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Talbot Street Video Archive

BigAl said:
You can't really tell from the videos because of how old the footage is. When you're up-close you can see the cracks in X-Sector have been painted over (the main example being the crumbling Rehydrator cladding and Oblivion's station).

Oblivion's station looks marginally better now that they've removed the fake concrete panels that went rotten, but what replaced them is only the lesser of two evils. Oblivion itself looks a little better now that it's had a lick of paint.

We also no longer have any decent flat rides, and the only ride that does work can only manage one side, and even then that ride is hated and also far past its prime.

As for the mist, we only get half the amount we used to because an entire ring is broken.


Don't get me wrong, X-Sector is looking better but I'd say it's still only half way towards looking as good as it used to, or should do anyway.

Anyway, more videos to come. :)
Click to expand...

As I said, the mist is weak-ass at the moment, though the reduced throughput allows the mist to build up... Silver lining and all :)

Rehydrator should have had a re-plaster I agree, they also need new TV's but I disagree on the station. I think the new panels look better than the old MDF and wall-paper cladding. Not a fan of the cladding on the tower though.

My point was, X-Sector wasn't all that different back in 1998 and reminded me how rose-tinted the view of the past can be...

... Nemesis on the other hand is another story.
 
Dave said:
As I said, the mist is weak-ass at the moment, though the reduced throughput allows the mist to build up... Silver lining and all :)

Rehydrator should have had a re-plaster I agree, they also need new TV's but I disagree on the station. I think the new panels look better than the old MDF and wall-paper cladding. Not a fan of the cladding on the tower though.

My point was, X-Sector wasn't all that different back in 1998 and reminded me how rose-tinted the view of the past can be...

... Nemesis on the other hand is another story.
Click to expand...

Not sure whether to class the first point as a positive or not? :p

The old MDF panels looked rubbish once they were falling to pieces, but when they weren't you couldn't tell it was MDF and the station actually looked like it was made from concrete or stone rather than what now looks like plastic panels. It used to look like the top of a secret bunker but it now looks like something from a lego set (imo anyway :p ). The TVs are also a good point also.

One thing I also forgot to mention is that X-Sector's now obviously more overgrown and doesn't look as empty around the edges as it used to. I never understand why people have a go at new attractions for their lack of plant life when it's the same for every new attraction. It takes time for things to look at home. It's just a shame that as some areas improved, many areas got worse. X-Sector still has the potential to be a much better area, it just needs money they probably don't have to be spent on it.
 
BigAl said:
One thing I also forgot to mention is that X-Sector's now obviously more overgrown and doesn't look as empty around the edges as it used to. I never understand why people have a go at new attractions for their lack of plant life when it's the same for every new attraction. It takes time for things to look at home. It's just a shame that as some areas improved, many areas got worse. X-Sector still has the potential to be a much better area, it just needs money they probably don't have to be spent on it.
Click to expand...

Personally I think the bare look suited X-Sector a lot more. Only my opinion though. I still think it has a certain character with all of the landscaping, especially around Oblivion.
 
Some areas do look better being more open, but areas such as the queue work better with the taller hedges as it blocks out the other levels and disguises the fact that you're just wrapping around a hill with the queue either side. They can create isolation and also break-up certain areas without the need for theming (which obviously costs a lot more than a few plants).

:)
 
Some areas work well being more overgrown than empty, I think Air is a great example of this, and TH13TEEN (hopefully!), however me and Sammy were talking last night about it and we both think the farm looks much better when it was new and empty with very few trees or bushes, than what it looks like now, with too many trees and bushes. It certainly looked more like a farm back then, then it does now.
 
BigAl said:
The old MDF panels looked rubbish once they were falling to pieces, but when they weren't you couldn't tell it was MDF and the station actually looked like it was made from concrete or stone rather than what now looks like plastic panels. It used to look like the top of a secret bunker but it now looks like something from a lego set (imo anyway :p ). The TVs are also a good point also.
Click to expand...

Not sure i really feel there is much difference, but thats an opinion thing. Then again i was that petrified when i first rode Oblivion in 1998 and again in 1999 i probably wouldn't have noticed if it had been gold plated :)
 
Dave said:
BigAl said:
You can't really tell from the videos because of how old the footage is. When you're up-close you can see the cracks in X-Sector have been painted over (the main example being the crumbling Rehydrator cladding and Oblivion's station).

Oblivion's station looks marginally better now that they've removed the fake concrete panels that went rotten, but what replaced them is only the lesser of two evils. Oblivion itself looks a little better now that it's had a lick of paint.

We also no longer have any decent flat rides, and the only ride that does work can only manage one side, and even then that ride is hated and also far past its prime.

As for the mist, we only get half the amount we used to because an entire ring is broken.


Don't get me wrong, X-Sector is looking better but I'd say it's still only half way towards looking as good as it used to, or should do anyway.

Anyway, more videos to come. :)
Click to expand...

As I said, the mist is weak-ass at the moment, though the reduced throughput allows the mist to build up... Silver lining and all :)

Rehydrator should have had a re-plaster I agree, they also need new TV's but I disagree on the station. I think the new panels look better than the old MDF and wall-paper cladding. Not a fan of the cladding on the tower though.

My point was, X-Sector wasn't all that different back in 1998 and reminded me how rose-tinted the view of the past can be...

... Nemesis on the other hand is another story.
Click to expand...

To be honest I think the area theme worked better in the context on the late 90s than it does now. It was very much of its time.

However I don't think you can really appreciate the differences between how it looked then compared to now from a low quality video. The area is an aesthetic mess at the moment and although it is fundamentally the same as it always was, originally it had a very clean cut colour scheme.

And it looked absolutely better with small low cut plants. Now you can't see any of the Oblivion queue buildings from the area because they are obscured by unkept trees and bushes.

Somebody who walks into X-Sector for the first time this year would probably have little clue as to what the theme is supposed to be.

:)
 
I can appreciate the difference based on my memory of the area having wandered through it every season since 1998. My point was as I suspected the area after its recent clean-up is probably one of the better aged areas and a lot of its problems where due to Oblivions faded paint work.

A bigger issue is Forbidden Valley as that truly has degenerated, and I think anyone who walked into X-Sector today would know exactly what the theme is. It looks very similar to 1998 just a little bit more scruffy.

Rose-tint my world
 
Just over 16 more minutes worth of footage shot by Cybermen39 here of the various forms of entertainment that was on offer in the 90's. It includes more footage of Henry's Parade, dancers performing on Towers Street, roaming characters and more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK_JIkst20k#


:)
 
Three more shows here for you lovely folks! Again, this is all thanks to Cybermen39! :)



First up is footage of the Henry Hound Piazza Show:​

http://youtu.be/3myWKZUO1x8




Next we have footage of the Henry and Henrietta Hound Winter Ice Show:​

http://youtu.be/jzw0XGe16BE




And finally, footage of the Henry Hound Music Mania show:​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adlzcFalhE8#





I'll be sorting through my old videos next and uploading some of that, as soon as I have the recordings taken off the old VHS' and put onto DVDs or my PC! :p
 
I think a lot of you are too harsh on the new ways. X-Sector is just way of its time. I think the word "millennium" springs to mind. You have to think that we heading Into a new century where the world of sci-fi had us all driving flying cars and where mad scientist would be experimenting on us after a nuclear holocaust brought on by the millennium bug. So it is very of its time. As is Forbidden valley. Trends and time have moved on. We'd all love it to be as clean and new as it was then. But alas we'll never see it that way again. All we can hope for is when the botch the job up, they at least do a good job
 
Having a look at the old coasters that used to have and finally found a selection of HQ videos of Loudoun Castle's Goldrush (the ride's now for sale here, along with Twist 'n' Shout), which operated at Alton Towers from 1985 to 1990 as the 4 Man Bob...


Off-Ride (static):​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RMz6tPaZH4#ws


On-Ride:​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtrnsWjui_4#ws


View from the lift:​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9px0SufER6Y#ws


Off-Ride (zoomed in):​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMsm5Fibvkg#ws


Off-Ride (zoomed out):​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIf_4NQSZeU#ws



They were uploaded a few years ago but very few people seem to have seen them. It looks like a great little coaster and I hope it gets a new home that continues to look after it properly soon! :)
 
Oh those shows :')

Citv loved visiting theme parks for their TV shows.
 
Finally found a clip of the show that took place in Ug Land!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KJ2OErkRC0#ws


I remember that show. It was funny and very original, and the props and actors were all great. The current flock in Entertainments need to be given more to be able to pull something like that off though.
 
That looks really good, and on quite a scale with the size of the truck! Unfortunately I think health & safety might not like the idea of that now a days :(
 
I'd quite like a truck that roams around Towers Street selling ice cream. ;)

That Ug Land truck is amazing though and we'll never see anything like it again. :(
 
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