[NL] Upper Gorge Express

[Tanks4me05]

Do you guys remember the good old days in NL when people used to build those huge, really long terrain coasters? Well, I've always wanted to build one, but I haven't had the skill to do so until I learned Newton 2 last winter. Well, now I am comfortable with Newton 2, and I decided to start making a new coaster. Although some of these coasters were incredibly long (does anyone remember Timber Rattler from a bunch of years back? you know, that 20,000 foot long coaster?) they often were repetitive, and didn't have much of anything exciting in their layouts. I decided to construct a long coaster, and since I found how much control I have over a coaster thanks to Newton 2, I am making almost every single hill with airtime in the -1.2 to -1.4 range unless there is a clear advantage from a design standpoint to use floater air, like with transitioning to a straight segment.

 

If any of you think that that range is too much, realize that there have been multiple reports of the airtime from Speed: No Limits, SFGADV's El Toro, and T-Express to have airtime in that range. And on top of that, I am using real charts that show the real legal limits, shown here: http://nolimits-exchange.com/news/g-force-lesson/35 which as you see if the safe limit is 4 seconds of airtime in the -1.4 G range, but I have never built a coaster with anything more than 2.5 seconds of air. All other G's are tested to be within limits as well. The vertical G's only go above 3.8 once or twice so far, and the laterals are obviously controlled.

 

I'm not sure if I'll get this ride to go to 20,000 feet like Timber Rattler, but I'm definitely going to get this thing to be at least two miles in length. So far, the ride is a little over a mile in length, and I'm going to try to put in at least another half mile before the second lift. Though the quality of the ride is still the most important aspect, this is a unique ride, in which its characteristic is that it should be incredibly long.

 

Now, here's an extra bit of detail: Anyone familiar with the north eastern US might recognize what it resembles. I recreated a part of the Treman state park in Ithaca, NY; It's why Ithaca is famous for the gorges. Since I live in Baldwinsville, NY (about fifteen minutes north-west of Syracuse, NY) I went here several times with my family because it's only an hour or so away. I've always wondered what it would be like if a coaster was ever put in there, and now I'm finally ready to act upon those ideas. Here's my work so far:

 

 

 

Here's one view of the Treman State Park recreated to the best of my abilities.

 

 

 

 

Here's another view of said gorge.

 

 

 

Even the pre lift pulls some major air.

 

 

 

Take a look at the top center of the picture. Then take a look at the train in the foreground of the picture. That's a 244 foot, twisting triple drop.

 

 

 

Here's the Post Lift 1 section so far. Actually, I think I'm going to build at least another 3,000 feet before the next lift.

 

 

I was fooling around with the idea of making this a contest when I was done. What do you guys think about that?

Edited January 2, 2012 by Tanks4me05

[the ghost]

[A.J.]

Remember to test your ride from all seats of the train - all of Newton2's values (speed, G-force, etc) are taken from the train's exact center.

[coasterfreak101]

Now this I'm looking forward to.

[AJClarke0912]

Looks to be utterly ridiculous.

 

In a good way.

 

I always like these macho terrain rides. Although, ejector air on every hill will be pretty ho-hum...no dramatic buildup. It will just feel the same over and over until it's done. I would steadily increase G's until a big finale comes. Also, floater air can feel very strong even though it isn't. GCI commonly uses floater air, but because it's onset is so rapid it feels very strong and fun. I'm just afraid that the ride will turn into a 4G, -1G, 4G, -1G marathon with a little twist on each G section. Ultimately making it drab.

 

All-in-all, really try to make interesting elements, varied G's, and cinematic build-up. With that you'll have a macho terrain ride that doesn't have a video that people on YouTube like to just skip ahead on and get a brief overview of what it does.

 

Good luck!

[Tanks4me05]

Bump!

 

 

My New Years gift to everyone on TPR: Upper Gorge Express is finished.

 

I would have done more lateral bracing than the prefab in "cathedral" support mode, but the thing is even with my $2,000 laptop, there is so much geometry that it took two days to do the crossovers and the trees when it should have taken about three hours. So, the only custom support work is the crossover bracing. Upper Gorge Express in Game Exchange16,190 feet of track. 2800 feet of tunnels. 38 moments of airtime. 4 lifts. 3 months of build time. One heck of a ride.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Tanks4me05

[australianalex]

Looks brilliant!

[AlmereStars]

Now thats a big rollercoaster! haha I liked it... Best part for me was the twisty down hill part after the 3rd Lift Hill. Good job!

[tiger01]

Can you post a pov for us who don't have the game. I really want to see it!

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Can you post a pov for us who don't have the game. I really want to see it!

 

Same here,I don't have access to the game exchange for some reason & don't have NL copied to my laptop.

[Tanks4me05]

The upload quality actually turned out a lot better than I expected. I am also adding it to my .nltrack upload post in this thread.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94GbkUuFrR8

[devol4]

That was amazing!