The Grand National is a wooden roller coaster

Wooden roller coaster

A wooden roller coaster is most often classified as a roller coaster with laminated steel running rails overlaid upon a wooden track. Occasionally, the structure may be made out of a steel lattice or truss, but the ride remains classified as a wooden roller coaster due to the track design...

 at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool. It was designed and constructed by Charles Paige in 1935 and is now one of only three surviving Möbius Loop roller coasters in the world and the only one in Eurasia

Eurasia

Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...

. It is themed and named after the Grand National

Grand National

The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

; with elements of the ride signposted to mimic features of the horse race. The trains climb the lift-hill and pass under the 'They're Off' sign and race through 'Becher's Brook

Becher's Brook

Becher's Brook is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the sixth and 22nd fence, as well as on four other occasions during the year...

', 'Valentine's' and 'Canal Turn' before returning to the 'Winning Post'. The ride stands at 62 feet high and has a track length of 3302 feet (6604 in total).

History

Andy Hine, the chairman of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain, was married on the ride in the early 1990s. A plaque with his name is installed on one of the trains.

In 5/20/2004, an electrical fault in the lighting system of the roof of the station caused a fire which destroyed the station and parts of two adjacent rides as well as the trains of the ride. The station was rebuilt and new trains installed and the ride re-opened on 10/28/2004 after repairs were completed.

At the start of 2010 Pleasure Beach staff said that due to an electrical fault the ride had, it would not run for some time. However it was running again in July 2010.