[The Smiler] Construction Updates / Ride Speculation Part 2 *SPOILER FREE*

[Rose Of Dawn]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

I'm a bit confused/concerned as to why the hypnotiser isn't up yet. Does anyone know anything?

 

[BigDave]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Maybe track has to be put in first before there can put the other leg on.

Going down the timeline route. They have to get all the other track parts up quickly and get the ride ready to run as soon as possible. Given how fast that lift went up, its clear they can do it, but they need to give themselves as must testing and tweaking time as possible if this is going to open in May.

 

[Johno]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Last leg of the marmaliser probably requires a crane in the middle of X Sector to erect it maybe?

 

[Tuggerz]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

I'm pretty amazed how quickly the Lift Hill went up, That was some seriously quick work.

It gives me a lot of hope for the expected track completion of next week, May is fast approaching and I think we can all agree it's starting to appear likely it'll be ready.

I'd also re-iterate Johno's point about the crane, They seem very understaffed lately, especially so on Sunday, so I could imagine they don't have enough to operate two cranes and as such haven't been able to pop the final leg in yet. At least that's my thoughts.

 

[Dar]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

I'm really impressed with the anti-rollback system they've developed, shows some real creativity! Should make an evac quite pleasant/exciting

I'm not sure what's going on with the construction company tbh, they seemed to be doing work in fits and starts on Sunday from what I saw. They also don't seem to be doing their rep any good with the reports of bashing stuff about.

I'm not sure, so I hope someone can correct me, but do crane operators have a working time limit like truck drivers? It looked like the crane driver on Sunday had run out time to work when he moved the top of the lift 20 feet in a semi-circle!

 

[TPMC]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Yeap,they speed up a lot!

Just before...

Team Edit - Image which was against Park Regulations removed.

 

[delta79]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Looking at the map Rollercoasters4Life has kindly posted, It look like the only place the crane can sit to fit the final leg is on the paved area in the public area of sector X.

So I would not be surprised if the leg appears over night, as it is fare to assume that they will position it at the end of the parks day or early in the morning before the park opens.

or the leg could of fell foul of budget cuts for the hard of understanding, this line is a joke

 

[KingNemesis]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

The stairs at the top are officially in place!
Image taken by myself

 

[rightbackgranty]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Looking at the map Rollercoasters4Life has kindly posted, It look like the only place the crane can sit to fit the final leg is on the paved area in the public area of sector X.

So I would not be surprised if the leg appears over night, as it is fare to assume that they will position it at the end of the parks day or early in the morning before the park opens.

or the leg could of fell foul of budget cuts for the hard of understanding, this line is a joke

Very true. It may be a stumbling block considering no construction can go on during the day.

Lift hill has flown up. Do wonder where the rest of the track is being stored, as we seem to be missing a few pieces of the jigsaw. However, whilst I wasn't massively confident that we would see opening by the end of May I now feel better. I reckon that the ride will be comfortably completed by the end of April, leaving lots of time to get the thing looking nice.

That said, there will probably be another 5 inches of snow between now and then :

 

[TheMan]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

If there are mechanically sensitive bits of hill etc, with moving parts, chances are they are being kept out of the elements, unlike the normal chunks of track I'd imagine.

Unless I have missed something? Can confirm after yesterday there seemed to be a distinct lack of another hill in the storage field lol!

Maybe it's the world's first hover coaster??!

 

[KingNemesis]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Looking at the map Rollercoasters4Life has kindly posted, It look like the only place the crane can sit to fit the final leg is on the paved area in the public area of sector X.

So I would not be surprised if the leg appears over night, as it is fare to assume that they will position it at the end of the parks day or early in the morning before the park opens.

or the leg could of fell foul of budget cuts for the hard of understanding, this line is a joke

Very true. It may be a stumbling block considering no construction can go on during the day.

Lift hill has flown up. Do wonder where the rest of the track is being stored, as we seem to be missing a few pieces of the jigsaw. However, whilst I wasn't massively confident that we would see opening by the end of May I now feel better. I reckon that the ride will be comfortably completed by the end of April, leaving lots of time to get the thing looking nice.

That said, there will probably be another 5 inches of snow between now and then :

I might be able to assist..
This is all of the track and some other pieces in the car park as of 15/04/13 5:30pm

RE TheMan.. I saw no sign of it either today...

 

[BigDave]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Nearly all of that is twisting and none of it seems to have lift mechanism attached like the vertical lift did. I can only assume its being stored somewhere else.

 

[Fredward]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

That bit of track in the second to last picture looks like it could make a great skateboard ramp with a couple panels of MDF.

 

[Sam]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Surely having those brake fins on the lift-hill will make the train effectively a lot heavier to pull up, and therefore make the ride massively less energy-efficient? :/

 

[Dar]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Surely having those brake fins on the lift-hill will make the train effectively a lot heavier to pull up, and therefore make the ride massively less energy-efficient? :/

If you look closely, there looks like there are rams to pull them down like on Rita's launch track.

I imagine that they will be down all the time, unless there is problem. The fact they are "up" now, shows that they will require power to lower. Similar to how normal friction brakes are normally closed in case of a power cut.

 

[djtruefitt]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

I imagine the other missing bits of track haven't been delivered yet, there are certainly no lift hill bits in the car park, and so far pretty much all track has been put in the car park before being moved to the site. And track and supports has still been delivered during the past few weeks. Maybe we will see another lorry sometime this week!

 

[CGM]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Surely having those brake fins on the lift-hill will make the train effectively a lot heavier to pull up, and therefore make the ride massively less energy-efficient? :/

The force induced by eddy current brakes is proportional to the speed at which the brake fins pass through the magnetic field. So if the fins are permanently raised, you'd have to assume that the lift would be moving at a fairly low speed so that the resistance from the brakes wouldn't be much of a problem.

Eurofighter lift hills aren't exactly rapid at the best of times.

 

[Dave]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Surely having those brake fins on the lift-hill will make the train effectively a lot heavier to pull up, and therefore make the ride massively less energy-efficient? :/

The force induced by eddy current brakes is proportional to the speed at which the brake fins pass through the magnetic field. So if the fins are permanently raised, you'd have to assume that the lift would be moving at a fairly low speed so that the resistance from the brakes wouldn't be much of a problem.

Eurofighter lift hills aren't exactly rapid at the best of times.

As someone who spends all their working day with big magnets i can confirm that's true, hence why a magnetic brake cannot be used to bring a train to a complete stop (you either need a traditional brake or a kicker wheel to do that).

 

[Tim]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Surely having those brake fins on the lift-hill will make the train effectively a lot heavier to pull up, and therefore make the ride massively less energy-efficient? :/

The force induced by eddy current brakes is proportional to the speed at which the brake fins pass through the magnetic field. So if the fins are permanently raised, you'd have to assume that the lift would be moving at a fairly low speed so that the resistance from the brakes wouldn't be much of a problem.

Eurofighter lift hills aren't exactly rapid at the best of times.

As someone who spends all their working day with big magnets i can confirm that's true, hence why a magnetic brake cannot be used to bring a train to a complete stop (you wither need a traditional brake or a kicker wheel to do that).

Yes but still breaks that size (therefore large surface area) combined with a train moving at a modest speed (A Eurofighter lift hill is at least as fast as walking speed if not a few mph more) would still result in a lot of power wasted if they were always out the whole time.

I'd suspect they do retract into the track, but like on a lunched coaster release just after the car has passed.

 

[Rob]

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

In regards to lift track, I can't be certain but I think some of it is being stored somewhere else on park, possibly Studios. I'm almost certain that not all of the track for the vertical lift was placed in the minibus car park, I did not notice the completely straight pieces with the magnetic fins on them and I've had a few good looks at said car park recently. I suppose we'll find out for sure shortly. All of the supports for the first lift are grouped together nicely in the car park though.