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Thirteen: General Discussion

As said before...once or twice...there is a big trade off between gripping tyres and long lasting tyres.
Value tyres can last much longer than good quality grippy tyres, grip makes them wear out much quicker.
Good quality all weather tyres cost more, but need replacing more often...a double increase in costs...
Might just be easier and cheaper to shut the ride when it starts to rain...
 
I think they know they need to do it properly this time. There were a lot of unhappy folk at my Oktoberfest visit last year walking up to it to learn it was closed (pretty much threw it down all day on this particular day).
 
Log Flume's Dennis said:
Not sure how I feel about all this drone stuff. I'd be fuming if I was trying to do my job and some oddball was flying a tiny helicopter above me to try and see what type of bolts I'm using. Seems very intrusive
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I am inclined to agree somewhat. It is like a modern form of stalking. Still got the long zoom lenses, they have just evolved from the bushes and into the sky's.

I do enjoy the videos though so I cannot really say anything.
 
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Log Flume's Dennis said:
Not sure how I feel about all this drone stuff. I'd be fuming if I was trying to do my job and some oddball was flying a tiny helicopter above me to try and see what type of bolts I'm using. Seems very intrusive
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If you believe the person who does these videos the drone is a few hundred feet away and he uses a long zoom, so the chances are the people on the ground don't even know its there. But if that's the case, does that make it ok for him to film? I guess that's another debate.
 
Off topic but when I worked there Terry Dunn (then head of tech services) took a drone up one closed season and when we did the welcome meetings for new starters in March they played a fly through of the entire park - zooming around tracks etc set to music. It was ace.

I will now stop talking about drones (I have, ironically become one myself)
 
I can see why they choose not to change the tyres again mid season. Probably takes too long for them to change them again two months later when the park closes.

Needs a permanent resolution this, sounds like it’s sticky tape over the cracks again.
 
Blackhole_Sun said:
I can see why they choose not to change the tyres again mid season. Probably takes too long for them to change them again two months later when the park closes.

Needs a permanent resolution this, sounds like it’s sticky tape over the cracks again.
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If they purchase Intamins recommended tyres and replace them when required then it will be fine. The ride ran in the rain for 10 years with no issues as far as we know.
 
Dave said:
If they purchase Intamins recommended tyres and replace them when required then it will be fine. The ride ran in the rain for 10 years with no issues as far as we know.
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Talking of Intamin but not their tyres, I remember once hearing the wheels for coasters are very expensive. I think Thorpe once spent £5-10k on Stealth wheels alone!
 
RyanUK said:
Talking of Intamin but not their tyres, I remember once hearing the wheels for coasters are very expensive. I think Thorpe once spent £5-10k on Stealth wheels alone!
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Does anyone know if this is a relatively normal price for wheels or if Intamin were ripping Thorpe off?
 
zeock said:
Does anyone know if this is a relatively normal price for wheels or if Intamin were ripping Thorpe off?
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I am sure this was the time they purchased their wheels from Trotters Independent Traders, exactly what Alton were doing with Thirteens lift tyres.

In all seriousness, that sounds around the correct price for a complete train set or sets of polyurethane coaster wheels. I am sure cost varies but they are not cheep. The wheels themselves are machined from single blocks of alloy metals for starters, pushing prices even higher, with a type of polyurethane on the outside. Plus hydraulic coaster wheels will have special provisions built in, to cope with the quick acceleration and high stresses that go with that, pushing the cost even higher than a non fast accelerating coaster.

Anyway, bringing it back to topic, I wonder if the lack of staff played an impact in Thirteens issues. I mean, it is not like Alton Towers to skimp on something that impacts safety, even more so after the Smiler, so it leads me to think the issues were more cantered around them not having the man power to replace the tyres mid season, rather than using knock of ones.
 
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This might sound like a random question, but why did Thirteen have pre and post watershed adverts?

I’ve watched them both, and I’m struggling to see why the post-watershed advert was too mature for a pre-watershed audience. The only thing I can potentially think of is the girl getting enveloped by the vines, but even with that, I’m struggling to see why that is inherently post-watershed material.

Here are both adverts, if you don’t know what I’m talking about:

 
It was just a part of the over the top marketing campaign. Trying to pass off the ride as the most terrifying rollercoaster ever built. There's nothing inherently inappropriate in the advert, it was more the optics of a the park having a post-water shed advert for their new ride.
 
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