The Big One's First Drop?

[dj-fireball999]

Over the years, I've read a few things referring to The Big One's first drop. Most recently something on TPR which said something like "That's where the ghost of the original first drop lives". So my question is, what is the story behind this?

 

[Lofty]

I don't quite know where you're coming from. But, It may be something to do with the re-tracking? That drop has been re-tracked a few times now from what I can remember.

I don't know where I have heard this, and it is probably wrong, but I'm sure it has something to do with the supports on the first drop, there's a part of the supporting system that shows where the profile of the old drop used to be. Here's a picture of what I think it is:

The darker line below the drop track. Somebody, please correct me if I'm wrong..

 

[marc]

They had to change the 1st drop as it was rather nasty on peoples neck but was so much better its a shame they had to change it And yes that black line looks like the old profile from what I remember.

 

[Martyn B]

The whole ride has pretty much been retracked, but the first drop and large turnaround have both been reprofiled.

You can see in that pic how the radius of the curve is now much smaller to what it used to be.

 

[Jools]

^ I noticed that, I thought it seemed a bit random, thanks for clearing that up, it was bugging me :lol:

 

[alexr]

Yes first drop and turnaround were retracked.
Valhala's front is supported by old PMBO Track, that is why On TPR it is said.

 

[tks]

I remember being at Blackpool and seeing that track going into Valhalla. I thought it was going to be a rollercoaster that went upside down

 

[Smithy]

Any specific reason behind reusing the old track?

Or just scrimping on costs?

 

[Snoo]

Also.. does anyone have any pictures of the original drop?

 

[The Undead Creature]

The first drop was reprofiled after it's first season because the twist was too sharp and was putting huge strain on the track and trains. The track was made to twist higher up the drop, reducing the speed at which the train made the turn.

If you look closely you can see the slight difference between the old and new profile. Shame I couldn't find a better pic of the original.

 

[alexr]

Old First Drop,

New First Drop

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Hm I don't think I knew that! I may have heard it got reprofiled but I never realized it was such a big change. The first one looks much more fab, though.

 

[Lofty]

Does anybody have any idea of when this change actually happened?!

 

[neo]

There’s a full POV of the original track at 5:19 in the video below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0D8VnxkVTs[/youtube]

And a more recent POV for comparison:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5QekpwbV-Y[/youtube]

 

[Jake]

There's also a downloadable POV of the original track here:

http://www.ukrides.info/bpbpmbo.htm

It seems like they also removed a lot of pumping from the turnaround (and the awful bit of trackwork coming out of it).

 

[Snoo]

It was so exciting that he could turn around and chat! Yay!

 

[furie]

I rode it pre-change and the first drop really whipped you round, it was fantastic. The large turnaround was an absolute crawl though and so tilted you felt like you were going to drop out (much worse than it is now even).

That drop though; stunning

 

[Lofty]

Ha. I was going to say Furie, that turnaround still does that now, I hang over the edge on purpose to try and scare my friends, works every time.

 

[furie]

I'm not sure if it was as bad thinking about it (I'll have to ask sister-of_furie), or if it was just that it bounced you around so much it felt like it was trying to shake you out at the same time :lol: