Colossus

[2542464]

On 2/17/2022 at 10:03 AM, JoshC. said:

Indeed, that's why Thorpe stopped selling balloons - all the helium budget went to Colossus. 

 

(It's a little early for April Fools; think you've been had)

https://youtu.be/sCrvjZNdpUA?t=449

There's loads of other cool facts in that video as well.

 

[RobF]

8 hours ago, 2542464 said:

https://youtu.be/sCrvjZNdpUA?t=449

There's loads of other cool facts in that video as well.

 

Some very bad facts in this video….

 

wicked witches haunt stood connected to the side of the KFC building.  The ride actually stands on the site of Dino bumper boats/  mr rabbits tropical travels/ mrs hippo’s fungle safari was also shortened slightly to accommodate Inferno.

 

detonator actually is more where the station was for wicked witches haunt. 

[JoshC.]

On 2/27/2022 at 11:13 AM, 2542464 said:

https://youtu.be/sCrvjZNdpUA?t=449

There's loads of other cool facts in that video as well.

 

A blunt response here, but that is absolute rubbish.

 

It's true that the area Colossus is built on has shifting ground. This can cause some of the supports to shift / 'sink' ever so slightly. Obviously coasters require millimetre precision to be as smooth as designed, and a slightly shift can make a ride rougher. This is why back in 2019, the park infilled and concreted some of the area around the vertical loop, in an attempt to create more secure ground.

 

But let's say they do take a hollow support and fill it with helium, to keep the supports at the same level as it should be (as claimed in the video). What would that actually do? The helium won't make the support rise, so presumably the idea is to stop it from going down. But if the ground goes down and the support doesn't, that means the support is coming away from its foundations, which would ultimately make things unsafe.

 

Also, they say they have to "keep topping it up with helium". Why would they need to top up supports with helium? Surely they would fill the support with helium, seal it off and be done. It wouldn't be able to escape anywhere in such a short period of time...unless of course, there were big holes somewhere, which would be very unsafe.

 

The thing with these VIP tours and coaster climbs is the people giving them are just any other person 90% of the time. They've just been given a script of facts to learn. It's their job to sound knowledgeable and answer questions, but of course they don't know everything.

Sometimes they might have been told old wives tales or lines which help them move conversations along. Sometimes they might just make things up on the spot. It's the nature of what they do. I don't blame them for it either; just the way it is!

 

These tours do give an interesting insight for a guest who doesn't have encyclopaedic knowledge / doesn't want to know weird follow up things.

 

tl;dr 1 - Colossus supports aren't filled with helium

tl;dr 2 - The VIP tours are good fun, but always worth taking some things that are said with a pinch of salt

[JoshC.]

Colossus opened 20 years ago today!

 

To celebrate its successful opening on what was a moderate Thursday in March, where the ride welcomed 7000 guests, we have taken a quick look back at the ride that put Thorpe Park on the map!

 

https://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/articles/09-03-2022/20+Years+of+Colossus

 

(This was heavily inspired by @Mark9's original 10 year article, which currently isn't on the main TPM site, but can still be viewed here!)

 

[Mark9]

Its amazing how when I wrote about Colossus in 2012, I spent more time discussing Thorpe Parks history than Colossus itself. Maybe it's important to realise the sea change that this ride was. I can't imagine visiting Thorpe in the future without hearing that lift hill noise as the train disengages at the top or the odd shuffling noise the train makes as it travels the circuit.

 

But then in 2008 it was unfathomable to imagine Alton Towers without the sound of Corkscrews motor echoing over the valley. And that was 14 years ago.

 

 

[Inferno]

Great article 😊

 

100% agree about the decade of consistency.

Colossus is the one that’s always just ‘there’. TP’s backbone. The most “rollercoaster” rollercoaster they have. There’s something about it, love it or not, that just delivers every time, and even though it had the inversion record I think it’s always been good enough / wild enough for people to see past that.

 

While Colossus may not be the best coaster at Thorpe, I think a lot of people would be sad to see it go.

 

I don’t really ride Colossus much anymore tbh because of the throughput, but it wouldn’t be Thorpe without the unmistakable CHHTCHTCHT every few minutes, and a walk down “heartline avenue” 😂 which actually is a brilliant part of the park (especially if they’re going to tart it up)

 

There’s been talk of theming repairs taking place soon. Could this signal Colossus is here to stay for a while?

[Matt10]

Thought it would be good to note from passholder preview day, that the seat belts have been changed out now to use the same ones as stealth. Through the day they seemed to be very fiddly and affected dispatch times, and from a first experience I think the maximum restraint height has been decreased as the belts make it feel a lot tighter than previously.

[Cal]

Interesting article. I've always had a soft spot for Colossus and couldn't imagine Thorpe without it. Will be interesting to see what happens to it when the time comes

 

As much as I like the Imascore track I would love the old music to make a return. Also I've found the speakers in the station have never been as loud since they changed from the Bose ones and doesn't have the same atmosphere as it did before

[JoshC.]

23 hours ago, Inferno said:

There’s been talk of theming repairs taking place soon. Could this signal Colossus is here to stay for a while?

 

I've heard every rumour under the sun about Colossus lately, from "the park are happy with it as is and won't do anything", to "the park are planning to give it some attention soon, including a possible retrack" to "the park are going to scrap it in the next 10 years". 

At the moment, I don't think there's a lot to go on with any of it! 

 

13 hours ago, Matt10 said:

Thought it would be good to note from passholder preview day, that the seat belts have been changed out now to use the same ones as stealth. Through the day they seemed to be very fiddly and affected dispatch times, and from a first experience I think the maximum restraint height has been decreased as the belts make it feel a lot tighter than previously.

 

I believe the park had to switch to the new seatbelts as Intamin don't make the previous ones any more. Haven't had any experience with them, so hopefully the fiddly-ness is just because they're new! 

[RobF]

Colossus has currently had all the track along the inlines removed, possible reasons ? 
 

-support work 

-track repainting /replacement 

 any ideas ?

 

 

[James]

Interesting.

[RobF]

Adapt it for the future ?? New Airtime hill here in 2023 ….

[RobF]

8 minutes ago, James said:

Interesting.

 This is a fake account @Thorpe Pork not official 😂 

[James]

23 minutes ago, RobF said:

 This is a fake account @Thorpe Pork not official 😂 

 

Okay I'm glad you're awake!! 😂

[ML27]

Everyone has assumed it’s a retrack,

also rumours on Twitter that taziker (people who retract big one) are doing it. 
 
I find that hard to believe as this is Merlin I’m sure they still have a strong relationship with Intamin and would be able to retrack it.

 

It could have just came off for a repaint and sandblasted. They might just want to do a high quality paint job.

 

if it is a retrack, will it be full or partial (more likely) and new trains?

[ML27]

It’s a retrack.

[Cornflakes]

37 minutes ago, ML27 said:

Everyone has assumed it’s a retrack,

also rumours on Twitter that taziker (people who retract big one) are doing it. 
 
I find that hard to believe as this is Merlin I’m sure they still have a strong relationship with Intamin and would be able to retrack it.

 

It could have just came off for a repaint and sandblasted. They might just want to do a high quality paint job.

 

if it is a retrack, will it be full or partial (more likely) and new trains?

An Intamin retrack would likely be significantly more expensive 

[Benin]

New track is pointless when the trains are still worse than a Zamperla Volare.

[JoshC.]

As I understand it, a few pieces of track are being removed, with some being totally replaced, and some being refurbished. The refurbished track will be repainted too. This is not a full retrack.

 

Given the location of the pieces removed, it makes sense too. There's long been talk of 'sinking' of Colossus, and the inlines are particularly prone to that given the location and the fact they had to fill in the land around that and the vertical loop. Would mean that the track is put under extra stress, strain and reaches the end of its usable life quicker.

 

I believe that there is additional recognition that more pieces of track will need such work in the future too, so expect this to be a common occurrence for the next couple of closed seasons at least. 

 

Don't expect a full track repaint yet. Hopefully when the powers that be see how vibrant new track is and how bad the patchwork job will loo, they can green light that though.

 

Good to see this is being done, and puts to bed any rumours of Colossus being removed any time soon. 

 

I haven't ridden Colossus in a long time, but the inlines were never a problem for me when I did ride them. In fact, they were the least rough parts of the ride. What's it like these days?

Whilst this helps extend the lifespan of the ride, I wonder if this will make any actual improvements to the ride experience?

[RobF]

1 hour ago, JoshC. said:

As I understand it, a few pieces of track are being removed, with some being totally replaced, and some being refurbished. The refurbished track will be repainted too. This is not a full retrack.

 

Given the location of the pieces removed, it makes sense too. There's long been talk of 'sinking' of Colossus, and the inlines are particularly prone to that given the location and the fact they had to fill in the land around that and the vertical loop. Would mean that the track is put under extra stress, strain and reaches the end of its usable life quicker.

 

I believe that there is additional recognition that more pieces of track will need such work in the future too, so expect this to be a common occurrence for the next couple of closed seasons at least. 

 

Don't expect a full track repaint yet. Hopefully when the powers that be see how vibrant new track is and how bad the patchwork job will loo, they can green light that though.

 

Good to see this is being done, and puts to bed any rumours of Colossus being removed any time soon. 

 

I haven't ridden Colossus in a long time, but the inlines were never a problem for me when I did ride them. In fact, they were the least rough parts of the ride. What's it like these days?

Whilst this helps extend the lifespan of the ride, I wonder if this will make any actual improvements to the ride experience?

 Could the sinking be an issue placing the track under extra stress as the train runs through , ultimately leading to cracking of the steel 

[Inferno]

It's amazing how quickly things are starting to improve across Merlin now that they aren't beholden to shareholders.

 

It will be a shame if this doesn't include a paint of the remaining track considering they're going this far, but good to see yet another major improvement being made.

 

New trains please!

[Benin]

1 hour ago, Inferno said:

It's amazing how quickly things are starting to improve across Merlin now that they aren't beholden to shareholders.

 

Legoland dropping half a star on TripAdvisor would disagree with this, and there's still a lot of problems throughout the parks.

 

Still, marathon not a sprint with these things. But investment in new attractions or renovations means nothing if the general quality will remain poor.

[Trooper Looper]

Really excited for this retrack. Shame it isn't the Cobra Roll, but a retrack is better than none. As many have already said, let's hope we see the ride gain a fresh coat of paint with this new track. If they have to paint the new pieces, they'll probably have to repaint the whole thing for it to blend in.

[ML27]

 

Saw this on twitter, credit Taz97

 

New pieces of track have been installed, a very different shade of blue. Will stick out for quite a few years. I can’t help but notice the paint quality. Already wearing away on the sides of the tracks and I understand it will. But that’s not great for so many test runs of the ride, by the end of the season it will look old. Nor does this track look new either.

 

Strange how they took out the whole section then refitted some of the old track. Seems strange to me. 

[JoshC.]

That track still looks grey to me, not blue.