Pleasure Beach Express


Pleasure Beach Express is a 533 mm narrow-gauge railway, built in 1933 as a tourist attraction at Blackpool [Pleasure Beach|Pleasure Beach Resort] in Blackpool, England.

History

The main station was built in 1933, but was destroyed by fire in 1934. Redesigned by architect Joseph Emberton and rebuilt in 1935, it was replaced in 1970 by the present-day Victorian-style building.

Operation

The line has two stations, Pleasure Beach Express station and Star Halt. The latter is now a request stop.
The train now runs in the opposite direction it did originally. The animal statues and figures are all facing the wrong way, and there are various signs in the tunnel mouths indicating the direction the train used to travel. Sometimes the railway runs backwards to give passengers a different view of the line.

Diesel locomotives

The original two locomotives were supplied in 1933 and were named Mary Louise and Carol Jean after the daughters of then-park owner Leonard Thompson. The third was to be named William Geoffrey after his son, but a visit to the factory building it prompted him to change its name to Princess Royal. It was renamed to Geoffrey Thompson OBE in his honour after Thompson's death in 2004. All three were built by Hudswell Clarke in Hunslet, Leeds, who had also supplied locomotives for North Bay Railway and Golden Acre Park, Leeds. They went on to build two more 4-6-2 class locomotives for Billy Butlin to use at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1938.
NameNoBuiltWheelsFuel/TransGaugeStatusColourNotes
Mary Louise4472Hudswell Clarkein Leeds tenderDiesel In trafficGreenSister to Neptune,Triton, and Poseidon on the North Bay Railway
Carol Jean4473Hudswell Clarke in LeedsDiesel In trafficGreenSister to Robin Hood on the North Bay Railway
Geoffrey Thompson OBE6200Hudswell Clarke in Leeds4-6-2 tenderDiesel In trafficMaroonWas originally named Princess Royal
BarbieTrack maintenance