Fallen Heretic

Some of these would make excellent ghost walks or similar type thing. Ive seen night time pictures of old abandoned parks with woodie structure still standing. And you thought the fog was creepy looking. Little lightbulb just went on over my head. The official TPR midnight abandoned park walks. Torchlight only. Now THATS a scarey thought.

I spent New Years at WDW A couple of years ago. The only long lines were for Mission Space and Maelstrom. Test track was quite long but that was because it breaking down. Then again that was New Years night. The day after, everything had quite short lines and Pirates, Thunder and Haunted Mansion were pretty much walk on. It was a very strange feeling to almost get sunburn in December and January. Im use to trudging about in freezing rain or snow at that time of year.

I think some people are forgetting that coaster enthusiasts/fans/nuts generally have higher standards than those who only ride occationally. Thing is, Pleasure Beach will get most of its income from regular Joe Publics, who have been crying out for Blackpool to get a ride with some inversions. Although its 'just the SLC from down the road' to us, for most its an exciting ride like nothing the park has ever had before. Its about time the Beach had something to flip us over other than the Rev. Although, to be honest, I would have prefered a twisting little Intamin or maybe a B&M invert in there. Of course they already had the SLC, so I completely undestand just putting that in. Means more money left for the next big project they may have.

That place is what could be considered my home park, but calling it a park is maybe a bit unfair, its more like a travelling carnival that doesnt go anywhere, since its owned by M&D, a travelling fair company. I wasnt there that day. Its quite sad to see it took so long for emergency services to get there. Its not exactly an out of the way place.

Im on good terms with all but two of my exes. One of the two now lives in a different area and we just lost touch. The other one turned out to be a lesbian who wasnt ready to tell her faminly, so took on a 'token' boyfriend to throw them off the scent. Which sucks. So we arent on good terms. All in all though, I can get over pretty much anything after a time.

Work on getting the rise and fall a little slower and smoother. Would perhaps be better to get a wider angle shot of it so everyone can see your not just doing pull-ups. lol. Kings Rising is OK, but if you can do the one Chris Angel does (the one with his back to the audience) thats a much better illusion. And its a bit easier to just walk away afterwards without people seeing how its done.

Im picking it up this weekend, looking forward to it. Wonder if it will bring back memories of playing skool daze? I still cant believe they had to change the name in the UK. The ironic thing is, its not really about bullying at all. Some kid in the shop the other day was with his mother choosing a game. he was about 9 or so. He picked up a copy of Lego StarWars. His mum looked at the 3+ logo and said "thats for babies" and made him put it back. I wonder if he walked out with an 18 rated game? I think the problem is that too many people are up in arms about games when they really dont have a clue cos they have never played. Hopefully this will change for future generations, as their parents are more likely to have been gamers themselves.

Looks like they arent even gonna bother painting it afterall. In fact it looks like they didnt even bother cleaning the sea salt off the joints. lol. Its weird to see that area with no water after all these years. I always had the impression it was deeper. Guess it was just dirty. I wonder if they are gonna re-fill it with water after the construction? They have to give riders on the express something to look at other than secondhand SLC. I think an SLC over water, with proper lighting, would look pretty awesome. I REALLY hope they at least put turf down. Surely they cant leave it grey and bland.

Its sad to see old rides go. I would prefer they go into storage and maybe be rebuilt somewhere else. Imagine this... the Pleasure Beach heretage park. A place where old rides can go to have an active retirement. All the old classics being removed elsewhere gathered and rebuilt with an attached museum of world coaster and park history. If only I had a billion pounds.

The mouse at PBP. The very first time I rode it I was still a dumb teenager. I had never heard about the lift hills literal head chopper. I was lifting myself up in the seat, looking down behind me to friends who were taking photos. Yes, I know that was stupid. They started pointing and shouting. i had no idea what they were trying to say. Then I felt the track supports above pushing on my head. If I hadnt dropped back into the seat and twisted my head sideways, it could have done some lethal neck damage. As it is, I got away with a light scraping and a splinter or two. I love it cos its nuts.

^ Love the avitar. Have you heard the new Maiden album? Im wearing a Black microfibre T-Shirt, with a red stripe down the middle complete with padlocks, black PVC tousers. Black socks. Oh yeah, Im going commando. In my defence, Im just recently back home from being out at clubs all weekend and havent bothered to change clothes yet.

I love Lightning. I think its beautiful. Of course the thunder just makes it seem all the more powerful.

While rolling in the hay I almost got stabbed by a hidden fork. Does that count? Have you ever burnt yourself on a snooker/billiard table?

Producing infrasound can be quite expensive. These days, you can buy large sub-woofers that have a long action to produce infrasound. You also need a source. You can hook it up through an amp to a signal generator, or buy special CDs that pump out infrasound. Its best to shop around and google for specialist suppliers. Some of the car audio companies are producing powerful infrasonic sub-woofers, so you might start there. Im sure there is a tutorial somewhere online that teaches you how to make your own out of inexpensive materials, but that set-up was nearly 8 meters long. If you use a signal generator for your source, do some research into the effects of strong infrasound first. There are rumblings that using 7Hz can cause death. you dont want it to be THAT scarey, right? You need to find the correct frequency and volume to give an effect, but not make it too uncomfortable for your patrons. It can make people quite sick for days if its too strong.

Have any of you guys ever used Infrasound? Ive seen it used in a 'quiet' room on a ghost tour of an old stately home. The guide took us to a dimly lit wooden panel room where he told us the usual kind of 'someone was killed here, ther spirit still lurks...blah, blah, blah". He then took a fake mobile call and said he had to go take it, but he would be right back. He left closing the door behind him. Where he actually went was next door, where he turned on an infrasound generator. We couldnt hear it, but we could feel small vibrations through the wall. What is for certain is that it made us feel very strange, almost dizzy. In that environment it makes you feel like there is 'something' there. It was a subtle but awesome effect. Really freaked us out. Not sure if it would work on an unguided walkthrough cos you need to keep people in the same area for a little bit. It would be a cool addition if it can be fitted in. Most people dont know about infrasound so in their minds it becomes an 'unexplained happening'.

In a couple of weeks, Im going to see James Brown, W.A.S.P, and Lordi (dont ask!) all in one week. Plus Ive got two club nights in between. Im going to be knackered.

Right now, none. They dont last long here. How many times have you threw up on a ride?

Power to you for giving this a serious effort. I think there should be more scratchbuilding coaster modelers out there. A few things I would like to add... Wood will have lots friction unless you cover it with thin metal tape. Personaly I aggree that Plastruct would be a better material to use. Less friction and when heated it bends easily. Even dipping it in hot water will let it bend more. With wood you will likely need to use formers or laminating it to get in into shape. It really is worth the extra money to use low friction bearings or wheels, as friction will be your biggest enemy with this. For your braking system, rather than rope you can use control rods like the ones used in RC aircraft. They are wires which move freely in a plastic sheath. They can be bent around corners and still work. They are reliable, and you wont need to use pulleys. You can even hook then up to servos and control them electronically if you really want to. Or even make them operate automatically. Its not as hard to do as it first seems. You only need a double wheel set on the first or last car, not both. The 4d trains use trailered designs so only one car needs to be stablised. The alternative is to have only one wheel set on each car, but have a connection between the first and second car which only rotates, but cant articulate in any other way. This method can limit the tightness of your turns though as it can bind to the track if too tight. Remember to place the 'hitch' as close to centre of the wheelset of the car in front as possible. Hence why the 4d cars look like fighter jets when seperated. Sounds obvious but its easily overlooked. Do everything you can to eliminate as much friction as possible. Right down to lubricating everything. Remember when working out the heights, friction and reletive speeds that although the size scales down, the speed does not. All model coasters look much faster that their real life counterparts. This disappoints some people and they try to slow it down to make it look more real. In fact you want it as fast as it can go to give it a better chance of beating friction forces. Ok, thats all I have for now, the pub beckons.

You on the coasterdynamix forum? I think I recognise that avitar? Speaking of which, Im still waiting on my comet model arriving. Ive had a worspace ready for it for weeks. People are complaining that Im taking up too much space with nothing. Meh.

To cut my hair short or not to cut my hair short, that is the question. At least thats my question. I dont know what your question might be. Maybe something involving wooden spoons. ...what?

Yes, Ive ridden coasters just as it started to snow Have you ever tried to sneak into the wrong toilets (genderwise) because the correct ones were all occupied?

I was stuck on Test track, just at the build up to the impact test, which kinda spoilt the tension a bit. OMG! Its gonna fire us straight into that.... PLEASE REMAIN SEATED, THE RIDE WILL CONTINUE MOMENTARILY. ...Damn. There was also a bit of a log jam for 15 minutes on Splash mountain on the same day. Pepsi Max Big One stopped about halfway up the lift and I had to walk down. Not a great experience for me considering Im scared of heights. Im not sure this counts, but the Wildcat in Southport Pleasureland (RIP) had rather dodgy brakes last time I was there, requiring the ride ops to push the cars by hand off the final brake run into the station and off the station brakes to start the ride.

You should try living in the UK. Fuel prices here are ridiculous. The Government has even stuck a tax on Chip Fat (vegetable oil, etc) if you use it in your engine. Of course, it helps prices in the States when everyone tends to use lower grade fuel. Here the minimum petrol sations tend to stock is around 93. My car runs well on that but prefers 95.

I saw one of the shows on a plane to Florida, but Im not sure that counts. Next time anyone visits Blackpool, there is a similar show there at the Globe in the pleasure beach. Its called Eclipse, and stars Vladmir, the guy who invented and first performed the flying routine used in the Cirque shows. I found eclipse a great show. Smaller than cirque of course, but then it is Blackpool.

I find even the idea of that deeply disturbing.