Zingoman

I'm ready for the weekend to get here to get back to the park for myself and get a good look! Hopefully they will have closed in the last remaining gaps in the track. There still seems to be a couple of spots they just refuse to get done.

You can still get decent progress report pics from the railroad and Titan's exit, AND the leaves are falling off the trees so visibility is getting better! Oh and if anyone decides to get this helicopter idea going, I'd love to tag along!

^Your points on the wood are VERY valid. Older rides were seemingly always made of fir. Very heavy and sturdy stuff. That's why you see such a difference in the structure of modern woodies compared to the old timers. If anyone on here is following the work over at Puyallup Fair you see they are changing the fir structure to pine and it's a big different in how the ride is built. Compare Gemini to Mean Streak as well. Yes the rides heve very different dynamics but build Gemini from pine and you'll have a more dense structure (Colossus, or American Eagle). Pine is light and cheap and really doesn't hold up very well. Dinn coasters were among the most dynamic in their day and were always built with pine. Also Dinn hadn't quite mastered the art of transitions due to the limits of PTC's rolling stock. PTC put out the trailored design (a topic worthy of it's own thread for discussion) to negotiate the banking better but was a total flop. I think cheap wood, and sub-par rolling stock combined with a few maintenance short comings really are all important factors in how these rides have faired over time.

The webcam looks to be showing track up in the big overbank turn at last! The ride is going to look finished by the time they open next week for Holiday in the Park! Anyone planning on being there? I'll be out of town for Thanksgiving and it's going to kill me waiting for another week to get over there and see what's done. I hope someone posts pictures next week!

Those of us that have been to the site all summer have repeated ourselves quite a few times saying there is plenty of room. Even if you can't see it in photos, in person it's a lot different. People still wanted to continue the topic because they seem to think the people who have seen it in person somehow know less? Anyway, it's a closed issue now... I hope.

Anybody here been checking out the IAAPA thread? It has been confirmed by Rocky Mountain themselves that the bolt plates on Giant's track are there to stay.

^with the track work so far along now, who's to say they won't spend the next couple of months beefing up the structure? No doubt there will have to be a few things done to it but I'm betting if they are they aren't focusing on it just yet. I drove by the park today and the first actual overbank has track in it (the second turn after the first drop). It's really tight as it curves over the top. Looks pretty wild!

^ha ha. That is a crazy looking illusion. The track turning to the left really amplifies the look of it leaning.

I was just looking at pictures of the trains again, and noticed that the entire front of the train is actually a zero car like you see on a B&M coaster. I figured with the crazy transitions it would have trailored cars but thought the lead car was one solid piece (with just the front wheels on a seperate axis) until now. Anyone else notice it before? Look carefully at this photo in front of the lap bars. http://coastercon.com/html/giant_c_46.html

A few days behind here but I finally got my shots from Sunday afternoon ready for everyone. I do apologize, I have a crummy camera and I got there at a tough time of day for good lighting. Oh well! Enjoy! For anyone who didn't catch it on facebook here is Six Flags support for the Rangers. Sad they lost but SF Giant will be good fun! not much has changed in the strange ledger department over here where the old helix is shifting from inside to out on the old structure you can see they closed up the gap after the first drop where they were running the crane through to get into the old helix area. They still need to get one leg of track in back there but you can see the approach to the low turn. Looks crazy! Here you can see the crazy airtime that will surely be coming on the new approach into the old helix section. Here is a more head on look at the drop into the old helix from the train station. And the wildest shot I got is the approach to the turn under the lift. How bizzar does that look? Very excited! and finally here are the ledgers in the "that which we do not speak of" section.

^No kidding?? Well why haven't you taken advantage of this privilege yet?? You could be giving everyone the angles the rest of us can't share! Please post some shots! I'm tired of posting pics from the same spots over and over and over and not being able to take shots from Titan where you can really see the action. However I did get some new angles (Tower was open dispite some pretty strong winds) and I'll try to post ASAP. Till then here is the graphic and W W there is a lot of track installed!

^I've wondered about the queue as well. Lets hope we dont' get to ride the SF Giant since it will mean the Rangers lost the World Series! And that is kind of a no no man. Taking photos on rides is against park policy and posting pictures on TPR that were taken from rides without permission will get you in a bit of trouble. Just a heads up.

^It's more or less facing the ballpark that way I guess. Seems like it would be much better from Titan. I 30 has a good view though.

^ Because you did not supply a for the second half of your statement I am taking you seriously, and will now proceed to inform you that a ride jumping tracks laterally is just not possible. I am now of the opinion that you are an inferior being and can go forth into the world with my head held high becuase I know what side friction and upstop wheels are for, and you do not. P.S.

^ ok, the disposable trains I can buy into , but get real. A jump? Come on now.

A little bit of an update for everyone from last night. No Oil Derrick and it was getting dark extra early with a very over cast sky. they put the transfer track over in the "home postition" and there seems to be a bit of a gap between the table an the rest of the course. It's going to take some big fillers to fix that. Here is the gap at the station going onto the transfer track in other news they have started adding rails to the old helix area and the big news is they tracked the first big turn we finally have a connection and this entire side of the ride looks very complete from a visual standpoint. and as usual the graphic. The places I dont have ledgers on here are places that you cannot see at the park so I don't illustrate them, however they are very likely already installed.

Droce by the park yesterday, and they finally tracked the first turn (the one after the drop and double up)! It looked looks like you will be hanging on your side there for a bit before the second drop. Fun stuff!

I should be out there early in the afternoon today to get some shots. The thing about the project now is that all the ledgers are prety much in, however, you can't see the progress unless you are on Titan, or Shockwave, or the rail road. Can't get pictures from really any of those places.

I think a lot of confusion comes from the fact that in the last few years, we generally see VERY accurate renderings of new rides in action. The Freeze concept art comes from a time when that is all we ever saw was the "concept". Usually dramatasized and romantasized artwork to hype up the presentation of the new attraction. To see a video rendering today that isn't meant to show accuracy is just unusual and we want to take it literally. Watching the video again and thinking of it from a concept perspective makes more sense. It's not like they have a full POV as if to say "hey look what it will do now!" It's really just a lot of theatrical hype in the video. I guess some of us got a bit antsy about it. Here is a Taiko booty

^ I get what you mean, and I think you figured it out. Looks to be painted on the floor.

And why would they lower the entire platform? That would be a very large undertaking and would have been obvious to people at the park. I've been every weekend this season and they have done no such thing so it would have had to be a preseason project. Makes no sense though. It has to be an illusion but it does look kind of convincing.

^That picture isn't from that video. The video didn't have the new trains. Just the PTC ones standard on no limits with some wierd front on them. That does look like a No Limits shot, but it doesn't seem to be from the same video or they fixed the trains since we saw the animation. Interesting though that the sun burst graphic and the GO BIG slogan is on there. Maybe that video did come from the park, but its fact that it is not a correct rendering of what the new ride will be. There is very convincing evidence saying the helix could still go around. I'd post a photo but it isn't mine to post. It's a shot showing ledgers to the left of the lifthill. One set sits to the right for the inner half of the helix, and one set sits to the left leading to the finale. They are CLEARLY not going to connect there. Only option is a vertical loop or to come around the lift again.

On that animation, the ride was showing what we know as fact to a degree, and the second half of the ride was entirely wrong. I'm not thinking anyone at the park did that. The approach into the helix was wrong, and the turn is going under the lift, not over as shown in the video, and there is still evidence showing that the ride may still come back around and go under the lift again. There has been no evidence of a tunnel for the finale yet either (to my knowledge). Looks to me like it was done by someone who thought they had the ride figured out and had their own wish list for the ending. haha. Pretty much all the ledgers are in now though! VERY exciting!

In defense of the helix, yes it was boring before, but 1 it provided a fantastic contrast to "that which we do not speak of", 2 it made the ride that much longer, and 3 it doesn't have to be at all what it used to be. The entire ride has been jazzed up beyond recognition so if the helix returned I don't think it would be boring anymore. One quick turn around the lift is lame to me.

I couldn't be happier with these trains! They really do look awesome! I do hope that the headlights work too. I'm also thinking that those windows are going to look pretty shabby VERY quickly. People are going to scratch them to crud, and more so as they age, the hot TX sun will probably bake them to a nice yellow, or golden brown. The seats look AMAZING. Here is hoping that the park will keep up with those too, and not start ordering generic pads in the coming seasons phasing out the faux brown leather upholstery. SEXY! Great job Six Flags and Gerstlauer!