The Cannonball Express Roller Coaster – History and Future

In Lowestoft, Suffolk you’ll find Pleasurewood Hills, a family-theme park which has operated since 1983 and been through a variety of owners and re-brands throughout that time.

In the past it’s seen visits from Noel Edmonds and Mr Blobby (including a stage show based on Noel’s House Party), has re-homed Captain Andy’s Review from Thorpe Park and has been home to the UK’s only remaining Verkoma Boomerang ‘Wipeout’ since 2007 where it was re-homed from American Adventure Theme Park and received second-hand Verkoma trains from Walibi Holland replacing the original Arrow trains.

But this blog isn’t about that. This is about The Cannonball Express which has been operating at the park since 1995!

History of the Cannonball Express

The Cannonball Express was built by the German company Schwarzkopf (run by Anton Schwarzkopf) who retired from the industry in 1995. The coaster hasn’t always been known as the Cannonball Express however and was actually built in 1983 for a German travelling fair.

For a short period of time it then operated as Jumbo 5 at Meli Park in Belgium* (which closed in 1999 and is now known as Plopsaland De Panne) before operating as Super Figure Eight at Funland Park in Folkestone (which is also now closed).

In 1995, at 12 years old it moved to Pleasurewood Hills where it was built in a dip in the park near the entrance, given a mine train theme and operated in that capacity for 10 years.

In 2005 as Pleasurewood Hills went through an identity crisis it got renamed Enigma and was refurbished before reverting back to Cannonball Express in 2017.

At it’s peak the ride could operate with several trains on the tracks at once thanks to the blocked braking system and separate ride exit to the boarding platform however, as time as gone on it has been on 1 train operations for many years and with train capacity of only 8 people it’s one of the lowest-throughput coasters in existence with a capacity of. just 160 people an hour.

The Problems with The Cannonball Express

As the ride has got older (currently at 42 years old) parts have been more difficult to come by with Schwarzkopf no longer manufacturing roller coasters. This has led to the block brakes no longer functioning meaning the coaster can only operate with one train.

In addition to that, spare parts for the trains are increasingly difficult to source and of the four original trains only the blue train remains in operation (although the green was briefly in operation in 2009). The red train is thought to be scrapped and the purple and green are now used to provide spare parts for the one remaining train.

The Future of The Cannonball Express

In my opinion the future of the Cannonball Express isn’t looking good…at 42 years old and manufactured by a defunct manufacturer the coaster is on borrowed time and there can only be so many years the park can strip existing trains for parts to keep it operating.

This provides a bigger issue for Pleasurewood Hills which has not seen a new roller coaster investment for many years and removing one of their coasters could prove catastrophic for the park which is said to have made a loss of £340k in 2024.

Personally, I think in the next 5 years we’ll see the permanent closure of The Cannonball Express and, unless The Looping Group put a big investment into Pleasurewood Hills akin to Thomasland at Drayton Manor or Peppa Pig Land at Paulton’s Park I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw the park close it’s doors (but that is speculation on my part).

My Memories of The Cannonball Express

The Cannonball Express is a coaster I grew up going on, I remember it when it had the rock work which made it a more thrilling ride and with plenty of twists and turns it’s a really fun little coaster. I’m pretty sure I even dragged my Grandma on it when growing up and Pleasurewood Hills has a special place in my childhood memories but, sadly, with very little for me to visit now despite it being my closest theme park.