VF Posts Renegade Construction Pictures

No. GCII had up to a couple of years ago only been building one or two at most a year. It probably took that look for them (CF) to get to their turn on the waiting list.

Bill did you check your PMs?

Moving along :) Is that standard to preassemble large pieces shown in the photos? http://www.valleyfair.com/public/information/photo_galleries/index.cfm *** Edited 12/21/2006 4:48:11 PM UTC by BlackBeta***

That sort of looks like how they assembled ET.
http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/images/photos/31.jpg.jpg

Yes, it's much easier to assemble them on the ground then hoist them up all at once.

New pics since the 29th. Check out the third one, the site isn't exactly level, pretty cool.

http://www.valleyfair.com/public/information/photo_galleries/index.cfm?gallery_id=124&startRow=1&maxRow=10

Looking pretty close to done to me.

2 more months! :)

Do you think it's going to be ready for opening day.

^ The 2007 season starts on May 12. It should be done by that time. They've been making good progress.

It is easier to build the bents on the ground. On the ground you can have a several crews building. After a few days of building them they set all the bents in a day or two.

If they built them in place you could only have 2 people in the air to connect and a ground crew flying wood in one piece at a time. Crane rental are expensive too. If you can get away with using a crane a day or two a week you can save alot of money.

As long as you have people who know how to rig the bents to the crane you can pick them perfect. Thats an art in itself.

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coasterpunk said:

Crane rental are expensive too. If you can get away with using a crane a day or two a week you can save alot of money.

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Once you get the crane there, it will pretty much be there until you are done with it. The cost in transporting it would offset any cost savings of only using it a couple days a week.

My cost to rent a 20 foot scissor lift is $150/week or $350/month, but it costs $190 for a round trip delivery. Once we have it on site it stays there unless we are pulling it of for an extended ammount of time.

Granted I don't know what it costs to rent or deliver a crane. But, keep in mind that they can deliver about 8 scissor lifts at a time (with a delivery charge on each) but they can probably only deliver one crane at a time.

I think this will be done by opening day.
The trains for renegade are being assembled as we speak. (Or type. . .)

As one of the GCI interns, I can tell you that it will be ready for opening day. We are making great progress on the trains, and they are quickly nearing completion. Check into www.greatcoastersinterns.com to see updates on the trains and the latest announcements from GCI.

What's with the capacity? 850 pph!!!!! That's worse than Steel Venom! I know VF is in MN, but still!

^ Yeah, I was surprised by that too. I had thought it would have better capacity.

Do you really think Venom hits 950pph? 950/28 = 34cycles per hour = 1:45load/unload/ride cycle. The cycle has to be close to 1:00, leaving a mere 45seconds for load/unload.

Manufacturers claim capacity based on unrealistic operations. GCII regularly hits 850pph on two train operation. It is an attainable, proven number that is often exceeded.

I personally always liked seeing the Flying Dutchman boasting of 1000pph.

The trains look great! I'm excited to see the funky banisters!

I know that 850 sounds low, but keep in mind HR and Excalibur usually only run one train. I am not saying they should, but 850/hr is not the end of the world at VF.

Capacity numbers that are given out are incredibly inflated, and not anywhere close to what happens in real life, generally.

850 is not by any means the end of the world.

I guess most enthusiasts would be shocked to see the real world numbers for some of their favorite coasters. I have first hand knowledge of popular coasters at popular parks where 300pph is considered really solid.

^^ Sure, but HR and Excalibur certainly do not have the same draw that, say, a brand new coaster has.