Some colourised footage of the Virginia Reel at Blackpool for those interested (as
@rob666 brought it up in the 20 years losses topic):
There's one shot where the cars are so close together - definitely no real controls back then, just solid guess work
The most interesting thing about finding that video, is these next two videos on the "You may also like":
I didn't realise Arrow were looking at their own version of the Viginia Reel:
It's interesting for two reasons. Firstly, it would have pre-dated the current spinning coasters by a decade or something. Secondly, it shows the love within Arrow for old coaster concepts. Steeplechase at Blackpool is based off a very old horse racing coaster type. It's great to see that they did actually seem to be looking backwards for "new" concepts
There's another video though of the Arrow Pipeline Prototype. I don't think I've ever seen this. It looks like the worst idea ever, but almost graceful. Like a Flamingo with one foot stuck in the mud...
For those who have never seen the original Steeplechase rides: