake man roller coasters. These often didn't have up stop wheels to keep the trains on the track as the brake man controlling the speed could keep it from getting too untamed.
Coasters by the 30s onward had up stop wheels and brake runs to prevent easy derailing or collision.
The brakes on this type of roller coaster aren't very efficient, consisting just of wooden blocks which are pushed down onto the tracks when the brake lever is pulled. None of the wheels are braked.
@@TruckingVideos
I was more trying to clarify. The video made it almost sound like wheel mounted brakes became the norm, which is far from accurate.
A handful of old coasters use a brake man like you described, and most coasters then and now use external brakes and block zones.
I rode on that roller coaster several times. I loved that funfair. I remember that crash very well.
It is 530 am where I am in the USA. I just woke up, and this is just, exactly what I want to watch. Thanks!
Same!! Except falling asleep now😂!
2:47 a.m. here. I've been scrolling through TH-cam for over an hour and got stuck on shorts. So freaking glad something intelligent dropped. Woke up in excruciating pain. Cannot lay back down. I love Fascinating Horror.
Me too! Hey y’all 👋🏾💕
Why are we all awake so early?! 3:00 am here in California
@@Emzzz78 Insomniacs Unite
Typical, no one held accountable. That makes me really mad! RIP Kids. Great Sad Video. Thank You!
As always, your respect for those killed is appreciated.
“Make in your mouth the words that were our names” Archibald Macleish
So sad but beautiful.
The past - including the approach to health & safety - is another country.
Wooden Roller Coasters scare me, I remember the one at Luna Park in Melbourne- it always felt like it was about to collapse
It's still there operating. It's been restored.
There's also one lovely wooden roller coaster still operating (from 1951) in Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. And they still have a person working the brakes on every train.
There’s a wooden coaster in the uk called The Wicker Man that caught fire because someone dropped a vape pen while riding… Me and my partner went on it last week and we said the wood didn’t even look treated. It looked like it could rot! Scary.
...you do realize that's the design of the ride right? The coaster is meant to look like it's on fire at points, it's literally a pagan sacrifice thing, like in the movie@@Deedeevenye
@@MadameChristie What are you even saying? The ride has controlled fire effects when you go through the wicker man but it isn’t meant to set the ride on fire ffs. They closed the ride for 3 weeks. How can you say it’s apart of the design for it to set on fire? 🤣
I remember this incident; I rode the Big Dipper at Battersea with my girlfriend of the time about 2 or 3 days before the crash. If I remember correctly we went round several times with no problem, if you went at an off-peak time you could stay on for just the price of another ride if there were not many others waiting. Got a bit of a shock when I heard this had happened. 50 years + ago now, rarely hear of it any more. There are a few movies that feature the park in it's heyday; my favourite being "The day the earth caught fire" which has a number of scenes set in or near the park.
You haven't done a roller coaster story in years! This is a very special episode..a new amusement park horror story. That's what made this channel famous!!
Rode it with my wife to be in around 1970. For us, at any rate, it was great fun.
As the saying is - health and safety legislation is written in blood.
We have the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz, California, that just celebrated its 100 year anniversary back in May. It’s had 3 fatalities, none of which were caused by negligent operators or faulty maintenance. The cars were updated twice I think. The first time was after the second fatality. I’m glad the company that owns and runs the Giant Dipper is keeping up with its care.
Right around 1972, when I was 12 years old, I rode the Giant Dipper against my mom's wishes. She was afraid for my safety. Wish we'd known its excellent safety record; that might've reassured my poor mother. It's a great roller coaster!
@@TerryFarrah yup it’s all about who takes care of it. It’s the only rollercoaster I’ll ride as often as I can.
"We would like a memorial"
"Yes, we will get right on that"
...A few moments later...
"We planted a tree."
Wow!! I was 2 days old when this happened!! Growing up I was far too scared to go on rollercoasters!! Thank goodness for that!!
The story of this was my first introduction to roller coaster accidents. I have since developed a SPIN (autistic special interest) in them, and coasters as a whole. Its very wonderful to see you cover such a thing in your consistently respectful way.
Dude there are so very many roller coaster accidents. And just amusement park ride failures in general. You should totally start up your own channel of epic theme park fails, targeted at neurodivergent peoples. I would totally be a Patreon!❤
It's called a 'hobby'. Having a hobby is normal.
@Clownacy do you get irrationally excited and over exuberant at the sheer mention of a hobby? Does the very thought of it make your mind spiral and your heart race? Will you go literal days without eating or sleeping because you cannot physically or mentally break yourself away from the task at hand? Will you go out of your way to avoid other key om facets of your life just to obsess over your passion?
If not, then it's not SPIN. It's just "normal hobby."
@@Clownacy Actually, just calling it a special interest would have been just as fine. Special interests are a real thing, and they are more intense than a hobby or interest; however, they are not explicitly autistic. I've never heard of a "SPIN" and it seems completely unnecessary. Like, why bother typing it and then clarifying what it means when one can just say "special interest"? It sends off a red flag that this person is probably a self-diagnosed faker. Most of the autistic people I know (who are actually diagnosed) talk just like anyone else; they're not always trying to slang-ify their symptoms.
Basically OP is probably just a kid with a hobby, but your response seems a bit dismissive of special interests as a whole, so I wanted to clarify.
You always do such a respectful job of converting these accidents ❤
I was there when it happened. I was only 6 at the time and don't remember it too well. I do remember all the noise of the crash and the ensuing panic. My mum and dad left with me straight away as I was very scared. They took me to the Wimpy in Elephant and Castle shopping centre and bought me a burger and chips with a milkshake to calm me down a bit.
Real Horror did this when they first started their channel and I have to say; this is one of my favorite things to watch!! I love hearing how everyone basically winged it and it cost so many lives and could've been prevented
Hmmmmm
Its always great to hear the voice of this narrator. The mother tongue is unmistakable. Its always a tragedy hearing how a harmless love of fun and excitement can turn deadly in a split second. i remember a fairground accident that happened in the IBM playing fields in Cosham Portsmouth on one guy Faulks night firework display and bonfire. It happened every year and we would meet at our uncles house and walk to the bonfire which was a short walk from their house with our cousins with us. there was an accident in the travelling fair ground one of the rides came off and it landed on the ground with a young girl who was killed and a few more were injured. I don't remember the year it happened but i was there, i saw the fire trucks and ambulances coming onto the grounds we couldn't see much it was dark at this time and we needed to leave to catch the bus back home. our parents were with us too but they didn't want us to stick around to watch what had been a fun night out. It was the late 19702 early 80's maybe it was in the Portsmouth daily news paper. There was another accident in a stationary fair ground in Southsea Portsmouth as well on their roller coaster ride i don't remember if anyone died but i remember hearing what had happened, the thing collapsed it was made of wood then too being right beside the sea the salt from the water would have rotted through the wood in no time. They replaced it a few years later with metal. i have not been able to have fun at fair grounds since those days when a kid should be able to have fun i didn't enjoy them at all. one of their swings gave way too and a young person was badly injured. i think fairs have too laxed rules and regulations for safety and security of the patrons. i haven't been able to go to a fair ground since and i had told my kids when they were kids not to go to the travelling fairs they are dangerous But kids being kids don't listen to their parents much and i have never taken them, if they did go with their friends i would worry about them till they came home, I will never take my grand Daughters to a fair of any kind. Great video i haven't heard about this one. now you have three more accidents to research plus others in the comments section. Good luck!
Thank you for covering this. Although I was 13 at time of this incident, I only heard about it on the 50th anniversary 2 years ago.
I don’t think wooden roller coasters are the problem. There’s a beautiful, well-maintained, old one at Canobie Park in New Hampshire. As usual, the problem in this Horror was humans.
I guess the combination of wooden roller coaster and human error or neglect is a particularly bad one.
Always look forward to a Tuesday morning video by FH
As soon as I heard Battersea Fun Fair, I knew exactly what incident you were talking about
had to be that or Gorgo
Bad maintenance and nobody behind bars as per usual eh.
Yup, a turn of events that surprised absolutely no viewer here 😂 FH's channel is made possible entirely by greed, corruption and incompetence. And those three qualities tend to combine in people like a formula, as seen on most of FH's content.
I've watched almost every FH video to date. I don't think he's covered a single case where the root cause wasn't at least one of those three qualities in humans.
@@eeeweeerttiThere was Pompeii, the Tangiwai Bridge, the Carrington Event, and the Tunguska Event.
Much the same as today 2024, nobody takes the blame.
I rode the similar wooden roller coaster called the Scenic Railway in Margate this past April, and it was a 5 plus minutes fun ride. I really enjoyed it.Sadly, cracks were discovered on the tracks recently. As far as I know it is still out of service.
Such a shame that it takes a disaster to wake people up. And this has happened over and over again throughout the years.
At 4:51, there is a picture of my sister standing next to Carolyn, whom you quote in the video. We lived in Hackney at the time, and she went to Battersea without telling our mum. The old girl was quite rattled by the whole chain of events.
Fast forward 50 years, and my sister attends the memorial event. Still tinged with sadness after the passage of years.
Respect for speaking the names of those who tragically died.
Thank you Fascinating Horror. You're always very respectful in your presentations of such tragic events.
I can guarantee you that the UK hasn't forgotten this crash, I never stop bloomin hearing about it anytime I go to a theme park.
Everyone knows brakemen never stopped rollbacks, right? Not their job.
And was the 1970 coaster fire mentioned?
So to reiterate, brakemen were employed only to stop the coaster going FORWARD. No one expected a man to stop a thousand pound train with 18 riders plus him, rolling back at nearly a 45 degree angle, all with a hand brake. That’s a good 3000 pounds, going down a hill faster than the ride was designed to go. (They normally only managed 30mph.) The coaster had rollback teeth, because they had those even back in 1951. The issue is the coaster was so rotten that the train couldn’t even engage them, so the man tried his hardest to slow it just to save people.
And the 1970 fire is to blame in my book. It was absolutely caused by no upkeep, but quickened by a fire. Instead of replacing burnt wood and parts with new, they brought in 50 year old second hand parts. Yes folks, they fixed a burned up wooden 1951 coaster with a 1920 coaster. So it’s no wonder things like the evacuation walkway for stuck trains on the lift hill was so rotten you could see the ground in spots. When you fix burned wood with rotten wood, and toss in 50 year old rusted metal parts? You might not succeed in a safe coaster.
The fire is mentioned at 4:18 although not the exact year it occurred, nor any details about how the coaster was repaired afterward.
I feel like this is the inspiration for the Canadian musical Ride the Cyclone. It’s literally about a half a dozen kids who die on a rickety wooden roller coaster at a fair. Though the show creators say the inspiration was Hurricane Katrina.
I was lucky enough to ride a vintage roller coaster at St. Kilda Luna Park in the mid 1980s. It was old, the wood moved about an inch when you watched it from the ground close up. And it would be considered tame by modern standards. Except, i dont know why but those unbanked corners were terrifying, and knowing that you had some bloke pulling a pole to brake on his own judgement added to the unsettling feel to the ride. The age of it was palpable. The wood was visibly rotted around the rusted bolts and when you watched it from the que to ride it you could see the whole thing bend and groan whenever the carriage passed. The human "pilot" also scared me. He was a tough scary looking dude and he held your life in his hand, literally. I know why these wooden monsters are rated highly by fans. They are from a time before computer modeling and built by trial and error engineering, and although the modern ones are radical, you know they are sanitised. With the old ones you were just happy for it to end without crashing or collapsing. Thats a scary ride.
Excellent! I grew up during this era but never heard of this tragedy. You always do your presentations with honesty and compassion. Thank you!
You simply can't skimp on safety.
You can, if you're wealthy and powerful enough to skirt the consequences.
@@NyanPoptartCat 😒😒😒
@@NyanPoptartCat I call this is as the wealthy have an unlimited F around budget, Find Out will never find them because their wallet is so thick. Or if it does at least here in the USA they get a slap on the wrist and go to Club Fed.
*For Non-USA readers, Club Fed is a term in this country for the really easy Prison. They are still in Prison as in they cannot leave but its more like a country club than the "iron bar motel"
This channel has turned me into an unlicensed construction inspector.
Glad you're still making videos 😊
I'm from California over here in the US and we have a very, very, very similar looking coaster that's also called The Big Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park between the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas - which, if I'm remembering right, was similarly built in that ~1920s time frame. I'm assuming it must be a sister/maybe a cousin to this coaster... never knew that it had any siblings so to speak!
Typically nobody was held responsible or found guilty of dereliction of duty. Always the case.
Delay, obfuscate, and, above all, make sure there is at least one person you can blame for your own failings. Throw in a bit of intimidation so staff won't report obvious faults and you can ensure no-one can be found guilty.
Always happy to listen to a new horror story on my way to work
What a wonderful surprise upon waking at 4am! Coffee and an interesting video. I'm so impressed with the number of subscriptions. I've been a su subscriber since you only had 12,000. Brilliant work! Cheers😊
I wouldn't miss my favourite tambourine fueled TH-cam show for anything in the world!
This is one of the few times I wish that some sort of diagram or digital recreation of the incident had been included. I am just having trouble visualizing how this all happened.
Think about driving your car 60mph and then suddenly doing a sharp right turn on a neighborhood street corner.
The car will flip over. Thats basically what happened here, the train flipped over and crashed into another train full of people.
This made me think of the Thunder River Rapids Ride accident from a decade ago - would you consider making a video about that incident? I love your content ❤
He already has.
@@hannah190378 oh my apologies!
One of the ways to know a group is highly guilty of not fulfilling their obligation to safety, They settled it out of court. I obviously as an American do not really have knowledge of the UK legal system. But here in the USA a business owner is usually quick to settle out of court when they know a jury trial lawsuit will cost them dearly, Will be a total PR crap storm or both.
Not bothered with all that here, plus 1972 was a different time.
I’m afraid of heights so the climb up is terrifying.
Brake man: Hey this brake lever isn't working
Manager: eh seems fine
I have not forgotten this day. As a 12 year old I had a number of very specific premonitions. On this day I did not have a specific premonation but my father wanted to go to the Battersea 'pleasure gardens' on that day. We had gone to other places & gone on the roller-coaster at every one. Suddenly I knew we must not go to the Battersea fun-fair. I had no inkling of what would happen but I felt dread. Being the oldest child I managed to influence my brothers to say they did not want to go there either. If I had not had that feeling of dread we might not have survived that day.
'Health and safety' in the 70s just didn't exist.
I love your videos! I will drop everything when I see a new one come out!
I remember this, the first coaster accident I remember hearing about. I had seen this ride when we lived in London so it stuck in my mind ever since. Back then there was no counselling only those with physical injury would go to hospital and many would go home from he park, they did not even close the park after the accident, many would watch as the emergency workers went to work, very different to today where the whole site would be evacuated and closed off.
People back then weren't obsessed with injury, physically or mentally, like now. Most things were taken in stride. I think most of us turned out okay without some psychologist or would-be holding our hands. Nowadays, a kid gets a boo-boo on their finger and an army of counsellors troop in to mess with their heads.
@@RockwellRhodes Thats right. I went to an old stone built school with thick plaster ceilings mixed with horse hair, there was a huge thunderstorm the likes of which I have never seen since even in these days of our changed climate. A thunderbolt struck and blasted some stone apart right above my desk causing a huge crack in the ceiling, the teacher said my friend and I had better moves desks and the lesson carried on suddenly a huge piece of plaster crashed down on the place we had just moved from. I was shaking with fear but still expected to stay in class and next day was just a normal day, apart from lots of chatter about this huge storm that had done so much damage, not only to my school but to several buildings over a wide area
The best are the stand up ones. Couldn't get enough in my younger days. 63 now and might be rough on my spine but I'd go in a flash. 🤗
8:33 I yelled og my god, to my empty apartment, because holy fuck. Ignoring a break that just stopped working is bonkers.
Ah, time for another episode of "The Owners Weren't Punished"!
It would have been interesting to know what called the train to roll back in the first place, as this had evidently happened more than once. Rotten safety rails was obviously an issue, but there must have been some serious mechanical defect as well, which was presumably raised at the inquest?
Used to go to Battersea’s fair regularly back in the late 60s early 70s. It was only a no 19 bus ride from our homes in Islington. We wasn’t there on the day the disaster happened, but I still remember the shock when the news of it was made public. Although we wasn’t there it felt very personal. It was our play ground. There were other smaller accidents in the fair before the Rollercoaster happened, so I suppose the signs were there for some time. People trusted the fair to maintain its rides. Although we still went to the fair for a while, it was never quite the same and eventually closed for good. !!!
My brother begged our parents for the money to go on a parish trip to Battersea that day. He didn't get the cash but was glad he didn't. One boy from our school died that day (Tommy Harmer), and my brother's friend was injured (I remember the drum kit he bought with the compensation he got; I think it was £2000). The whole school went to the funeral. I'll never forget the little white coffin, and I'm sure that the funeral was the cause of my life-long hatred of the smell of lillies.
I was there on the 29th of May. Even as a 9 year old at the time, i rode the dipper once and had no wish to go again. It felt incredibly dangerous as rattled and tipped off the rails on the bends. One day later this happened.
If I remember right, this was an older, side-friction design. Most coasters, even at the time, had undercarriage wheels, so they didn't need brakemen. They also had anti-rollback devices by the time this ride was built, so it shouldn't have been able to slide backwards at all.
Always so horrifying! Children just trying to have a great time at play!! RIP 5 lost souls
Unfortunately, accidents like these and others are the reasons why there are the safety regulations that we have now. There are still accidents, but they are not as bad as earlier ones and inspectors have the laws to punish the people who are responsible for the deaths and injured.
2:11 😮 No kidding!? I love The Gravitron and I had no idea it was that old of a design! That's amazing!
....the reason I find it so amazing is because The Gravitron allows riders to experience the same amount of G-force that astronauts on the shuttle experience during liftoff! 👍
15 minutes until 6am and this is just what was needed to drift asleep to!!
Your stories just show how throughtout history life is not worth much ...but ticket sales are😢
I spent a lot of time at Battersea park, from 1955 until the late 60s. I loved the tree-top walk. They had a huge Easter parade each year. The entrance to the park had the Guinness clock, featuring the toucan, and the park keeper.
The sign says “15p all Classes” Imagine having that written anywhere on anything these days!
I think it means classes as in types of carriages. Like they don’t charge more for the front carriage or something.
Adults,children, OAP "classes", presumably @@nickb9470
Having a child survive the entirety of WWII only to die a few years later at a fun fair doesn't bear thinking about for very long. Horrific.
This took place in 1972, so the oldest of the victims would have been born over 10 years after the end of the war.
This didn't happen a few years after WWII...
@@Caroline-rv8wy 🤓
I always hate how they say that rollercoasters these days are always so dangerous, especially in those clickbaity videos. They should've compared those incidents to this one and see for themselves how kuch safer they are now.
It isn’t the ride I fear as much as the level of staff training, degree of maintenance skill, and perceptiveness of safety inspectors.
I went to Battersea county school,from 70-76, we went to the funfair every weekend,a lot of my friends from school,worked there sometimes,& sadly,most off there tree,with drink.The big dipper,as I remember,always looked unsafe,so I never rode it,but it was a great place,for us kids,to go.
0:59 Just me or did anyone else think the statue with the helmet was a man with a big nose, a very French looking moustache and pouty lips
😂😂YES!!
Let me just preference this by saying I love roller coasters, but the fear of riding one, especially after this tragedy, is valid. No amusement park should be labeled a "death trap."
I adore wooden roller coasters, but the idea of a human in the back being responsible for the brakes of the whole thing is so horrifying 😳
And imagine how scary that would be as a job
New Fascinating Horror 👍
If you want to know what the park was like at it's heyday, and what the coaster looked like, it appears on the film The Day the Earth caught Fire, 1961. I always wondered where it was and so looked and saw the remains on the modern day map.