The first update for 2011 and the big news is the structure is now complete. All of the bents are standing and the structure is closed in. These two panoramas, the first taken looking North, the second taken looking East show the entire structure of the Bay Beach Zippin Pippin Roller Coaster.
Today's visit to the site was a special one from me, a project manager from MVR offered to take me up to the top of the lift hill and turn 3 for some great shots of the coaster from a new perspective. After strapping on a safety harness and hooking up to a lift we were soon at the top of the lift hill and walking the partially completed tracks out onto turn 3 to get a view of zone 3 which had just been closed in two days ago. Today was one of the colder days I've been on the site with temperatures in the single digits and a decent amount of wind I'm guessing the wind chill was very near or below zero. As you can see in the picture below standing on top of the structure I didn't really mind!
Looking back to the east from this vantage point we are able to see the first drop, turn 1 & 4, and the transfer station.
Before heading back down I took a shot looking straight down the structure of the inside of turn 3.
After returning safely to the ground I walked out to zone 3 to get some pictures of the just completed structure at the turn around.
Back over a the main oval you will notice the top idler sprocket for the chain lift is in place at the top of the lift hill. The platform below the sprocket is where we climbed from the lift to the top of the track.
At the base of the lift hill with the lift house now closed in the wraps have come off the lift motor, gearbox, sprocket and tensioning sprocket. The driven sprocket is on the left, the sprocket on the right is able to slide left and right to keep tension on the chain.
Over the next couple of weeks crews will start adding the trough that carries the lift chain up and down the lift hill, when this trough is complete the chain will be slid down from the top and threaded onto the sprockets.
Next week we should also start to see steel caps going onto the wooden track. As many as three strips of steel are added to each side of the track, one on the top of the track, one on the inside vertical surface of the track, and in areas where there are zero G's (Airtime!) a steel strip underneath.
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