The Smiler - Construction Discussion

[KevBales]

Looking at the sheer size of The Smiler I can't believe it's only cost £3 million more than Th13teen! Look at the track layout of the two rides it's quite amazing really. I'm hoping to be at the park on Monday hoping to see a lot more track up 

[Tom_Jephson]

Looking at the sheer size of The Smiler I can't believe it's only cost £3 million more than Th13teen! Look at the track layout of the two rides it's quite amazing really. I'm hoping to be at the park on Monday hoping to see a lot more track up 

The track on thir13teen wont have cost that much. Its the drop mechanism which most of the budget will have been spent on

[Phild94]

As good as these ground level updates are I would love to see an aerial shot or 2 in the coming week to compare to last time MI7 was in the air... Going on Saturday and can't wait to get a view of it up close for once

[JayJay90]

As good as these ground level updates are I would love to see an aerial shot or 2 in the coming week to compare to last time MI7 was in the air... Going on Saturday and can't wait to get a view of it up close for once

One really really good view point I was told was to go through the toilets and out the back and you can stand on one of the footers and see the whole site. Also in that spot there's the canvas on all the border fences and you can pull them back where it ends n get some good snaps there too

[Phild94]

As good as these ground level updates are I would love to see an aerial shot or 2 in the coming week to compare to last time MI7 was in the air... Going on Saturday and can't wait to get a view of it up close for once

One really really good view point I was told was to go through the toilets and out the back and you can stand on one of the footers and see the whole site. Also in that spot there's the canvas on all the border fences and you can pull them back where it ends n get some good snaps there too

Would love to take pictures but will probably just be from queue lines mainly, I don't like to stand around too much at towers, get enough of that in the cattlepens queue lines

[DannyNewbro]

No problem at all. I just could not keep away! My sister on the other hand was sick of being dragged back every 2 hours lol I have got some more pics but one that was far away. There was one straight piece of track with green parts on it (I'm no technical whizz with these things) and a curved piece of track with like one long silver metal strip running down one side and a shorter one next to it (can be seen in the image of track just above the green straight piece). I'm guessing these are for the bunny hops and could be trims? There were a few of them. There's lots of what looked to me like vertical lift supports but I'm not sure what they are.

Unless I am mistaken the small silver patches as seen in the 2nd photo could well be on ride photography sensors. As for the green track I'm not entirely sure but they could well be sensors also... perhaps for the marmaliser?

I'm not sure what the silver linings are but I'm almost certain the green bits are Proximity Sensors...

[TomL]

those 'I' frames too, i'm sure are for the lift hill...

[ollboll9]

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/sw7/wp-con ... C_0021.JPG
is it just me or is what we think is the brake run before the first lift hill slanted or is it the final brake run to the station?

[sasloopy]

Final brake run

[clayj]

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/sw7/wp-con ... C_0021.JPG
is it just me or is what we think is the brake run before the first lift hill slanted or is it the final brake run to the station?

Yes.... Its an easier & far cheaper way to move cars down the track by gravity then using wheels, motors, magnets etc

[Codmaster]

No problem at all. I just could not keep away! My sister on the other hand was sick of being dragged back every 2 hours lol I have got some more pics but one that was far away. There was one straight piece of track with green parts on it (I'm no technical whizz with these things) and a curved piece of track with like one long silver metal strip running down one side and a shorter one next to it (can be seen in the image of track just above the green straight piece). I'm guessing these are for the bunny hops and could be trims? There were a few of them. There's lots of what looked to me like vertical lift supports but I'm not sure what they are.

Unless I am mistaken the small silver patches as seen in the 2nd photo could well be on ride photography sensors. As for the green track I'm not entirely sure but they could well be sensors also... perhaps for the marmaliser?

I'm not sure what the silver linings are but I'm almost certain the green bits are Proximity Sensors...

As we can see in http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/sw7/wp-con ... C_0071.JPG the silver bits are meerly cable tidys to route the several miles of wire arround the track, nothing interesting I'm afraid.


*Edit*: also notice the bent brake fin about 1/3 down the track, I wonder what they're going to do with that?

[JayJay90]

As good as these ground level updates are I would love to see an aerial shot or 2 in the coming week to compare to last time MI7 was in the air... Going on Saturday and can't wait to get a view of it up close for once

One really really good view point I was told was to go through the toilets and out the back and you can stand on one of the footers and see the whole site. Also in that spot there's the canvas on all the border fences and you can pull them back where it ends n get some good snaps there too

Would love to take pictures but will probably just be from queue lines mainly, I don't like to stand around too much at towers, get enough of that in the cattlepens queue lines

Haha, the queues aren't too bad this time of year. Yesterday everything was 0mins and we walked on them straight away


And to the above as its not allowing me to quote for some reason, I think the I frames will be used for the vertical lift too, all the top area had been dug and looked flat and level and more or less ready formthatnto progress. Some large supports were being transported to the site at around 5 yesterday so I'm guessing they're going to complete the sea servpent or the half loop element section over the next couple of days.

And now with reference to that other image it does look like simply being cable tidies, I'm no technical whizz so in the car park I took a picture of more or less everything that was there lol

Over the next week I'd say there's going to be vast improvements to the site it all seems to be coming on quickly now

[youarecorrectsir]

As we can see in http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/sw7/wp-con ... C_0071.JPG the silver bits are meerly cable tidys to route the several miles of wire arround the track, nothing interesting I'm afraid.


*Edit*: also notice the bent brake fin about 1/3 down the track, I wonder what they're going to do with that?

Sorry I should have made myself more clear - I didn't mean the long silver bits (I agree, cable ties) I meant the small silver squares in the background. They look like photo sensors to me! But possibly also triggers for the marmaliser? What do you reckon?

[Codmaster]

As we can see in http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/sw7/wp-con ... C_0071.JPG the silver bits are meerly cable tidys to route the several miles of wire arround the track, nothing interesting I'm afraid.


*Edit*: also notice the bent brake fin about 1/3 down the track, I wonder what they're going to do with that?

Sorry I should have made myself more clear - I didn't mean the long silver bits (I agree, cable ties) I meant the small silver squares in the background. They look like photo sensors to me! But possibly also triggers for the marmaliser? What do you reckon?

Ahhhh. Curious, I do see what you mean, I think the picture I provided above is sufficient to explain these as well. I believe that these are electrical subsystems in a metal casing to control certain mechanical components based of a sensor reading, if you look on the picture above you can see that the retractable brake fins also have little silver boxes connected to them to control a speed based action, which is if the train is traveling at a speed under a set level than the fins are retracted. These boxes will either collate information and perform an action based on the information, or route information signals arround the track to a central CPU room that will perform all of the measurements, most likely the latter.

So yes, in one word, they are probably something to do with cameras, train positioning sensors, speed sensors, break-down sensors, block sensors, and anything else that is electronic in that area; such as marmiliser functions, howeve they are not the sensor themselves, the sensor will be a long strip, most likely painted green, and to one side of the track dependant on what it is measuring.

I hope this provides some clarity.

[ollboll9]

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/sw7/wp-con ... C_0021.JPG
is it just me or is what we think is the brake run before the first lift hill slanted or is it the final brake run to the station?

Yes.... Its an easier & far cheaper way to move cars down the track by gravity then using wheels, motors, magnets etc

thanks thought it might be a launch or something but you dont know unless you ask 

[Hitch]

I find it weird how the walkway it only down one side of the track, seems really safe for an evacuation.

[Rollercoasters4Life]

I find it weird how the walkway it only down one side of the track, seems really safe for an evacuation.

Why? Everyone just gets off on the right. It will probably never get used for guest purposes anyway as they would normally get the ride up and running again before releasing people on the brake run. Worst case is for them to come and release the restraints so people can get off but this would be a last resort. Also I would assume they would make people put on harnesses before stepping out of the train and then just before the step out they would attach them to the safety cable (which is attached to the guard rail). I believe this is how it works on lift hills although it maybe different for brake runs/mid-course brakes.

[Alex Tyler]

I find it weird how the walkway it only down one side of the track, seems really safe for an evacuation.

Why? Everyone just gets off on the right. It will probably never get used for guest purposes anyway as they would normally get the ride up and running again before releasing people on the brake run. Worst case is for them to come and release the restraints so people can get off but this would be a last resort. Also I would assume they would make people put on harnesses before stepping out of the train and then just before the step out they would attach them to the safety cable (which is attached to the guard rail). I believe this is how it works on lift hills although it maybe different for brake runs/mid-course brakes.

Also the catwalks are only on one side on 13 and Spinball.

[Hmv]

I find it weird how the walkway it only down one side of the track, seems really safe for an evacuation.

Air only has a walkway on one side, but then again I bet that's a beast to evac 

[nodestinyx]

I find it weird how the walkway it only down one side of the track, seems really safe for an evacuation.

It is safer for an evacuation to have the riders get out off the ride on one side, the walkway is probably on the same side as the manual override for the restraints, the staff then can simply walk up the runway and dis-embark the riders off the ride safely ... i've seen them stop Oblivian because of someone with a camera .. the staff member simply connected a line walked up the walkway took the camera and then walked back down again.