Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

Great report! I have to ask, is the station just going to be demolished or going to be remodeled?

The existing station has already been expanded and is going to be refaced and remodeled. It won't look like the old station when they're done with it.

(Scroll up for even more photos!)

Some more pictures from this morning..

First the very necessary thanks to Six Flags, Brandon, and TPR for the opportunity to cover the ride during construction. There is still a lot of work to do, but it is already seriously impressive. Now remember that I'm an old man, and I don't like anything - but Goliath genuinely looks like it's shaping up to be awesome; a definite several-changes-of-underpants ride. Really appreciative of the enormous amounts of time that Brandon and Six Flags have given to us to follow construction. Everyone involved is clearly very excited about this, and with good reason.

It was cold! Now to be honest, the cold doesn't bother me too much, but my phone wasn't having any of it! The poor thing shut down several times while we were walking around, and I ended up using hand-warmers in my pockets to keep the phone warm - sacrificing my fingers in the process (you don't want to know what I'm using to type..)

Our group of weary travelers..

And here we go .. I know it's stupid, but there's something oddly cool about being lead past "Keep Out" and/or "Employee Only" signs.

This large space in the structure allows for the "service road" to pass beneath the ride. The service road is necessary so that trucks, vans and emergency vehicles can access different areas of the park.

Now these are real men! Seriously, the RMC guys are out in 0-degree temperatures all day - kudos to them! I'll be inside, by the fire, with some sweet pink alcoholic beverage (with a little umbrella, of course ).

Close up of one of the construction guys. It's a little difficult to see in the pic, but he's outfit in climbing gear.

Brandon **assures** me that the snow will be removed from the tracks before running trains.

You can really see the profile of a lovely hill there. We're are all going to be screaming over that!

The "bents" are mostly constructed on the ground, and then lifted into place to be bolted up to the ride. It's such a manual process, but RMC is really kicking ass.

It's an odd feeling seeing this ride - it is at the same time a pretty small foot-print, but also an imposing structure .. and it's not even finished yet!

Bulldozers are cool.

When we arrived, this bulldozer was smashing against the (frozen) ground - probably trying to loosen it up a bit. Brandon wasn't sure exactly what is being dug out there, possibly utilities or other mechanical components.

One cannot under-estimate the size of the tunnel .. it's actually more like a cavern. It's huge!

What is probably one of several little work stations for trimming and shaping wood.

Work hasn't progressed too far on the station, but the renderings show how great it will look once complete. Only the framing will be kept from the old station, other than that it's going to get extensively remodeled.

Tromping through the snow!

Marcus Leshock from WGN came by to talk to us .. he was mildly interested in Goliath, but really just wanted to say "hi".... Joking aside, Marcus is a big-time coaster enthusiast, and is also staggeringly excited about this ride. (He's current number 1 is Outlaw Run).

A random salt truck.

Wow this ride is looking great! Love the little dip out of the station.

Outlaw Run is my #1 coaster so I am looking forward to riding this one this summer. Should dominate the already impressive skyline!

I am loving everything I have seen about this coaster. RMC has undeniably changed the face of coaster fabrication for good.

Me likey!

The existing station has already been expanded and is going to be refaced and remodeled. It won't look like the old station when they're done with it.

you say the station has already been expanded. Any pictures of it?

Yet another reason I should go visit my daughter in Chicago later this year; the structure is looking great and love the bents picture!

I don't see any pictures/ angles different than what I took but as soon as my camera thaws out I'll take a look.

I would certainly echo what others have said.....The footprint of this ride is very compact but with all the promised elements it should be a very " busy " ride, in a good way.

Just watching the workers, it looks like RMC really has this process down. Seems like a well thought out process of building sections on a platform on the ground and then hoisting and bolting them into place. As an example, this is so much different than what I saw when Boss was being built at SFStL a bunch years ago.

As an older guy ( if you call 57 old) , wood coaster technology seems to be changing as rapidly as everything else. Thinking back to my first carnival ride coaster in the 60's , to bigger coasters with buzz bars, to my first ride on the Beast, to Hades, The Voyage and Outlaw Run, it's been quite the progression. Can't wait to see what Goliath brings us,

More after I look at the pics I took.

Had a great time at the Goliath construction tour today. Thanks to Robb/TPR and Six Flags Great America for making it happen. What an awesome privilege! I got a few shots (other than Goliath) that we don't normally see, so I'm posting them too.

As I was pulling into the employee lot, I could smell fresh cut wood (in my closed and warm car!)

Building a cathedral of bents; these 2 were very close together.

Snow whizzing (as in Whizzer) past.

Former Z-Force and Iron Wolf station. I have a feeling this will be home to Goliath for a long time. The station will be elongated to accomodate the longer trains.

Hinges where track will be fastened. (As a big Anton Schwarzkopf fan... these hinges remind me of Anton's coasters!)

You can keep your coaster nerd card if you like this...

and this.

We took a quick shortcut through the maintenance building, twice. The first time, people got pictures of various cool things. The second time, we were asked to move quickly as to not disturb the guys working. I got these pictures the first time through.

Sentimental favorite for me! But black train is the best...

I'm so happy Great America has spent the time and money to take care of many classic rides so we can enjoy them for a long time.

Eagle and deep snow.

There were aerial pictures of the park along the office hallways, seemingly from every year. I figured some folks would like to see this view of Shockwave. Who misses it? I do!

And one of Tidal Wave. Great America had two "wave" coasters before another park had to "streak" coasters. hmmmm.... If you look near the front spike, you can see the Yukon Yahoo - an Anton Bayern Kurve.

Someone was playing in the snow.

Can't wait.

But I have a question about the polyurethane wheels, what's the difference those and steel wheels? Do they add to the speed or what?

BTW, that floater hill looks fantastic.

Great reports, guys! Loving all the coverage you've given the tour and all the reports are slightly different, even though you guys were all in the same place!

^^Polyurethane wheels on wooden coasters provide a smoother and quieter ride as well as have less resistance than steel wheels thus providing more speed.

Ahh thanks, sounds like it will be quite intense.

Like seeing the pictures of construction up close helps put the size into perspective better. Can't wait to see the track complete.

* The track is four layers of wood (instead of the usual six) and the orange part is 2 layers of steel

I was confused by that as well; I'm thinking Brandon may have been mistaken on a couple finer points of the track. The wood stack is 6 high; on top of that is the steel "box track*" (where a traditional woodie would have the top 2 layers of wood). All this is reinforced with clamps from the top steel layer to the track ties. On top of that coaster track sandwich sits a wide steel rail where the coaster wheels roll. I heard this top steel rail will be painted orange (or has that been confused with an orange tarp? I think someone from the park said that rail will be orange.)

*This box track is filled with a composite material. Check out the RMC site: http://www.rockymtnconstruction.com/

You can see the detail in this now "classic" shot of Outlaw Run (before the top steel running rail was added):

(note the "Anton-like" hinges!)

Great updates everyone. GayCoasterGuy - I especially loved the classic pictures. This has been my home park that I've been going to for over 30 years. The Tidal Wave was always a blast. Shockwave was ok, but was always bumpy. I miss Power Dive too and hanging upside down. Too bad that's gone.

Hey All-

Here are some more pics from SFGAm Goliath construction tour. I am not great with all the details, looks like many have been covered already! Brandon from the park was great and we had a good time looking around at the site. It is interesting to see how much they are going to fit into such a small footprint! I'm glad we braved the cold (it was f'ing cold!!) and hung out for a while! Thank you Robb and Brandon for setting this up! I think my toes have finally thawed out

Here we are, 8 degrees and snowing, ready to go?

Our gracious host Brandon, handing out our hardhats!!

just inside the train tracks at the back of the park.

some track is down...

the tunnel is going to pretty sweet..

old Iron Wolf Station

more station.

I believe the lift will be going up here?

we got to walk through the maintenance shed, Eagle cars are looking good!

check WGN morning news on Monday.. several from the group were interviewed!

Thanks for all the different photos and perspectives. I'm really looking forward to riding Goliath this summer.

Awesome reports from the Construction tour! Its nice to see the Construction from a different perspective than the web cam! Speaking of which, I think I saw the web cam in one of GayCoasterGuy's shots lol!

Today was amazing! Goliath looks incredible and is going to be an awesome addition to the park. Some shots from today:

Hard hat time!

Boss setup!

We broke the rules#sorry

*Robb voice* Weeeeeeeeee!

This magic

More magic

Some wheel goodness!

Mmmm snow and RMC. This is looking amazing. Thank you to all who attended for sharing the pics and braving the winter wonderland!

Looks like a cool experience! Can't wait to experience this beast (hopefully sometime next year!)

Former Z-Force and Iron Wolf station. I have a feeling this will be home to Goliath for a long time. The station will be elongated to accomodate the longer trains.

I think it's been concluded that the Iron Wolf (now (at least partially) Goliath) station was not the Z-Force station. Many have stated this (what you posted) over the years, but if you read back in this very thread you'll see that Z-Force's station was moved across the park to be used as Rolling Thunder's station. A couple of years after Z-Force was relocated, Iron Wolf opened on that plot with a new station.

GREAT reports, everyone - and I agree with Robb that it's excellent to see just how many different angles you get from a group of people who were in the same spot. All excellent, well done! I can imagine how stunning it must be to stand in that area and realize how much coaster they were able to cram in there!

Why does it seem like every new RMC ride looks like a contender for world's best coaster?

Thanks to everyone who posted photos from the construction tour. It got me even more excited for this coaster.