Attraction Source Forum

Tom_Jephson wrote: Towerstimes just put this on Facebook:


Major Incident:

TowersTimes has learned that between the park closing on Thursday 23rd May and opening on Friday 24th, a major incident occurred during the ride's testing. This resulted in numerous issues with severe scraping to the track as well as an entire ride train being removed from the track after 'valleying' due to an undisclosed reason. Valleying is when a train stops on part of the track after being unable to complete the circuit under its own momentum. X Sector was closed to the public for the entire day so work on removing the train could take place out of sight of visitors although a replacement train was seen being lifted on to the ride later in the day.

No details on this incident have been released by The Alton Towers Resort and it is unlikely they will do so. However most references to the ride's opening date have now been removed from the official website. Due to the ongoing issues with the ride we believe it will not open for the foreseeable future and if you are planning to visit solely to ride The Smiler, you should hold off on purchasing tickets or making any other plans until further information is released.

TowersTimes will continue to bring you more details as and when we hear them. Our Facebook page and community forum are great places to check for updates during this time.

TowersTimes News wrote:May 26th 2013 : The Smiler - Major Incident & News Roundup
 
The Smiler, The Alton Towers Resort's new rollercoaster, is continuing to experience issues preventing it from opening as planned.

Originally planned to open in March, the ride suffered considerable setbacks during the construction phase which resulted in the official opening of the ride being pushed back to May 23rd. Earlier today, TowersTimes uncovered some information about both the original delay as well as details on some of the more recent developments.

Early Construction:

The main contributing factor to the ride's failure to open in March was severe issues with the groundwork during the early part of the construction. This was hampered considerably by a major breach of Health & Safety regulations committed by subcontractor T G Cruse Groundworks Limited, as detailed below:


    "Failure to provide trench supports, box's or battering to ensure that the sewer pipe trench (or part of it) did not collapse."


    "Failure to provide supports or battering to ensure that the faces of sections of the main excavation (or part of it) at the site of the new ride did not collapse."


Source: HSE.gov.uk
http://www.hse.gov.uk/notices/notices/N ... =304321528

But the story didn't end there! As reported on TowersTimes earlier this year, the ride continued to experience issues during the final part of construction with various supports and pieces of track not fitting together as planned. However work continued swiftly and it looked as though the ride was all set to make its debut at a 'star studded' media event on May 17th followed by a grand opening on May 23rd.

Media Event Failure:


    'I'm hugely disappointed I never got to go on it. It's called The Smiler and I was sitting there thinking what is there to smile about."
    Global Superstar - Tinchy Stryder

    "It's a shame I didn't get to go on it but I'm glad I was late because OMG if I'd have been stuck on it, I would have freaked out."
    Renowned Popstar - Jessica Wright.


The Smiler failed catastrophically during the media event, leaving journalists and celebrities alike stranded on the lift hill. The Mirror and The Daily Mail covered the events with some unflattering headlines the following day. These can be found by following the links below.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... inted.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al ... wn-1895825

However, The Alton Towers Resort continued to advertise the ride would open as planned on May 23rd with nightly testing taking place and various journalists being filmed riding it regularly.


Ride Delayed Again:

With less than 20 hours to go before the ride's intended opening on May 23rd, The Alton Towers Resort announced the ride was suffering 'teething problems' and would not be opening that day. TowersTimes was at the resort for this day and we have considerable coverage via our Facebook as well as our new TowersTimes Live feature. Our updates show the ride's surrounding area and queueline is still under heavy construction and staff training is still taking place. The ride has not been seen running during regular opening hours.


Major Incident:

TowersTimes has learned that between the park closing on Thursday 23rd May and opening on Friday 24th, a major incident occurred during the ride's testing. This resulted in numerous issues with severe scraping to the track as well as an entire ride train being removed from the track after 'valleying' due to an undisclosed reason. Valleying is when a train stops on part of the track after being unable to complete the circuit under its own momentum. X Sector was closed to the public for the entire day so work on removing the train could take place out of sight of visitors although a replacement train was seen being lifted on to the ride later in the day.

No details on this incident have been released by The Alton Towers Resort and it is unlikely they will do so. However most references to the ride's opening date have now been removed from the official website. Due to the ongoing issues with the ride we believe it will not open for the foreseeable future and if you are planning to visit solely to ride The Smiler, you should hold off on purchasing tickets or making any other plans until further information is released.

TowersTimes will continue to bring you more details as and when we hear them. Our Facebook page and community forum are great places to check for updates during this time.

jamesc wrote: So a train did not make it around the track making severe scraping to the track, which in turn the whole track needs checking repairing, a lot or damage.

With that cleared up, can we all please get back to Construction Discussion, as the ride will be closed for a while me thinks!

cookejj1 wrote: is this why the smiler has all the track marks??

A wrote: Here's my theory:
Trims turned on full, stopped the train too quickly causing scraping and hence it couldn't make it round the rest of the track.

Just a theory

aircanman wrote:

A wrote: Here's my theory:
Trims turned on full, stopped the train too quickly causing scraping and hence it couldn't make it round the rest of the track.

Just a theory

That scraping noise the car made didn't sound normal? Perhaps a wheel bearing collapsed bringing it to a complete stop?

aircanman wrote:

A wrote: Here's my theory:
Trims turned on full, stopped the train too quickly causing scraping and hence it couldn't make it round the rest of the track.

Just a theory

That scraping noise the car made didn't sound normal? Perhaps a wheel bearing collapsed bringing it to a complete stop?

A wrote: Here's my theory:
Trims turned on full, stopped the train too quickly causing scraping and hence it couldn't make it round the rest of the track.

Just a theory

Heisenberg96 wrote: Anyone have an idea of a rough date it'll open then, because I'm unaware of how severe this is. Will it be open by the time I visit at the end of June? Or is it even more severe?