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Towers Loving Care

I really hate the new lighting they've added in Duel the past few years, completely exposing rigs (and corrugated metal walls) that were once hidden by clever lighting. Wish they would do something about that under this project.

Duel is pretty worn out these days, but then most of the park is worn out. I admire some of the efforts from this TLC, although it all seems a bit pointless, since TLC is only intended to run for 3 seasons, after that we go back to the park rotting away.
 
James said:
I really hate the new lighting they've added in Duel the past few years, completely exposing rigs (and corrugated metal walls) that were once hidden by clever lighting. Wish they would do something about that under this project.

Duel is pretty worn out these days, but then most of the park is worn out. I admire some of the efforts from this TLC, although it all seems a bit pointless, since TLC is only intended to run for 3 seasons, after that we go back to the park rotting away.
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The lighting is not too bad apart from that awful screaming room. It has been dreadful since they replaced all the lights with new (very bright) LEDs at the beginning of 2015.
 
rob666 said:
I used to work (briefly) in a sheet steel works, big open ended tubes of steel either need support internally, standing on their end, or rotating occasionally to keep them truly cylindrical, unless (like me) they are very thick.
Looks like someone forgot to put the supporting props in place in the closed season, and the circle turned into an oval.
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I work in fab and I could see that happening, it doesn't take much to warp a thin metal cylinder of any size, let alone a large one
 
I think the fact you can see the corrugated steel walls is poor. The facade of Duel does a decent job of hiding the huge warehouse and the simple lighting mistake has taken that away :(
 
matthewgcole said:
Pardon my ignorance, but can't the trommel just be made out of cheap to replace plastic instead?
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I suppose you could try, just a metal one wouldn't cost the earth and is probably more likely to stand up better to heat and warping than a plastic one. Also the metal one can be a fair bit thinner as well. All a guess though.
 
I highly doubt it's just an unsupported cylinder of steel. If it were thin sheets, it would flop about all over the place. It would probably break itself fairly quickly.

If on the other hand, the steel was rigid enough to support itself, the material would have to be very thick, making it extremely heavy. This would require huge motors and bearings. It would also have to be engineered to very tight tolerances because if it were even slightly unbalanced, it would quickly wear out said motors and bearings.

I reckon the trommel is a rotating steel space frame faced with thin sheel material. That would give it good strength and rigidity without being too heavy. It would also make the mechanics of getting the whole arrangement to spin much more straightforward. It's not unlikely that the frame could have twisted after decades of continuous use.
 
I know I've seen pictures of the outside of the trommel somewhere (typically I can't find them now). There is definately a frame on the outside, a kind of circular truss if I remember.
 
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So much better!
 
The stairs look so much better now. Having said that, even with the heavy usage they'll have received, I don't think they should've been in that state in the first place after just four seasons (admittedly with one being where the ride was shut for most of the year).
 
Walkway and stairs getting heavy use do wear badly. I am surprised they are not repainted every two years.
 
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Poisson said:
Every year. And repaint that exit corridor and repaint the theming and clean it thoroughly and improve where necessary (drainage)
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This, I was shocked when it reopened they couldn't even take a jet wash to the area the queue goes through. It had been closed for 9 months and it showed, hardly helped win back confidence in the ride when it looked like it did (does), should have gone on the charm offensive and made it look brand new again. Surely presenting the ride as clean and shiny as possible would help it look cared for and therefore safer, no?
 
Martin said:
This, I was shocked when it reopened they couldn't even take a jet wash to the area the queue goes through. It had been closed for 9 months and it showed, hardly helped win back confidence in the ride when it looked like it did (does), should have gone on the charm offensive and made it look brand new again. Surely presenting the ride as clean and shiny as possible would help it look cared for and therefore safer, no?
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It wouldn't have made much difference though, safety wise. The people who thought (and still think) it's unsafe would have felt no differently had it reopened looking slightly cleaner. Their mind's were already made up long before it reopened - no lick of paint would have made it any less of a 'death trap' to them. The ride still attracted huge guest numbers when it reopened, so there's no real evidence to suggest that the people who actually visited the park were put off by the state of the ride.

Having said that, I agree it was surprising that the ride didn't receive a touch up during the nine months it was closed, purely from a maintennance perspective. All rides should receive a general tidy up during a closed period, regardless of a TLC program.
 
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