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caffeine_demon

caffeine_demon

Strata Poster
[quote="RobbieThe biggest problem is all the redevelopment of the last decade or so means the monorail mainly presents you with views of car parks, portakabins, grotty bins and near-derelict buildings. Not the most picturesque journey![/quote]

"redevelopment" is a very loose term here though! Maybe you mean "ruining"?
 
Lofty

Lofty

CF Legend
To be fair, Black Hole's building was used for a lot more things than being derelict, it was on and off being used for different uses. Talking about SBNO, look at the old cable car thing, now that was there for AGES with the pylons only being removed like two years back, the station is also still there near Valhalla, being used as a fish and chips restaurant.
 
M

marc

CF Legend
I remember going there when I was 8. As a family we used to enjoy the mini railway the cable car and the monorail.

It was just my brother, dad and I that done the bigger rides.

The park has changed so much but the remains of all them things are still there 30 years on!
 
owentaylor121

owentaylor121

Giga Poster
^Well only one thing out of the 3 things what you just stated has been removed, so it's nice that the park isn't removing all it's old rides.
 
M

marc

CF Legend
But how many are operating?

I agree with Furie anyway about the monorail it's pointless now days.
 
furie

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
sparky2u said:
Personally I would love to see the old style trains like below used on the "Nash", "Roller Coaster" & "Big Dipper" with no lapbars & seatbelts.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32335433@N07/3263619640/
Click to expand...

As likely to happen as the Black Hole tent at Alton being reused was (that's a "I told you so" dating back about six years :lol: ).

I've looked at this a few times and... I don't think it's a good idea. I think (and Bazpa is the one to really ask about this) that the old trains didn't run as fast as the newer ones.

I know, even with the restraints and belts, I've had to hold Minor_Furie in the train on The Nash (same ride that had me so far out of my seat I hit the middle divider - so six-seven inches). I just can't see the ride running with that amount of extreme ejector and nobody ever falling out (by accident, there have certainly been deaths involving people standing up).

If you look at how much better "Roller Coaster" runs on the newer trains compared to the original "restraint-less" ones and you get the idea...

So yeah, I think that the older trains just never gave the same amount of extreme airtime as the newer ones. Though, happy to have the theory disproved :)
 
Martyn B

Martyn B

CF Legend
I dont know how Rollercoaster is running now, as I haven't ridden it since it became Streak, but I remember it used to run really well in the early 2000's when there weren't any restraints at all.

And I remember riding it the year they added the seat belts, and for some reason it just felt a lot slower. Obviously nothing to do with the belts, but it was crawling around the track, especially the turn around, yet years before it was absolutely flying around the whole circuit. Why was this? Poor maintenance? Did they slow down the lift? Did it get trimmed?

I never rode it when added the old Big Dipper train either, so I only ever rode with this train:

9jdccg002dle2g054giaa0.jpg
 
furie

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Yeah, the old trains were incredibly badly maintained (did you ever read the blog of the guy who bought on on eBay to restore? It was a real mess when he got it).

I guess I can't really recall how it used to run, as it was always the boring poor cousin to Big Dipper and The Nash. 2006 it was forgettable and I think 2005 too it was dull (first CF-Live).

As the Nick Streak, you get actual airtime now, as in, you come out of your seat and everything. They're just the modified Big Dipper trains (not new ones), but the plastic shell is obviously lighter than the wood was, so they lift more on the hills. I think they are a different length too? Can anyone confirm?
 
Alex D

Alex D

Roller Poster
furie said:
Yeah, the old trains were incredibly badly maintained (did you ever read the blog of the guy who bought on on eBay to restore? It was a real mess when he got it).

^ Have you got a link to the blog, Furie? or has the blog been removed!

I guess I can't really recall how it used to run, as it was always the boring poor cousin to Big Dipper and The Nash. 2006 it was forgettable and I think 2005 too it was dull (first CF-Live).

As the Nick Streak, you get actual airtime now, as in, you come out of your seat and everything. They're just the modified Big Dipper trains (not new ones), but the plastic shell is obviously lighter than the wood was, so they lift more on the hills. I think they are a different length too? Can anyone confirm?
Click to expand...

I don't think they are different in size unless you count the "nose" at the front, its just a re-modified Big Dipper train, which was fully refurbished with new paneling across the whole train, which has made it lighter. :)
 
furie

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I meant between the original RollerCoaster trains and the ex-Big Dipper ones :)

I can't find the blog. It was posted as a link on either Towers Times or Pleasure Beach EX(whatevertheyarenow).

It was around the end of 2009 and the start of 2010. I mention it in this topic:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27914&p=658017&hilit=restoration#p658017

I mention it there because it was still fresh in my mind. I wish I'd taken that bloody link and put it on CF at the time :lol:
 
Alex D

Alex D

Roller Poster
Oh right, I didn't think there was any different trains between the old RollerCoaster trains and the ex-Big Dipper trains change over in 2008.

Thanks for finding the link to the blog mate :) A good read, shame about the state of the train, wonder if the guy has still got it? - I know that BPB still have one of the old RollerCoaster trains tucked away in the Scrap Yard behind Valhalla.
 
furie

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
If only there was some kind of online resource with images for almost every park in the UK... Wait... I've got it.

I'll write my own!!!

Or alternatively, I'll use what little brains I have to look at the page I wrote, including the pictures I took, of Nick Streak :lol:

Yes, it currently runs on three carriages as confirmed by, well, me :lol: :oops:
 
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