What happened to those blue pipes on Ripsaw

[AltonTowersNerd]

Something's changed to Ripsaw, it used to have those electrical blue pipes when it opened in 1997; when i started visiting in 2001-2009 Ripsaw's been still the same ever since. The thing is what happened to the old Ripsaw? (the one with the blue pipe scenery) if anyone knows, let me know.

[medji]

I thought they got taken down to do with maintenance stuff, like they were causing problems but I dunno

[Stelios7]

I saw on a YouTube video recorded around 2004 that Rippy was covered by a white sheet, it COULD of been removed then?

[MattH]

im guessing those are the pipes you mean, as already mentioned, i recall hearing that they were taken off to make maintenance easier to do, which would be perfectly reasonable, as although they looked good, they were probably very tricky to get along with in terms of fixing the ride.

[djtruefitt]

They did look good, but also slightly random for Ripsaw, they look like some kind of electrical thing.

The main thing I miss on Ripsaw is the Saws on each end of the ride!

[CoasterCrazyChris]

[quote=""djtruefitt""]electrical thing. The main thing I miss on Ripsaw is the Saws on each end of the ride![/quote]

What were they...?

Ripsaw was without a question of a doubt the best themed flat ride in the UK during its infancy. You only have to look at the attention to detail originally lavished on it to see it was something special. Sadly, The fake pylon insulators (not pipes! :P ), theming up the supports, blood red restraints and yellow/black stripes are gone. Its more than just this though as the cool rusty paint job the ride once had has faded to a dull grey, and the "Can You Cut It?" on the underside of the gondola has worn away.

Also note 'ALTON TOWERS' at the base, now gone.

Theming wise the entire ride is a mess, combine this with the hideous Fish and Chips outlet in front of it and it makes this section of Forbidden Valley visually lacklustre these days.

As for the "pipes", removing them for maintenance and not replacing them it just laziness, even if it has to be done each season.

[Big Dave]

Those were removed as every year during closed season they had to be removed. Constantly taking them down, storing them and them putting them back up, was not only a pain in the anus, but actually caused damage to the theming to the point that they could not be put back up as they were broken.

The ride now also has different support arms and most of the piping running down each tower has been removed.

[djtruefitt]

[quote=""CoasterCrazyChris""][quote=""djtruefitt""]electrical thing. The main thing I miss on Ripsaw is the Saws on each end of the ride![/quote]

What were they...? [/quote]

The bits at the top of the photo on each arm of the ride.


Now it just looks a bit old and dirty with all the good theming replaced by cheaper and not so good themeing:



I have to say the best bit of Ripsaws themeing has to be the amazing control truck! They could have so easily stuck a wooden hut or something boring there but they went for a proper old truck.

[moog666]

Oh my

That is just awfull. I have never realised how much has been taken away. It is unacceptable really. I understand the whole penny pinching thing but really, when it comes to it, a ride should be maintained in a way that keeps it as close to the condition it was in on opening day as possible.

[Don't_Look_Down]

I'm pleased the blue transformer themed gadgets were removed. If ever an addition looked so out of place and ugly

[Big Dave]

They looked great and considering the ride was meant to be themed around a huge piece of mechanical machinary, the electric blue transformers fit in and looked awesome.

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Ripsaw joins the ever growing list of rides which desperately need a full scale refurb (restoration might be a better term though).

As it stands...

Oblivion
Hex
Squirrel Nutty
Enterprise
The Flume
Duel
Ripsaw

[spark]

I think its very bad of them to replace the support arms with some brown painted piping!

Also wasnt the razor like parts removed due to health and safety?

[Sam]

One day in the future, prophets will be able to work out the date accurate to several days either side by the yearly arrival of this topic.

[Altonator]

Ripsaw in a better condition than Ramesis Revenge at Chessington the bottom section of the carriage was a big hole (no cover on base) where wires and mechanical devices could be seen by all a complete eyesore

[WillPS]

It looks like total rubbish compared to how it looked on my first year.

IIRC, the changes mostly happened around 2004, not all were to do with H&S so much as the park being lazy. The support arms (which had bulky piping or hazard tape paint) were replaced by plain ones from Huss. These were eventually painted to the murky brown they are today.

[AstroDan]

Rides at Disney, Phantasialand, Europa etc tend to look brand new on an almost permanent basis due to such loving maintenance of the rides.

This is where other parks, such as Portaventura, Parc Asterix, Alton Towers etc - all major parks - begin to fall behind from the true top tier. Rides not kept looking as new as possible.



Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Don't_Look_Down]

[quote=""AstroDan""]Rides at Disney, Phantasialand, Europa etc tend to look brand new on an almost permanent basis due to such loving maintenance of the rides.

This is where other parks, such as Portaventura, Parc Asterix, Alton Towers etc - all major parks - begin to fall behind from the true top tier. Rides not kept looking as new as possible.



Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk[/quote]

Oh I don't know, Ripsaw (and Blade) are one of the few rides where the rusty and uncared-for look actually work well To think they purposely themed Nemesis to look similar.

[Thorpefandan]

[quote=""AstroDan""]Rides at Disney, Phantasialand, Europa etc tend to look brand new on an almost permanent basis due to such loving maintenance of the rides.

This is where other parks, such as Portaventura, Parc Asterix, Alton Towers etc - all major parks - begin to fall behind from the true top tier. Rides not kept looking as new as possible.



Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk[/quote]

Absolutely 100% correct! If Alton Towers had this attitude too then I'm sure it would be even more successful than it currently is.

[medji]

[quote=""CoasterCrazyChris""]Ripsaw joins the ever growing list of rides which desperately need a full scale refurb (restoration might be a better term though).

As it stands...

Oblivion
Hex
Squirrel Nutty
Enterprise
The Flume
Duel
Ripsaw

[/quote]
What about blade?
And also, how come duel?