1996 TEXAS TORNADO roller coaster Frontierland Morecambe UK

[pullans1]

its now a shame is morecambe, i see it every day now, but before i moved here i used to come and stay back in the 80s, it was well busy and very popular back then wish i could return to then see those lights too .it will be missed .

[gowerino]

i live behind were frontierland use to be, opposite battersby's! such a shame they took this jem away from us!.

[ed1ss]

cant beleive they shut frontierland. had the best funhouse of all time.

[Mantakev]

I loved this place! Best rollercoaster ever

[psyclonesteve]

Brilliant Coaster, brilliant video !

[oddshaped]

This was my first coaster in the late seventies stayed with me to this day, frightened the pants off me, went back a few years ago to nothing but a wasteland, sadly missed.

[Doc53]

the cars were on the wrong side of the street

[gazag]

this was the first ever large roller coaster i went on when i was 6, i will always remember it because my mom was told off by the ride op when we got off because i was too short.

this is where my coaster addiction started. ive now been on over 200 coasters world wide and when i get a day off i go find some.

i wish this coaster was still there

[PHAEDRIDER]

right on gazag.. looks like a worthy first coaster ..

[AlbertCromblethorme]

Im 62 and was born in Lancaster, about 4 miles from Frontierland. I can remember being scared shitless going on the TT as a teenager. It was constructed in braced timber and used to move about slightly as the cars rode it. Have a good look at the construction - this would never have passed curren tsafety regulations and was an accident waiting to happen and only surpassed by the Wild Mouse, a similar potential deathtrap. The Thompson Family were wise to quit when they did, . Happy Days!

[Gobshite1979]

It managed alright for over 60 years. How could they tear these rides down? It breaks my heart.

[Lukedfrt2]

They got old and boring in the end ]=

Things like the Big Dipper and Grand National at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach still Thrill People today, but this didnt in the end.

[Wnoronz]

@Gobshite1979 This ride was originally called the Cyclone and was designed by the great coaster designer Harry Traver. It had some of Traver's classic curving bends, but not to the extent of some of his bigger coasters.

[mrchopper]

The Polo Tower and the Cyclone (TT) were both up at the same time. The TT was one of the last rides to get taken down, because it stretched the length of the whole park. The Polo Tower is the only attraction still standing at the old Frontierland site because, believe it or not, it has a working mobile phone mast inside it.

And I thought the council never had a good idea!

[welshalchi]

didnt they take this down to build the polo tower?

[katrice212]

cars were made by the philadephia tobboggan company.Miss Great britain was filmed on this ride every year. This coaster saw 2 deaths one in 1978. Each dip had a name, such as horse shoe bend, and aeroplane roll.The timber used to construct the cyclone was pitch pine which had a life of 50 years.All the timbers had a name and number to which they were graded each year.

The rides insurers were vulcan.

the cars had 36 wheels inc frictions, under frict side frict main wheel,

[katrice212]

I worked on it in the 1960s when we ran a three car service (not the cars you see in the video). there was another break station on horse shoe bend. The old cars were made of ash (wood). Yes it was a side friction coaster. This rollercoaster named the cyclone was in fact brought over to heysham docks and was part of the southport cyclone in the paris exibition. 11 tapered roller bearings in each side. Cars in this video made by the The motor on the pull up was 200Amps per phase (600) in total.

[claret1882uk]

that's some memory's i used to work on the Texas Tornado

[claricestar76]

great video! brought back a lot of memories!

[hjortekid]

So sad it`s gone. It was a side friction coaster, right?

[declansamuel]

Well filmed video...Thanks for posting my friends and family all enjoyed seeing this

[gtbloke]

Went on this many times... it really is a shame they demolished it along with the rest of the fair.... morecambe has nothing going for it now... a seaside resort without a fairground !

[cheesyguy1515]

this roller coaster is one of my top 5!

[UrgentementeUK]

Wow, memories!

When we got taken to Morecambe for the day , at the end when we went back to the car I used to sit and watch this from the large car park up at the top (where they built the really BIG ferris wheel that the locals complained about!), as a small kid in the early 70's, way too young to go on it and say "here it comes again" everytime it came around...

even at an early age I was doomed to love coasters!

[Bryn2k]

I have fond memories of going on this in the 90s. Why on earth the park was shut down so quickly baffles me - but then again, Pleasureland at Southport seems to have gone down a similar road. Has Blackpool taken all their custom?

[60103Henry]

Great video, 5 stars. Any idea as to what happend to the Miniature Railway that was there, or is it still there but dissused?

[simonsweeting]

thank you for yhis vid! this was the first roller coaster i ever went on! i realy wish frontierland comes back to morecambe! its not the same without it!!! :-(

[morgrp]

Holds a special place in my heart this coaster does - It was my first experience of a roller coaster and I've been hooked ever since - What I wouldn't give to ride this one again

[TheRibosOperation]

it's like being on the roller-coaster, but not getting a sick feeling inside you. i wish i could have gone on that

[MEEEEDOOOOK]

This is phenomenal. Me and my 2 brothers rode this many times circa 89-93. Quality that you captured the backwards facing car, i had the privilege to ride on this a couple of times. i have some photos of it but Never thought i'd see a video of it. The memories this evokes and the fact that it was cruely torn down makes me want to cry. RIP CYCLONE

[djstickland]

Take a look at the classic 60s film (The Entertainer). One scene shows Laurence olivier and Joan Plowright together overlooking the amusement park with glimpses of the Cyclone in operation. The DVD is worth buying just for this scene alone.

[OrmerodJ]

What a find. I cant describe to you how much I value this video!

[morgrp]

Thanks for this - It was my first ever roller coaster experience going on the Texas Tornado and gave me a life long love of wooden roller coasters. It looks to be in a fairly poor way in the vid back in 96 - I often wonder why parks don't take care of these classic rides - Its a shame the run away mine train (king solomons mine) has been left in storage - its 1 of only 2 left in the world - thank god it wasn't demolished like the poor old tornado... Good times were had on that ride...

[jimvy]

Nice find!  Rode it as the Cyclone back before the park was rebranded. It's where I also rode my first Schwarzkopf Jet Star II - happy days!

Thanks for posting it!

[funkymartin]

A gem indeed; I'm so upset I never took the one and only opportunity I had to ride this back in 1987 on a side visit from Blackpool. What an underestimated classic - and with backwards riding!

To be honest the coaster didn't look that impressive from outside the park but apparently was set into a bank of land I believe so deceiving its real height.

One just would never have foreseen the park's sudden demise back then I guess. So sad.

[donotstandup]

Fantastic piece of nostalgia!

Much appreciated.

Gary (themagiceye)

[maestro66uk]

Absolutely brilliant matey! That is a very good (and possibly rare) piece of video footage. It's probably only one of a VERY FEW video's of the good old Morecambe Cyclone. Nice choice of music also! I remember spending a lot of long, lazy summer days in Morecambe. I always seemed to be there when the mods were there! All the mod music playing in the bars at the time. Well done mate.

[rollergator]

Forward AND backward-facing seats on an intense wooden coaster - amazing.  Thanks as always swampfoxer, your effort is truly appreciated...

[skatewithnomercy]

what who song is that?