Jim S. Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Lots of activity on the webcams today. The station footers are finally uncovered after two days of severe thunderstorms and there are lots of workers in the area, and there's something being done on the lift hills but I can't tell what yet. Update: It looks like they've poured a large concrete slab around all of the station footers (part of it was done before). I'm not sure what that's about because I thought the station was going to be above ground level. Maybe it's for maintenance work on the station. There's now a piece of conduit or something going all the way up the 2nd lift. I'm not sure what's going on at the first lift, but hopefully it's preparations for track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmoofy Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 You're completely right. That concrete slab wasn't there before. I'm not sure if I'm headed there next week, but if I do go I'll get some newer pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
??? Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 When will they ever be done with this coaster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I was just there tonight (Friday, 5/15/07). In one day they put up all the supports for the track from the top of the third lift to the bottom of the first lift. There has also been huge amounts of conduit put in everywhere since my last visit. I've put up a few more pictures at http://www.pbase.com/jim_shaffer/ftc The pics aren't in chronological order, but rather in roughly the order the elements of the ride will be encountered. I've tried to update the captions somewhat to reflect what views are out of date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmoofy Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Station start, ftw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Prototype car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Coaster Girl Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 I like them, dont know what they look like on the inside, but there nice on the outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanrosfan0810 Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Would there be a chanceof this being open by August 16th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 I heard someone in line for the Flyers behind me (the Flyers give an excellent view of the construction) say that one of the workers told them it should be done by the end of this month. I'm a little skeptical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanrosfan0810 Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Maybe they meant done construction-wise, not as in operational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 I could possibly see that, if they can do both of the storage track switches as side friction track instead of trough. I'm not sure about the one at the bottom of the helix, because so far I haven't seen how they're going to smooth out any of the trough-to-track transitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownStreak Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Hmmmm...One year, nine months, and five days- is this the longest thread of a ride not yet opened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterP Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 ^It's also amazing that its taken so friggin long to build a ride with circa-1920's technology! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCoasterny Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I looked over at Knoebel's "What's New" page, and they added 4 photos of the June construction. It shows the chassis on the lift hill, as well as the chassis going through a turn. The third photo gives a clear picture of how the chassis is built. It looks like they went with the 2nd version that Bartlett developed in the 1950's. There are some changes, especially how Larson used flat pieces of metal to tie the 3 axles together that makes up a car and allowed to flex up and down, like a leaf spring so it could flex on the curves. The fourth photo shows another test run with a mock-up of the seats on one car. You can see how high up the trough it gets. Also they added some extra side rails on the straight section leading to the brakes to help guide the cars into the side friction track. Here's the page: http://www.knoebels.com/whats-new.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanks4me05 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Now that looks impressive! Since it's basically an entirely downhill ride from what I have heard, all those tight turns are going to make this ride amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccron10 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 The cars for some reason, remind me of millenium flyers. Looks awesome and it makes me think that the completion date isn't that far away. Looks like they're creating a DVD of it's construction. EDIT: Hey! They moved the lifthill cam, got the the chainlift track added and got some work done on the station! Cool! http://www.flyingturnsproject.com/FT_Webcam.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmoofy Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 It certainly does look like the station is coming along nicely. Thank god for the webcam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 The lift assembly crew are on the job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 So I suppose this probably isn't going to magically open in four days? It really amazes me it's taken this long to build a 1200 ft long coaster, though I'm sure the degree of difficulty is high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmoofy Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Oh come on! I just got a picture of the wheels laying on the ground yesterday, I should have went today. Dangggg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Coaster Girl Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 It really amazes me it's taken this long to build a 1200 ft long coaster, though I'm sure the degree of difficulty is high. Well no one had built one for 40 years, plus they have to update it to todays safety standards. Also they had to clean up the flood last summer, so that took alot of time away from the project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 New month, new pics... Gate and queue: Brake hardware: Air compressors for brakes: Lift motor: Chain pulley: Half of a car (no seat or restraint): Third lift with runway lights: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCoasterny Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Great pictures! Looks like they have a redundancy system for the brakes. The runway lights for the lifts look awesome! Are they lit from the bottom as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 A little light comes downward from the lights, but not much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterdude5 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Awesome pictures, they're getting closer and closer. Have they had to deal with alot of rain this season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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