Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[RCT3Bross]

I just read on a towerstimes post that they were still banging, wincing and forcing it on his place, when he left. I don't know how late that was but seeing the time of posting is 8:03 PM (20:03) and he stated that he goes back tomorrow it could be that they were still busy with it at 7:30 PM (19:30)

I've seen pieces that weren't completely right, but this far off was new for me.

 

Ride close is 5PM and park stays open for around another hour. Latest he was probably there was 6 or before so they were still working on it at that time. We will find out the status of said track tomorrow once the park opens. Chances are they will have it in place.

Oops sorry had to do some more research there. but yeah still that makes at least a 2 and a half hour of winching. (the first picture was taken on 3:30 PM)

[snoflake15]

The world's first element finally revealed!

[A.J.]

I'm obviously not an engineer anymore, but isn't forcing the track into place, you know, a bad thing? It seems like it would put constant stress on that track piece and the ones ahead and behind it.

[jmicha]

^It would, but that's not necessarily an issue. Steel can easily handle being under a constant load without issue, to an extent. Although it appears to be off by quite a bit, steel is a lot more flexible than many people would imagine it to be. I'd imagine that there is a range of safety given to the construction crew as to how far off a piece could be before it would be an issue to force it into place. Once it is bolted to the surrounding pieces, the entire structure will likely shift slightly to absorb this new force and that will be that.

 

I'm an architect, not an engineer, but this is quite common in building design and construction as well. You'd never imagine the allowable tolerances in structures. Without knowing better it looks scary but really isn't a big deal.

 

Unrelated, but until I took structural engineering classes in college I never knew concrete could flex to absorb a load as much as it does.

[TyRush]

Maybe the track was designed to be able to flex more than normal. they had to assume that once they were near completion on twist o'steel that a flaw could be a foot. Who knows....Every time i watch Fahrenheit's Norwegian Loop sway, i always think how the supports and footers allow that, but it just has some good flexilbility i guess, maybe this is good flexilbility wise

[BridgeMan]

A little 'working' of the steel is more common than you'd think. Some pieces just take a little more work than others. The hammering you usually hear in steel erection is alignment pins being driven into bolt holes

 

If said piece is missing than it's a little more than that. It's pretty wild if you think that this kind of thing doesn't happen more often, given the geometry of rides nowadays.

[Nrthwnd]

Um, you all KNOW this could be a total BS thing?

 

Everything fits fine - they're just making it look wrong.

 

My 2 sense.

[jray21]

I really can't wait to see a POV of this ride. I'm thinking we still won't be able to tell what is going on. We'll just see flashes of black the entire time.

[RCT3Bross]

2 things happening today.

1. The Hypnotiser finally goes on its place:

Themepark worldwide

Towerstimes member

2. The inverted drop really was a big trouble that his morning they still had some work on it:

Towerstimes member

I guess it was a serious matter that inverted drop. Good to see it fixed. Hope that the other drop is also finished of today, we'll see.

 

Update:

Hypnotiser has arrived at his final distention:

Towerstimes member

Great to see the 5 arms together.

[TyRush]

This is insane.

[simon8899]

This looks so insanely twisty - can't wait to visit in September.

[A.J.]

This is insane.

No it isn't. This is Insane.

 

I'm also looking forward to an on-ride video, but during normal operation so we can see other trains coming at us as well. How many trains are there going to be? At least three?

[TXman308]

No it isn't. This is Insane.

 

^According to RCDB there will be four trains.

[jammy2by4]

I couldn't find any information on how many trains there is going to be from RCDB, it only mentions the cars. But I would have thought there would be four trains too. Two on the track, one in the station and one in the maintenance bay.

[RCT3Bross]

I found some pictures on Towerstimes I like to share. (for complete list just click here)

The part that didn't fit well.

Turns on top of the hill. This picture shows in the back the last 2 gaps of the ride.

Theming. I must say I can't believe the smiley faces are actually going to cover the building.

Hypnotiser is on its place.

Wonder how long its going to take for the test runs.

[TyRush]

So i guess the "world's first" gotta be either the other hill, or something in the building?!

[necoastergp]

^ My guess is what is in the building. Something to do with the inversion record.

[invisibleinthedark]

Considering how many of those optical illusions there are everywhere on this ride...My wild guess is the world's first is going to be very gimmicky. I mean, there could be some surprises in the building, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Still, this seems to be a very fitting replacement for Black Hole.

[WFChris]

Most loopy single-circuit dueling coaster. In the world.

[rctneil]

People on other sites are getting so overworked by what this so called secret element is going to be. Isn't a record breaking 14 inversion coaster enough!? This ride looks insane enough as it is. If a secret element is to be added it should, in my opinion, be considered a bonus and not a guarantee.

[jamesissoocool]

Don't know if its been mentioned before but has anyone noticed what appears to be brake fins on the second lift hill. Maybe a grizzy disney kind of lift drop, worlds first vertical reverse drop on a continuous circuit coaster.

[SharkTums]

People on other sites are getting so overworked by what this so called secret element is going to be. Isn't a record breaking 14 inversion coaster enough!? This ride looks insane enough as it is. If a secret element is to be added it should, in my opinion, be considered a bonus and not a guarantee.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I thought ever since we ruled out the 'washing machine' that the 'worlds first' is just that it's a REAL 14 inversions as opposed to something like Eejanaika.

[JayTricky]

People on other sites are getting so overworked by what this so called secret element is going to be. Isn't a record breaking 14 inversion coaster enough!? This ride looks insane enough as it is. If a secret element is to be added it should, in my opinion, be considered a bonus and not a guarantee.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I thought ever since we ruled out the 'washing machine' that the 'worlds first' is just that it's a REAL 14 inversions as opposed to something like Eejanaika.

 

I agree. Saying 'worlds first' for a ride that has 14 inversions is technically accurate. As it's the first ride in the world to have 14 inversions right.

 

Where it gets confusing is how AT have used 'world beating' and 'worlds first' in the same marketing campaign. Now, I know how Merlin/AT can be with their marketing, but this is where it has lead a lot of the fanatics astray.

 

Personally I just believe they're using both terms in regards to the inversion count. And I hope there is no gimmicky secret element. It doesn't need one!

[RCT3Bross]

Found a new picture of the second drop going in.

Towerstimes forum.

This makes all the 14 inversions complete, and only leaves the first lift hill.

 

Update:

Another lift piece was placed today. Looks like 4 pieces to go.

Theme park worldwide

Can see it completed soon. Can't wait to see the last piece going in.

[Rollercoasters4Life]

Updated map (Correct as of 18:45PM on 22nd April 2013):

 

 

As you can see, the only red section left is just the last half of the first lift hill.