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Post by SoCalCoaster on Nov 13, 2008 2:38:47 GMT -8
Most of the rides department is itching to get their hands on this - operating and riding. While not the most noticible from ground level, the station is coming along very nicely. Thanks to no roof yet, the view into the station from atop Tremors' lift is a great one. The train! Very soon these will be back in their rightful place. So thats all of the photos I snagged today. From what I understand, the wiring is nearly complete. The last major element we are waiting on is new lift cables from Vekoma. And speaking of Vekoma, I've been seeing Gary Norton (the park's owner) flying his helicopter over the park a lot in the past two days, more so than usual. I'm unsure if the people from Vekoma have arrived at the park already or not. I asked around today and some people say yes, some say no. Gary's more frequent flying would hint that they are. Onto some of the more minor stuff with Aftershock, obviously we still have no station roof. I heard today by a friend that a idea was tossed around about adding bulletproof glass windows to the top of the station for the roof. The only downside to that whole thing would be the fact that the station would be a hotbox for not only guests but operator's as well. And, according to what I have heard from several people, the reason why we are not installing the evacuation platform under the Cobra Roll is because Vekoma explained to us that the Cobra evac platform would not be necessary with Aftershock. I kind of find that hard to believe, but thats just what I've been told. Lets hope the train never valleys on the cobra...
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Post by SoCalCoaster on Nov 13, 2008 2:40:16 GMT -8
As of yesterday, a single car has been placed onto the track. Would of looked better with a full train Intentional blur Some glare, but not too bad. 3rd tunnel Northern Idaho sunsets are awesome
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Post by SoCalCoaster on Nov 13, 2008 2:41:09 GMT -8
Alright, very short update today. Just gonna recap what I saw today. --------------------------- -Today they began putting the covering over the queue for Aftershock. -One side of the station has it's roof in place, leaving the other side to be installed. -Seat padding is yet to be installed on the train. From what I understand, we are going to be installing some temporary black padding until we can recieve the new green seat padding, which should arrive in about 3 weeks. I dont understand the logic of this. If the frame is black, and the seats are yellow, and the restraints are green, why not just leave the seat padding black? That would look nicer than green padding. Thats my opinion though... Also, considering that new green padding has been ordered, it sounds as if the green and blue scheme may be here to stay for a while. -It appears that in front of the Cobra Roll, there is a garden beginning to be put in. I'm unsure if this is true or not. I havent heard anything regarding a garden. For all I know, the flowers, trees and other plants may be for the Aftershock plaza area. --------------------------- Alright, now thats out of the way, I have two photos and thats it for Aftershock. Covering material is on site ready to be placed over the queue while the last bit of work is underway on Aftershock. The completely refurbished train waits on the track, itching to be set free in it's new enviroment. I do have one last thing, a short video of Sky Diver's lighting. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct82HvqRhoHigh Quality version - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hct82HvqRho&fmt=18This was really just a random video I took while me and my friend from work were walking back to his car - which ran out of gas (thank you gas crisis) just outside of Silverwood on US-95 - at around 1 this morning (mind you the park closed at 9pm last night).
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Post by SoCalCoaster on Nov 13, 2008 2:42:09 GMT -8
Tremors doing it's airtime thing
So fun catching people at their worst. Take the guy on the left and in the white for example.
Lift testing on Tower 1
Silverwood really is doing a great job with the landscaping around Aftershock. This fountain looks better in person.
Catch car on Tower 2
Loopage
Catch car testing on Tower 2
Took these four from the same angle, but with different settings. Couldnt decide which I liked better, so I decided on putting them all up.
I really liked how this turned out for some reason.
I never have this season, so I decided to take a ride on the train.
Ol' Engine #7 takes you deep into the forest, a part of the park yet to be expanded upon.
The train passes through a bison enclosure, a true sight to see
The train stops in front of a mine that "was discovered shortly after Gary Norton bought the land back in the 80s". This mine, wishing well, and settler's cabin are used for a short robbery show, where robbers board the train while stopped demanding money from passengers. Money that is given to the robbers is donated by the park to a charitible fund benefitting children in need. To view a video of this show, cilck on one of the following two links. www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8yLOJOke1c - Regular Quality www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8yLOJOke1c&fmt=18 - High Quality Aftershock from the train
Obligatory Corkscrew shot
Um, is there something wrong here?
Tremors looks so good at sunsetSo as I was turning the corner walking to Timber Terror, I saw Aftershock's train zipping up Tower 1. I quickly got my camera out, but due to the battery being low, it started up slowly. Unfortunately, I was only able to capture a small part of Aftershock's first test run. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRjUOQGl-IA - Regular Quality www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRjUOQGl-IA&fmt=18 - High Quality During the test run, the train caught to the catch car on Tower 2, however it manually released from the catch car, via the station (New feature from Vekoma?), prompting a obvious valley into the e-brakes. This was done on purpose, in order to test the sensors and find out where exactly the train will catch on the tower.
The train stopped in the e-brakes
Panic Plunge after closing.Thanks for reading this PTR, and as always, all photos taken from this trip can be viewed in high quality in my personal photo albums. You can view this album at the following link. www.rollercoasterpro.com/community/album.php?albumid=109
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Post by SoCalCoaster on Nov 13, 2008 2:43:42 GMT -8
Driving towards Silverwood on US-95, the skyline has been altered significantly. Gone are the landmark towering woodies everyone points to, now is the massive green monster everyone flocks to.
Aftershock's ride restriction sign. Yes, that does say Minimum 47" and Maximum 80". The 47 however was a accident, and was changed the next day to 48 inches. For those wondering, although Six Flags uses a stricter height restriction, Silverwood obtained the permission by Vekoma to make the height restriction for Aftershock more lenient.
While waiting outside of Aftershock's courtyard at the front of the area rope, I managed to snag some photos during the 2 hour VIP ERT.
Up Tower 2
Yet another Aftershock - Tremors size compairisonSo after waiting for more than 2 hours, the rope dropped and we were let into the new courtyard, and directed up to Aftershock's queue. I was lucky enough to get on the very first public train for Aftershock. I sat in seat 2A (Car 2, Left inner seat) with the family that owns Silverwood Theme Park, the Nortons. I noticed that although everyone was new to the ride, the dispatch times were very good. The only thing that irratated me (and still does when I run line control) is that the guests could not understand the 4 across, V-shaped seating, as well as the 16 airgates for only 8 cars. This slowed things down during the day, but not too much. Aftershock, my 35th coaster, was great. It runs smoothly, with little to no roughness. That train refurb must have did the trick, that and the new spring loaded wheel assemblies. Aftershock has to be one of the most intense coasters I have ever been on. Now, I'm not talking about the entire ride, but mostly because of the backwards return trip. As a result of Tower 2 catch car now taking the train up higher on Tower 2, the loop is very intense, sometimes giving riders tunnel vision or blackouts. Aftershock has proven to be a great addition to Silverwood, a long overdue addition at that. It is great to see that we have been able to tame the beast that Six Flags couldnt. This has to be one of my favorite photos from opening day
The signs no park guest reads. Take Batman for example...
Aftershock's computer room
KREM 2 News was on hand for the coaster's opening
Silverwood's first loop
Honestly, why do you need shoes on this ride? We tell everyone with loose-fitting shoes take their's off, why cant everyone else if they want?
Closeup of the loopage
Loopage entry
Cobra goodness
The new logo for Aftershock
Most of the layout of Aftershock
The simple, yet beautiful rock fountain in Aftershock's courtyard
Drop time
One of the many new signs pointing the way to Aftershock
Aftershock towers (litterally) over Tremors
It's amazing how even though Aftershock can stick out like a sore thumb at Silverwood, it looks so "in place".
Tremors' train ascends the "Stairway to Aftershock"
Blur
Unique angle + great lighting = Good photoAnd with that photo, this concludes the PTR from Aftershock's opening day. I will have a PTR from July 22nd, as well as August 11th on the way. I would get those up now, however, I am extremely tired from work today. I will try to get the 7/22 PTR up sometime later today after I wake up. Thanks for viewing, and remember to check out the latest RCPro article on Aftershock at the following link. www.rollercoasterpro.com/articles/aftershock/
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Post by SoCalCoaster on Nov 13, 2008 2:44:44 GMT -8
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Post by SoCalCoaster on Nov 13, 2008 2:45:42 GMT -8
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Post by Bud Parsley on Nov 18, 2008 11:52:29 GMT -8
These pics are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to do this. I love the pics of Panic Plunge at night. Nice work!
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Post by skinnyguy on Nov 24, 2008 21:16:34 GMT -8
I'll agree - these are great photos - nice work! Looks like that took a long time to post!
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Post by SoCalCoaster on Dec 8, 2008 0:48:10 GMT -8
Thanks guys for your comments and input. Also, apologies for putting a whole season's worth of PTRs in one thread, I realize that it's probably time consuming for most of you to load everything up!
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