A real LOST legend

During the 70's the United Kingdom lost the infamous 'Belle Vue Bobs', an extremely popular wooden coaster designed by the renowned Fred Church and built by Traver Engineering. Without warning one winter this great coaster was inexplicably torn down, split into pieces, and put into storage - never to be seen again. Have any of you heard of this ride, and if so what do you know about its history?

Unbelievably, info and pictures of this piece of coaster art is few and far between, meaning it is somewhat a real LOST legend. I'm trying to find out what this coaster looked like and how it was laid out, so if anyone could suggest where I could get material from I would be very appreciative. I have checked various sites such as rcdb.com, and books, but so far I have found very little.

Dan

There are a few images of it in the book "Harry Traver: Legends of Terror" by Richard Munch - I am assuming you have already checked that out though... If you haven't, it's definitely a cool book to have anyways!

That's if you can find it, Kevin. I saw it listed on Ebay for $200+ dollars, and on Amazon for over $400. Out of print doesn't make it that special, but it is a cool book. I got to borrow a copy for a year or so, and really had fun with it. Amazing pics of the Airplane and Bobs in Chicago!

LMAO! Rob, you should know his name is KEITH. It *kills* me how many people think his name is Kevin! And it's never any other K name either...ah good times. :)

Joe "IT SAYS IT RIGHT IN HIS SIG, ROBERTO!" C. ;)

LMAO indeed! I'll never understand the mixup between Keith (one syllable and long-E sound) and Kevin (two syllable and short-E sound)!

I wasn't aware that the book was out of print - but hey I rarely post on here so I try to offer my two cents when I actually know something. The pictures of the Belle Vue Bobs in that book aren't even that great anyway, so I'm of no help.

You know what scares me.............

I KNOW HIS NAME IS KEITH! I KNOW HIS NAME IS KEITH! I KNOW HIS NAME IS KEITH!

Why am I shouting? Because I KNOW HIS NAME IS KEITH!

I just screwed up. Sorry. Much love to Kevin. ;)

Lucky I bought that book back in the day. I had no idea of its worth!

Didn't ACE "just" re-print the Traver book? I bought the reprint and it wasn't terribly expensive...

That WAS a couple of years ago, but I thought it was listed in the last merch flyer...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I just found the Belle Vue Bobs in the Harry Traver book. It has a very nice b&w pic of it and the following blurb:

"The Belle Vue Amusement Park Bobs, Manchester County, England, apparently was built by Traver Engineering Company, and designed by Fred Church in 1929. Well-maintained right until its closing in 1970, it held the world record for speed at a maximum of 61 mph, with a track length of 2,600 feet and a maximum height of 76 feet. It is generally agreed that it was the best coaster ever operated, past or present, in Great Britain." *** Edited 12/27/2003 5:33:38 AM UTC by thrillerman1***

From what you can see in this Harry Traver book, does the Belle Vue Bobs look particularly similar to any other coaster past or present?

I have a book called Roller Coasters: shake, rattle, and roll, which is specifically about past rides in Britain and there are a few pics of the BVB in there, and from what I can see it looks a bit (just a bit mind you) like the Giant Dipper at Belmont Park which Fred Church also designed. What do you think?

Dan