EC! Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Not all Gerstlauers are as bad as Saw. I can only vouch for the 10 or so of their rides I have been on but none of them even come close to the pain and misery that Saw inflicts on me. Only problem being most of those rides invert you 2-3 times or not at all. This thing could be brutal. Well, you said on Facebook, Tornado at Bakken was your new worst ride you have ever been on anyhoo On my mini meet yesterday, we had the very odd experience on Saw of the left hand side of the train being silky smooth and the right side of the train, being the most jolted headbanging and most painful experience you could wish to experience, it was very odd... Hopefully Smiler, doesn't inflict the same pain on us rightsiders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Well, you said on Facebook, Tornado at Bakken was your new worst ride you have ever been on Unfortunately, Tornado is an Intamin (and so by definition will be rough, uncomfortable and generally rubbish) and not Gerstlauer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 The queue line looks awful now, you cant really blame H&S for it, even if they did advise them to cover it they wouldnt specify they have to buy the cheapest rustiest metal they can find. About it being rough, it does look abit rough in moments but maybe thats just the videos It seems to have lost alot of paint from this section of track though.... (From TT) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomglazed Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Only hope will be that they paint it at some point, however with the delays already, they probably have bigger fish to fry in order to get the damn thing open. I mean close to or on it's due opening date they were lifting trains onto and off track, come on now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster_monkey Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Not all Gerstlauers are as bad as Saw. I can only vouch for the 10 or so of their rides I have been on but none of them even come close to the pain and misery that Saw inflicts on me. Only problem being most of those rides invert you 2-3 times or not at all. This thing could be brutal. Hmm. See, now the one main problem I find with the 3 Gerstlauers I've ridden is the tightness of the track leading to the snappy transitions into inversions/turns. The Smiler, as awesome as it looks, just screams rough and I don't mean 'Colossus rough' or 300 year old stone slide rough, it's those pesky tight turns and inversions. Everything about this ride just doesn't appeal to me in terms of wanting to ride it; these rides are just glorified fairground rides. I will go on the ride with an open mind... I just hope it's intact once it's done. Regards to the fencing. Wow. Just... wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderItAll Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 It's a shame that they weren't advised earlier, or didn't taken action if they were, about the Queue lines having to be enclosed. With the comments about rusty metal, yes it would be a lot more appealing if it was painted, or even galvanised but some metal can rust like that very quickly, go and buy a bit of box section mild steel or concrete reinforcing bar and leave it outside, the surface will rust very quickly, so I don't think it was just any old scrap bit of metal mesh. I am quite sensitive to rough rides, gives me a banging headache and if this is anything like some of the others then it may not be rerideable. Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 The queue line looks awful now, you cant really blame H&S for it, even if they did advise them to cover it they wouldnt specify they have to buy the cheapest rustiest metal they can find. About it being rough, it does look abit rough in moments but maybe thats just the videos It seems to have lost alot of paint from this section of track though.... (From TT) Since that paint 'loss' is down to the train wheels running along the track, an issue that plagues ALL rides, nope, won't be repainted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 I know that, the point I was making was the amount of paint taken off on that one bit of section quite quickly! Some parts of Colossus look less aged that! aTOMic and Inferno 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Don't really see how it looks that bad... Especially in comparison to the rust covered Colossus... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Don't really see how it looks that bad... Especially in comparison to the rust covered Colossus... But then Colossus is 11 years old, Smiler hasn't even opened yet and it's already being compared to it! aTOMic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 By one person... Cannot see how it's a valid comparison though... You can see on Juvelen, another ride new for 2013, it suffers a similar issue... What happens when new wheels are being run in, friction will take the paint off after some time of running on a constant basis... Fact of life, but to compare it to Colossus is slightly over-exaggerating the situation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Just find it strange how this particular part of the track seems to look so much worse than the rest. Anyway RideRater are now reporting that it wont open till June, wouldnt surprise me TBH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Ben10 paint was completely off the track within a couple of months opening. That ride isn't rough whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 I'm sure there will be some serious discussions and repercussions throughout Alton/Merlin management for the entire screw up of this project. Hold ups happen but the way the project has been rushed over the last four weeks has meant the ride has hit problems and now instead of a ride opening later in the season is just disappointing people who have planned visits based on Alton giving out an opening date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_A Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) A very interesting article here by TowersTimes which explains one of the set backs for the project, and how the HSE was involved with dealing with errors made during the groundworks process. The main contributing factor to the ride's failure to open in March was severe issues with the groundwork during the early part of the construction. This was hampered considerably by a major breach of Health & Safety regulations committed by subcontractor T G Cruse Groundworks Limited, as detailed below: "Failure to provide trench supports, box's or battering to ensure that the sewer pipe trench (or part of it) did not collapse." "Failure to provide supports or battering to ensure that the faces of sections of the main excavation (or part of it) at the site of the new ride did not collapse." HSE report: http://www.hse.gov.uk/notices/notices/Notice_details.asp?SF=CN&SV=304321528 http://old.towerstimes.co.uk/news/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1369595511&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1,10,11& EDIT: This did make me laugh... hahaha oh dear! 'I'm hugely disappointed I never got to go on it. It's called The Smiler and I was sitting there thinking what is there to smile about."Global Superstar - Tinchy Stryder Edited May 26, 2013 by Luke_A ste193, Coaster and pluk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomglazed Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Definitely. I get that there have been setbacks with weather and all sorts of things but the second track wasn't even fully complete yet and they announced there will still aiming for a late May opening? I lost faith that very second. I don't know if I'm the only one that thinks that I'd rather them delay the opening and announce that way beginning of this year and say it'll be ready for Summer and then have soft openings and maybe open it early thereby exceeding guest expectations than under delivering in what appears to be a complete press shambles so far. I mean on top of the delayed opening, I remember watching the news segment on Smiler and they said it had opened when it hadn't yet. I get that that could well be a fault of the News network but its just been a calamity with press in the run up to opening to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Oh dear, The Smiler's construction and opening is a complete disaster. Sure rly Merlin must have a real headache with all the problems and delays that have suddenly cropped up since the project began. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 A very interesting article here by TowersTimes which explains one of the set backs for the project, and how the HSE was involved with dealing with errors made during the groundworks process. Decent find, explains a lot about the initial delays to the project... Just seems to make it seem less of Towers' direct fault really... Couldn't prevent the weather related issues which really was the next major delay... Right shame really then that it decides to crash as well, just to really complete the set... Dunno why people are shocked June is likely right now considering it's next week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercameron98 Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 they say bad things come in threes, and well the Smiler's three are the groundworks, bad weather and then the valleying or stalling. Surely nothing else can go wrong now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted May 26, 2013 Report Share Posted May 26, 2013 Eurofighters stall all the time, take SAW for example stalls at least twice a year, even it's first ever run vallyed. It's not a disaster story, it's normal for coasters, give them the right conditions and they valley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Think the most hilarious thing about that article is the 'Tinchy Stryder - Global Superstar' chart, he hardly charts in this country let alone internationally. Anyway it's a shame about it still not being open, but hopefully with this extra time, they'll be able to finalize things and finish off things and make it the best it can be. They might as well get it perfect (or as close as possible) if they've missed the deadline several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidders Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 TT seems to enjoy using the words "major" and "severe". What arse. I'd love to know their source for this "foreseeable future" that The Smiler will close for. A valleyed train? Happens all the time in testing. And it's quite the coincidence it happens just after trim fins were added to both airtime hills. This "major incident" is basically over-trimming. Probably a bit gusty that day too. Still enough to throw half of TTF into a meltdown about the ride's opening possibly being delayed for another forty years. Just because the wording of the closure alert on Towers' website changes from "The Smiler won't be open today" to "The Smiler is currently closed" doesn't mean The Smiler won't open soon. It's what the whinging "enthusiasts" at TTF have been wanting for ages - for Towers to stop updating them and the GP "only 20 hours in advance" of the next day that the ride won't be opening. To me it's a good sign. From photo updates we can see the amount of construction that's been going on in the last week and how close they are to finishing the ride queue; final touches like covering the substantial gap between the ground and the gate that blocks off the cherry picker access path and fiddling about with that support. They've also finished the disabled access fire escape round the back of the building and covered most of the queueline that required covering. I'm hopeful the ride will open soon. It's not my business to speculate about management cock-ups. That's Towers' and Merlin's business and very little I or anyone else says will make much difference, regardless of how much it should. SteveJ, EC!, Whiteknuckle and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aTOMic Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 I think the mesh roofing on the qeue line is actually quite good really as it helps give the look that the station was hoping to achieve (as it has ended up looking dreadful). - Michael - 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 The mesh looks awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Doesn't rain water on rusty metal equal rusty drips on people below, and the nice floor? Could get messy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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