Arrow Heartline Prototype

A while back (long while back) Arrow started building a prototype for their heartline coaster outside of the factory. From what I remember when seeing it a while back, it was never completed. What ever happened to this prototype of sorts? Was it ever installed anywhere or was it sent to the scrapyards?

------------------
Yes, the rumors are true. I am currently building a record braking backyard roller coaster.

The pipeline coaster was due to be the original SW1 (Secret Weapon) for Alton Towers, but it had a problem with capacity and roughness. Arrow never found it worthwhile enough with all the innovations the Swiss were making at the time.

------------------
- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!
*** This post was edited by Michael Darling 4/5/2003 3:39:35 AM ***

It was SW2 aswell.

------------------
Dutch Coastin' :: European coasters, thrills and theming!

Alton Towers buried the prototype somewhere under or around Nemesis. It was completed at the Arrow factory. They send me a packet of stuff about a year ago. So, I have pics of the Pipeline and the spinning coaster prototypes in operation.
------------------
Support the Coaster Preservation Club at www.coasterpreservation.tk

One of the key problems was the fact that it used up a lot of energy, ie several lift hills would be needed for a decent length.

http://www.coasterglobe.com/features/history-pipeline/index.cfm

Well I'm very interested in Arrow's version of the pipeline so if anyone has any info, please email it to me. Also, how different is the intamin version from the Arrow version?

------------------
Yes, the rumors are true. I am currently building a record breaking backyard roller coaster.

Pretty similar but look at what can be done without specialized track or cars.

Collusus at Thorpe Park has 5 heartline twists without specialized cars or track. The pipeline was obsolete almost as soon as it started.

------------------
It's like a Whirlwind inside of my head!

Thanks, bigboy, that's a very informative article!

------------------
- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!

Most of what you've posted is nonsense. According to Ron Toomer, when he spoke at CoasterMania, the initial tests were successful, but it needed more development. It had nothing to do with roughness. In the end, they ran out of R&D money and no one would fund it, so it died.

------------------
Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Does anyone have any pics or information about where it currently resides?

------------------
Phreak223: broadband srmodband dial up is where it's at foo
Phreak223: man, dial up sucks so bad

The pipeline prototype was torndown by Fabriweld in exchange for the scrap material. The vehicle was pulled out out of bldg J-10 cut up and thrown in a dumpster. In short the pipeline proto at 1.5 million was crap. If you examine the proto you can see what a bad engineering design it was, the vehicle sat in between the rails and wheel carriers were at head height. To facilitate such a design with the tie depth the cost of structure would have been prohibitive. Arrow used to design their rides with the xyz coordinates around where your feet were. Alan Schike changed all that by using a spreadsheet to design track layout and put the center of mass right where your chest would be. The result being you could do a heartline element with a corkscrew vehicle. Thus no need for a vehicle that sat inside the rails. Togo made one work, but it was'nt a big seller!