The Ghost Train: a disappearing fairground entertainment

Figures & data

Figure 1. B. Roberts’ Ghost Train – GT11 - photographed Rugby Fair 1 May 1989. [Figure “Reproduced with permission of the University of Sheffield; https://cdm15847.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15847coll3/id/7133.].

Table 1. An approximate timeline detailing the rise of various ghostly, thrilling, and possibly also immersive rides.

Time/Period	Thrilling/Ghostly entertainment
1790s	1st magic lantern/phantasmagoria shows in Paris (Barber 1989)
1830s–1890s	Phantasmagoria shows popular on British fairground (Dallas 1971; Laister 2003)
1860s–1900	Dr. Pepper’s Ghost introduced in London Polytechnic Institute (Pepper & Dircks’
	patent application, 1863), and thereafter popularized on the British Fairground
1890s	Biddall’s Ghost Illusion (Cameron 1998)
1890s	Moving pictures first shown on English fairground, after first appearing at London
	Polytechnic Institute in February 1896 (Starsmore 1975)
c. 1900	Brief popularity of Hale’s Tours (Fielding 1970)
1906	Van der Decken’s Haunted Cabin opens at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Kane 2013)
1900–1930s	Walk-through Ghost Shows on British Fairground (Toulmin 2003)
1910s	Steam Yachts and Cake Walk attractions become popular, delivering proprioceptive
	entertainment and vestibular pleasures to the British (Anon 2007; Starsmore 1975)
1930	First Ghost Train ride opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Kane 2013; Walton 2007)
1936	Joseph Emberton builds huge Ghost Train at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Anon n.d.-b)
1940s–1960s	Ghost Train popular fairground entertainment (Laister 2003)
End of 1960s	Rollercoasters and other rides delivering kinaesthetic thrills become
	increasingly popular (Lynn 2006; Spence 2022a; Starsmore 1975; Trowell 2020)

Figure 2. A) Entrance to Hale’s tours. [Figure reprinted from Brown (1916).]; B) Interior of one of Hale’s Tours. [Figure appears in Curtis and Voss (2008).].

Figure 3. The Ghost train. Photo taken on Woodhouse Moor in Leeds. [Attribution: Francis Gavan, Ghost Train Ride, Woodhouse Moor, Leeds, Spring 1986 © Peter Mitchell, courtesy of RRB Photobooks.]

Barber, X. 1989. “Phantasmagorical Wonders: The Magic Lantern Ghost Show in Nineteenth Century America.” Film History 3 (3): 73–86.

 Google Scholar

Dallas, D. 1971. The Travelling People. London, UK: Macmillan.

 Google Scholar

Laister, N. 2003. Spooks!: The History of Ghost Trains and Other Dark Rides. https://www.joylandbooks.com/themagiceye/articles/ghosttrains.htm.

 Google Scholar

Cameron, D. K. 1998. The English Fair. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton.

 Google Scholar

Starsmore, I. 1975. English Fairs. London, UK: Thames and Hudson.

 Google Scholar

Fielding, R. 1970. “Hale’s Tours: Ultrarealism in the Pre-1910 Motion Picture.” Cinema Journal 10 (1): 34–47. https://doi.org/10.2307/1224994.

 Google Scholar

Kane, J. 2013. The Architecture of Pleasure: British Amusement Parks 1900–1939. London, UK: Ashgate.

 Google Scholar

Toulmin, V. 2003. Pleasurelands: 200 Years of Life on the Fair. Hastings, UK: The Projection Box.

 Google Scholar

Anon. (2007). “‘Cake Walk’ Victorian Fairground Ride.” Skegness, June 5. https://skegness.wordpress.com/2007/06/05/victorian_fairground_ride/.

 Google Scholar

Walton, J. K. 2007. Riding on Rainbows: Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Its Place in British Popular Culture. St. Albans, UK: Skelter Publishing.

 Google Scholar

Anon. (n.d.-b). The History of the Ghost Train. https://www.wearetricycle.co.uk/pages/the-history-of-the-ghost-train.

 Google Scholar

Lynn, S. 2006. “Fantasy Lands and Kinesthetic Thrills.” The Senses & Society 1 (3): 293–309. https://doi.org/10.2752/174589206778476289.

 Google Scholar

Spence, C. 2022a. “From the Fairground Sensorium to the Digitalization of Bodily Entertainment: Commercializing Multisensory Entertainments Involving the Bodily Senses.” The Senses & Society 17 (2): 153–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/17458927.2022.2066434.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Trowell, I. 2020. “Digital-Alchemical Morphology: Space, Vision and Illusion at King’s Lynn Mart Fair.” Visual Studies 35 (1): 13–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2020.1715247.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Brown, B. S. 1916. “Hale’s Tours and Scenes of the World.” Moving Picture World, July 15, 372–373.

 Google Scholar

Curtis, R., and C. Voss. 2008. “Fielding und die movie-ride-Ӓsthetik: Vom realismus zur kinesis.” Zeitschrift für Theoria und Geschicte Audiovisueller Kommunikation, February 17, 11–16.

 Google Scholar