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THE SWARM: Construction Updates


Marc

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There will still be a lot to do onsite. A lot of things need to happen before the ride can be signed over to the park. Geo is correct; all sound equipment needs to be installed, lighting, including emergency lighting, the ride needs to complete a certain amount of testing hours and health and safety need to sign things off. Of course, you have pathways, general landscaping... the site team are going to be extremely busy in the new year. How exciting! :)

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I would say the majority of the theming is done, but the queueline, fencing, paths and the themed retail outlets are a certainty. Sound systems and the like are obviously the department for an electrician. Anyway, The Swarm has now reached the halfway mark. Now the time has come to see the end to a long and exciting wait for TP's newest (and dare I say it, the BEST) coaster to start its journey alongside the park's arsenal of coasters.

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As Josh said, it's blooming Christmas, the builders are entitled to a holiday too you know...They're at the theming stage, so no doubt the helicopter will be the most likely next massive scenic element as well as the continuation of the station and other bits... Probs start seeing the vehicle buildings popping up in January as well and once those are done the pathways/fencing/etc can be done in February/March as will the testing...

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I think that it'll be finished late January yo early February as it still needs to test a couple of times and still the trains haven't arrived yet and were still waiting for that :) it's gonna be a long january

Who's to say the trains haven't already arrived. Just because you haven't seen any visuals of the trains, that doens't mean they are not there.If you are concluding that statement because there is not a train in the station, I'd very much like to throw a dozen pictures as to why they are not there.Lets think about it... they can't have a train in the way of the builders (as well as the fact there is a giant tarpaulin sheet over the track) when they are themeing the station. This isn't like other projects where they have a metal frame and some metal sheets, or in SAW's case plasterboard walls. It will take a hell of lot longer to get the finished product before they can have a giant train plonked in it.Remember we have a maintenance shed which was completed with walls months ago and we haven't has so much as a pin-***** of visual from whats inside. There (obvioiusly) is enough room for one train inside the maintenance shed along side this with the closed season well underway, an ENTIRE park to have the other train (maybe in bits or maybe not ) stored.Let's steer away from the negativity and say ''you know, they know what they are doing and have a extremely carefully revised plan of what goes where when it goes there and why it goes there'', alongside this they will only show a limited amount of the island so they have the element of surprise on opening day.
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Saw went through something like 750 testing cycles IIRC. Also, finished in January it was not - they were still paving a day or two before opening. I'm also fairly confident that trains are there already, but even if they aren't they will be absolutely imminent now because I would say second week of Jan would be the latest they would want them to comfortably fit in all the testing and signing over.

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It is most likely that the trains are there already. They should start testing it as soon as all the near misses are done, like they did with raptor, and most of them are done already, meaning that the helicopter is most likely completed but they haven't taken pictures of it. And also I think they could be testing it now, because when a person asked on thorpe's facebook page if it would do enough tests next month, thorpe responded that to not worry as it would have tested lots of times, but they made the word lots into capitals.

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Well I would be led to believe that the trains do actually come in parts. So for example, the train is simply delivered as parts and then built up to whole chassis, where they are then taken chassis by chassis and forklifted onto the track. This will happen in the main engineering workshop in accordance with the B&M engineering teams (no winter maintenance is done in any ride workshop in the park except for Stealth, Saw and X:/NWO which have the space and equipment to do this in - it's all done in the main workshop near the Farm) and it will then be transported across.As it has already been shown, RCS are off site now so there will not be a pull through - everything will be tested by the PLC compiler and creator (I.e Consign - http://www.consignll...m/services.html - this is a good site for info on how they do it) and then the train will simply be run out in manual to test the lift, block sections and brake runs out. The train will stall repeatedly (and I mean, repeatedly) until it makes a full circuit.Source: Myself coming from an operational and engineering side at Malden Rushett Land of Fun, and previous Engineering managers at Chertsey Towers.Oh. And another thing.

Let's steer away from the negativity and say ''you know, they know what they are doing and have a extremely carefully revised plan of what goes where when it goes there and why it goes there'', alongside this they will only show a limited amount of the island so they have the element of surprise on opening day.

Haha, ha, hahaha, ha ha hahahaha.You've clearly never worked for Merlin Entertainments before.
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^To be fair, even Merlin should have at least a time plan and management chart... And even the best laid plans can be set back for whatever reason... Step forward Thirteen for example...GANNT CHART ME!Though... Constant stalling? That to me sounds slightly wrong... Granted it certainly will be put through it's paces constantly and it won't run at its full speed but wasn't it on Nemesis where B&M had that undeniable confidence that it would not stall during tests? Maybe for other companies where testing does other things, but it just doesn't sound right to me testing a ride with it constantly stalling...

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Yeah, agreeing with Benin (! :) ) that sounds highly unlikely to me. B&M never bother with a pull through (don't need to see RCS leave to know that) so why would they test in phases like that? Also, I can't vouch for other manufacturers but B&M deliver trains fully assembled. Having seen both pictures of Inferno's trains arriving at Thorpe and Air's vehicles sitting as individually wrapped rows on the car park at Alton, as well as pictures of trains for Krake and Raptor inside B&M's plant, I am completely confident of this.

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From what I've heard (in other words, could be complete twaddle):-One train (/ all the parts of one train) is on the park, with the other due in January.-Testing to begin in January.-Helicopter theming was due to be installed the beginning of this month.From what I remember / can gather:-Saw had just under 600 test runs. Tbh, whatever the number was, it was a lot. :)-Church theming (well, the exterior at least) was completed before Christmas.

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Yes, in fact regularly do trains and cars stall - the wheels on each coaster (at least within Merlin) have to be rebonded each year. This means that they need to be 'broken into' to ensure they can complete the circuit. Vampire has various anti rollbacks around the ride (one notably above the top of Lift 2, just after tunnel) which are opened so the train doesn't stall in awkward places.The ride needs to be run round however at an extremely slow speed (for example they won't just throw it into automatic and hey presto) - the ride needs to be very slowly broken in to ensure that the lift is perfectly aligned, all anti rollbacks are working and in place, that all the brake sections are aligned (if not you've got big problems) and that the ride sensors are working.

Edited by Neilfever
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Not posted on here for a while as I just seem to read the topics rather than reply.Having lost a love for thorpe over the past couple of years, this project has really got me excited again. I think that Thorpe have actually outdone themselves on this one in every aspect of the ride. The swarm will be a great addition for crunching up queues as well as ride experience.I normally have such a (publically) negative attitude towards Thorpe, but for the swarm, I applaud you

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You've convinced me at last to sign up :PI spy a bridge and a fire engine! The station is looking great, but I really wish they would hurry up and finish the plane!It still doesn't look like a crashed plane as of yet. Oh well, I can't wait to fly underneath that wing!

Really pleased you decided to join! :P Welcome!I know what you mean, it doesn't look finished does it? What we have to remember is, it is unlikely guests will see it too much from the camera's point of view, most of the guests' view point will be from the other side; ie- the themed side. Time will tell I guess!
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It does look very exciting! Looka like many things have gone on since there last update, which does include the fire engine being stalled.Alonside this the near miss element of the chrurch which was quite unseen in the plans is now visable. If you look into the background of the timelapse image it looks as to me as though the toilets are now being built, alongisde this the bridge has been built, although I get the feeling they may have been for quite some time as they bridge pieces where there before the plane.I didnt really realise how low you sit on the trains, as the gap between the operating console and that of the track is quite minute!Also this is going to be quite weird to say but the time-lapse camera has been moved or the zoom tampered with, as the island now looks further away and you can see more of the drop and less of everything else.

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