Sidders

Fish you babe.

When the tracks at London Waterloo warped last week, all trains on the London and South Western Mainline were cancelled because the rails had expanded by up to 4 inches and some points. However, the whole thing was open and working again the next day. The thing just needs to cool to a size that will allow the bolt to be re-fitted. A few test runs will give the green light and we're back up and smiling again. That is, if the expansion hasn't cause permanent damage to the parts I.e. the one bolt. In which case they should really have spares in the workshop.

Thanks for this Sarah! Right, in light on this little nugget of info I completely missed, we shall be hosting the quiz one day later on Friday 26th of July at 8pm in Chat. I could move it a day earlier but I still want those who have not yet received my PM and sent any answers back to have the full week to submit them. I would also ask MarkC not to add up any of the scores as they are only raw marks. The UMS marks are a little different so adding the raw marks is not a proper reflection of how the scores stand. I will release the midway scores once the Picture Round is finished. I'm writing up the Picture Round now! Oooooh exciting!

My apologies to Josh! I have amended your mark! Loving your honesty too. PS - If anyone would like to contest their score, please feel free to PM me thoroughly explaining where you think I went wrong.

I love your enthusiasm CG! The Picture Round is slight different to the past two rounds in that it isn't simply a lot of wordy questions. Sure, there are potentially more questions than in any other round thus far (there will be 25-30), but there are three different rounds inside this Picture Round, which was commended by many of my guinea pigs as their favourite and most fun round. The first round, consisting of ten questions, will comprise this one question: "What ride is this?", accompanied with a different photo link each time. Players will click the link and take a guess at which coaster they are looking at. The photo will show a part of the coaster. The ride could be from the UK, but it may also be an international coaster. Each of these questions is worth 2 points. Make sure you know your track designs, colours and elements! The second round is identical to the first, but you will only be given the layout of the ride. This may be an elevation or a bird's eye view. There will be 5-10 pictures in this round. Each question will be worth 3-5 points. If you see a layout to a clone, then any ride with the layout featured in the picture will be accepted. The third round will be a combination of the first one and the previous quiz round we've done so far (Thorpe and Records). In this round, there are ten questions that will focus on an aspect of a picture. Use the picture to answer the question. These will be more challenging than the last two mini-rounds This is one of the better of the four rounds, admittedly, and certainly one of the most fun! Make sure you're in Chat at 8pm on Friday 26th of July!

Right ladies and gents. The time has passed on the Thorpe Park Round. Actually it passed two days ago but I'm only human! Here are the answers I was looking for in the first round. Congratulations to everyone who got even half of them right! It was a difficult round! 1) In which South West UK county can you find the Merlin Entertainments Group Headquarters? (3) A lot of people misread this one, and went for Poole, which is the town in which you will find Merlin HQ. Some made educated guesses, opting for Surrey. The correct answer was Dorset. Ooh arr an' a pint o' coiderrr! 2) Which past Thorpe Park ride currently operates at Chessington? N.B. – I’ll accept both names of the ride. (1) Some people also misread this one. Many members chose Samurai, which currently operates at Thorpe. I was looking for a ride once owned by Thorpe, which was moved to Chessington! The correct answer was Eclipse, which has since been renamed Peeking Heights. Either answer was acceptable. 3) Which of Thorpe’s coasters notoriously killed a pigeon sitting on the track by running over it during the 2008 season? (1) I have since been informed that this shameless pigeon-slaughter is a regular occurrence. Of course, the correct answer was Stealth. 4) In which now-defunct area of Thorpe Park could you once find the ride Up Periscope? (2) Once a much-loved break between the Lost City and Amity Cove, the correct answer was the lovely Octopus Gardens. Storm Surge now sits in the area. Boooo! 5) How many heartline rolls does Colossus have? (1) A straight-forward question, but you'll be surprised by how many people forgot the last clockwise heartline roll just before the brakes! The correct answer was five. 6) Which three rides at Thorpe Park were built by Intamin? (3) Two of these I thought you'd all get easy enough, but there's always one people seem to forget! Or not in some geeks' case. The correct answers were Colossus, Stealth and Rumba Rapids! One mark for each answer. 7) Which company does Thorpe Park currently rent The Crash Pad from? (1) Shame on you if you didn't know this! With such a divided response it can only be Shipping Containers Ltd. Snoozebox! 8) What name was Wicked Witches Haunt first known by when it opened in 1983? (5) One for the seasoned Thorpe Park visitors! Although, many of you got this one right, so congratulations. The correct answer was Phantom Fantasia. 9) Which of Thorpe Park’s coasters features an Immelman loop? (1) A fair range of answers came in on this one, which I thought was quite straightforward. Who got caught out? The correct answer was SAW - The Ride! It's the loop directly after the main drop. 10) In 2007, how much did the Merlin Entertainments Group purchase Thorpe Park for when The Tussauds Group ceased to exist as a separate entity? (4) This question was unanimously answered incorrectly! This quiz master succeeded! Some great guesses though. A few people gave me the right sum if I had asked for the entire Tussauds Group attraction cost, but for just Thorpe, Merlin paid £696M. 11) Name three sponsorships of any ride at Thorpe Park, past or present. If you can’t name three, name as many as you can. (3) Quite a few interesting answers here! Some of you forgot that the answers must be sponsorships of rides! Here are the possible answers: Yorkie (Stealth), Ribena (Rumba Rapids), Tetley Tea (Storm in a Teacup), Original Source (Tidal Wave), Dr Pepper (Tidal Wave), Costa Coffee (Nemesis Inferno during construction only). One mark for each answer. 12) Which company owned Thorpe Park before The Tussauds Group, when it was a flooded quarry site? (2) Bit of confusion with this question, but I was looking for the company who owned the site immediately before The Tussauds Group purchased it in 1998. The correct answer was Ready Mix Concrete (RMC). 14) Which trio of rides opened in 2003? (3) Quite a few people tripped up on this question! There were three other rides installed in 2001 and some people misread 2003 for 2001. Further difficulty was added because one of the rides is no longer at Thorpe! The answers I was looking for were Nemesis Inferno, Quantum, and Eclipse. One mark for each answer. 15) Name any four of the Thorpe Park Rangers, who reside in Ranger County, had a number of rides named after them, and were the mascots for Thorpe Park until 2005. If you can’t name four, name as many as you can. (4) Another one for the more seasoned of you enthusiasts! The possible answers were: Chief Ranger, Baby Bear, Mr Rabbit, Mr Monkey, Mr Giraffe, Miss Hippo, Miss Frog, Mr Elephant and Harley. One mark for each answer. 16) Which now-closed American park did the Merlin Entertainments Group buy Storm Surge from? (2) Some of you didn't even know Storm Surge wasn't new! What are you lot like? Merlin bought Cypress Gardens, and shipped Storm Surge over from the US park. 17) Which Surrey-born rock band provided the soundtrack for Thorpe Park’s 2012 coaster, The Swarm? (1) Plenty of good guesses for this one; most people answered it correctly. The correct answer was You Me At Six. 18) According to the 2003–2009 Medium-Term Development Plan, which ride were Tussauds planning to build a replica of in 2005 to improve capacity? N.B. – The installation never happened. (3) Lost of different answers for this one too! Many of you bagged the three points available though. The correct answer was Detonator. 19) Which Thorpe Park seasonal scare maze has annually been located inside The Arena since 2011? (1) We all know this. Lauded in its opening year and met with mixed views in it's second, its Experiment 10. 20) What sea creature can be seen crashing through the wall above the main entrance of the Amity Hotel, which houses KFC? (1) A lovely touch of Thorpe-style themeing. And of course, its a shark. 21) In 2004, Samurai, a Mondial Top-Scan from Chessington, came to Thorpe Park. But which ride used to operate in the spot that Samurai now occupies? (2) Even though this change occurred in 2004, some people struggled with this. If I remember correctly it was removed due to its overtly 'fairground' appearance which clashed with the surrounding Canada Creek. The correct answer was Calgary Stampede. How many rides/attractions have been installed in Thorpe Park since 2000 (inclusive)? N.B. – This includes rides that are no longer operational/have been removed and rides that were once closed but have since re-opened. (5) This was was a toughy. Players lost one mark for every three marks they were from the true number. The number I was looking for was 18. So if you choose 15, you'd get 4 points, but if you chose 13, you'd get 3 points, etc., etc. Here are the rides: Tidal Wave (2000), Vortex (2001), Detonator (2001), Zodiac (2001), Colossus (2002), Nemesis Inferno (2003), Quantum (2003), Eclipse (2003), Samurai (2004), Rush (2005), Slammer (2005), Stealth (2006), Flying Fish (2007), Time Voyagers (2008), SAW - The Ride (2009), SAW: Alive (2010), Storm Surge (2011), The Swarm (2012). Which ride at Thorpe Park is a KMG Afterburner? (2) One for all you nerds out there. The correct answer to this one was Vortex. Luke clearly wasn't going to get this one wrong! Thorpe Park’s newest rollercoaster was built on an island away from the mainland, called Island C during infilling and planning stages for coaster construction. What was the name of Saw’s island during infilling and construction? (3) Thorpe's MTDP outlined the infilling of seven artificial landmasses in the various lakes surrounding the mainland. Although the majority of SAW - The Ride's layout is built on the mainland, it is Island H that is home to the station, the queue, the main drop, and the second inversion, as well as other things. Which popstar duo did Thorpe Park burn effigies of during their first ever Blow Sh*t Up event in 2011? (1) How could we ever forget? It was of course, Jedward. Write out any of the two advertisement slogans featured on The Swarm’s billboard near-miss feature, new for 2013. N.B. – The graffiti doesn’t count. (3) Quite an array of answers here too. You could have had: Take a flight into paradise/Take a flight into HELL or DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD. If you had paraphrased these slogans then you will have received full marks. And there we have it. Be sure to check back here next week, after Round 3 - The Picture Round - to see the answers to the Records Round. But for now, toodles!

Doing it now!

Another huge thanks to everyone who took part in the live quiz yesterday! So sorry I couldn't make you all aware of the quiz as I did with the last round, hence some of you missed it. Those who were not present have been PM'd, and I have already received responses from six other members. Excellent work guys! And yes, this quiz was a bit harder for some people. Naturally, with it not being wholly focused on Thorpe (there was one questions on it though!), it was always going to be more of a challenge. Despite this, there have been some great results come in so far. Here are the members who have sent me their answers and their respective points for the Records Round. coastercameron98: 27.0 coastergod: 29.0 Coaster Jamie: 29.0 Cornflakes: 33.0 Dan9: 35.0 EC!: 36.0 Han30: 9.0 Holly: 5.5 James_C: 33.0 James & Co.: 20.5 JoshC.: 32.5 J.S217: 30.0 Luke_A: 32.0 pluk: 20.0 R1C4Y: 13.0 MarkC: 31.0 Matt Creek: 22.0 Mr. Fish: 2.0 stretchy: 23.0 More results to be added when members send me their answers. For those of you who have not completed this week's round yet, I have sent you a PM with the questions. Please remember you will have 30 minutes upon opening the PM to send me your answers. Congratulations to EC! for currently scoring the highest in this round with 36/42! Does anyone have the knowledge to de-throne him? Next week's round is the Picture Round and will be held on Thursday 25th July at 8pm. Mark your calendars folks! See you all next week! Sidders

Because you have alerted me of this Jamie I will allow you to send your answers for the Records Round and the Picture Round in after the live Picture Round. You will still have just 30 minutes from the moment you open your PMs to send back the answers though.

Thanks for answering Mark! That's very right about what you say with regard to what type of questions you might get. This round will be focusing on national and international stages in coaster engineering. From world's firsts to world's only's, this round should be great fun as well. I have a few more marks for you all by the way. Here they are: James_C: 45.0 Peaj: 53.0 (amendment) scarycoasterboy: 51.0 Tiddlywinks: 30.0 Topsyturvy15: 23.0 Now we only have two more members to do the quiz. Mer and Dan9, hurry up - you only have two days left!

Woops.

It is Jamie! Please be aware that anyone who is not on the list who wants to join in the quizzy frivolities will have to email me their interest BEFORE Friday, the date of the next round. This will give me time to email the questions to you and receive your answers. All members welcome! Please also be aware that, after Friday, anyone who is not on the list will not be allowed to join in, as you will have missed the Thorpe Park Round. Can't wait to see you all again for the Records Round* on Friday! *Concerning world record-holding coasters, parks and rides. Not music.

My sincere apologies! I'll add you in now. You got 48.0.

Thank you everyone who took part! All the non-live questions have been sent and you will have one week to finish them and send them back to me. Remember though, once you open the PM you must reply within 30 minutes! Here are the raw results so far. The maximum number of marks for this round was 58. Coastercameron98: 28.0 Coastergod: 32.5 Coaster Jamie: 48.0 Cornflakes: 50.0 Dan9: Pending EC!: 45.5 Frog-Tastic98: 12.0 Han30: 46.0 Holly: 32.5 James_C: Pending James & Co.: 39.0 JoshC. 54.0 J.S217: 42.5 Luke_A: 43.5 Peaj: 49.0 Phill Pritchard: 52.0 Pluk: 51.0 MohammedAli: 14.0 MarkC: 40.0 Matt Creek: 46.0 Mer: Pending Mr. Fish: 40.0 R1C4Y: 53.0 Scarycoasterboy: Pending Stretchy: 15.0 Tiddlywinks: Pending Topsyturvy15: Pending And without further adieu, I'm off to Germany! Next week's quiz will be at: 8pm on Friday 19th July. The quiz will be a day late due to my unavailability on the Thursday.

Patience please! Sending them all now!

The quiz should take about an hour Jamie.

Yep, I certainly can Phill For those of you who are still wondering about your the non-live quiz works: I can see when you open and send your PMs, so if there's more than 30 minutes on the clock your answers won't be counted! Obviously if you're like 1 or 2 minutes over that's not to worry RIGHT. Who's excited for the quiz?! Literally buzzing for it. It's quite sad Tonight at 8pm, 23 of you plucky TPMers will be going head-to-head! Last minute changes to the questions means there's now only 58 points available instead of 60, but you can be sure there'll be plenty of fun either way!

I pay £86 not including bills for a room that's 235cm x 270cm. Short straw much.

Well if you can't Holly, I'll PM you the questions after the quiz. I'm sure you've read the rules on the time you'll have to reply. Great to have you on board. That makes a grand total of three female players! Where's Sarah!?

I wonder why they haven't sued S&S Worldwide for this? Dollywood sued HUSS for millions over their useless Topple Tower.

Excellent news Dan and scarycoasterboy. I'll PM all those requiring PM'd questions and from the minute you read it you'll have 30 minutes to reply. So only open it is you know you've got the time to answer them!

PM'ing not a problem. Such a great response guys! Anymore for any more? Here's how the table is looking right now: All rows filling up very nicely indeed! I hoped 20 would play and right now, with just 26 hours to go, we have 17. Really really positive turn-out Of course, there's still time to voice your interest if you want to join in the fun! Come on, there could be some great prizes! I've finalised the question line-up for the Thorpe Park Round (and nearly finished the Record Round questions!), which will feature 25 questions on the history, future, notable events and geography of Thorpe Park. Look forward to seeing you all there!

You queue jumped. Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect your giro.

Never mind Thorpe's best maze, it would easily be the UK's best maze! Save maybe Terror of the Towers...

Slenderman is present so yes this should happen. It's exactly the market Thorpe are looking at. This would have a much longer-lasting impact than mazes like The Asylum, SAW: Alive or The Passing which have momentary balls-out, **** yourself scares. In Slenderman, there's only about five or six encounters with the man himself, but he's always there, out of your sight, but you're constantly in his. The rest is build-up, anticipation, you heartbeat going ten to the dozen even when nothing's happening. In Thorpe current mazes, when nothing's happening it's crap, but this could be something truly special. I would love for them to use the Abbey Lake peninsula as a scare maze location, and Slender is the perfect tool. There would be no rubbish tents, just metal construction fencing giving you the impression, as per the game, you're in an abandoned property (will also stop people falling into the lakes hurr). It may be an IP but it's a clever one that's not overdone. Its shrouded in mystery and because unlike Saw, is really is a very disturbing psychological concept that people only ever hear whispers about, it would be so perfect. Many people don't even know who Slenderman is and those that do know not to play his game lightly. The whole thing started off as a conspiracy in 2009 with edited photos etc., so its fresh, current and there's still some people yet to discover how scary he is. Slenderman is a genuinely terrifying foe, far more than the blood and gore of The Asylum, E-10 and SAW: Alive. It would also be logistically very easy to pull off. Only a few buildings are required, there won't be any noise abatement required as it'll be deadly silent aside from screams, and there'll only need to be one actor. A second may be required so that each group has a sort of 'mentor' to help them get through the forest without getting lost, because it would be so good if there wasn't a pre-determined path between each of the 'scenes'. One thing I'm not keen on in the blog is the idea that we'll have GCSE Drama student 'jumping' at guests. No no no. Slenderman doesn't jump. He stands. And then he disappears. Occasionally he indulges in taking a few steps towards his victims but other than that half the reason he is so scary is because he is so silent. It'd be great if, at the eighth note, Slenderman positions himself behind the group and plays with someone's hair or something, because at this point, seeing Slenderman right behind you would be absolutely terrifying.