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5th February 2005
The banked turn that goes around Corkscrew's on-ride photo booth is now in place. |
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5th February 2005
The first turn, which shares its supports with part of the track later in the ride. Both sections were erected at the same time for obvious logistical reasons. |
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5th February 2005
An overview of the construction site. You can see the work continuing on the hydraulics building. |
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5th February 2005
A close look at the track that comes near to Corkscrew's station. To get your bearings, look at Corkscrew's lift hill in the background. |
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5th February 2005
This photo shows just how terrifyingly close Rita will come to Corkscrew's station. The ride will be doing around 50mph at this point. |
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5th February 2005
Following on from the previous photograph, we can see how the track loops around the photo booth. |
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5th February 2005
A look at how the station work is progressing shows the ride operator's control booth - it's more like a control tower! |
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8th February 2005
A distant perspective of the newest roller coaster to be added to Alton Towers. |
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8th February 2005
As we move closer to the site, you can see just how high the ride's first "airtime" hill is. Notice that the Ug Land entrance supports have been put back in place. |
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8th February 2005
Construction of steel is around half completed now. The coaster is so large, it can be seen from Towers Street, at the other end of the park!
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12th February 2005
The banked first turn. |
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12th February 2005
The control tower on the station platform, which now says "Race Control, Thunder Rock Rally". |
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12th February 2005
The first turn above the hydraulics building, which now has more chequered flag patterns on.
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12th February 2005
Another look at the first and third turn, which pass close to the trees.
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12th February 2005
This shot gives you an idea of how big the ride is - and it gets even higher than this! |
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12th February 2005
A worker on a cherry picker above the first banked turn. |
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12th February 2005
Those first turns again, sharing some oddly-shaped supports.
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12th February 2005
Look how close the sections of track come to each other!
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12th February 2005
Another shot of those high-speed banked turns. |
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12th February 2005
A look at the point where the three sections of track cross over each other. It also shows how large the ride will be at its tallest point. |
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12th February 2005
A closer view of those crossovers.
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12th February 2005
The turn that goes around Corkscrew's on-ride photo shop.
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12th February 2005
Rita's crossovers. Riders will go over the top one first, then the middle one, and towards the end of the ride they will go over the lower section of track.
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12th February 2005
The crossovers from a different angle.
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12th February 2005
A look at the "middle" section of the crossover, as it heads back towards the hydraulics building.
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12th February 2005
A nice close-up on that section of track.
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12th February 2005
Here we can see just how steep the climb is up towards the first airtime hill.
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12th February 2005
That first hill should make a few stomachs churn...
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12th February 2005
The first turn and the third turn, seen from the back of the construction site.
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12th February 2005
Theming for Corkscrew is coming along nicely now. Note the fence posts in the foreground, presumably marking out one of the queue lines.
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12th February 2005
Those giant sections of track, near to where Ug Swinger will be placed.
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12th February 2005
A nice look at the crossover point.
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12th February 2005
The turn around Corkscrew's photo booth, also passing close to the trees.
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12th February 2005
A look at the hydraulics building. The ride will be doing 60mph as it flies over this structure.
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13th February 2005
A gorgeous shot of the crossover section. |
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13th February 2005
Standing on the station platform, looking down the launch. Notice how close the first set of brakes are, on the right hand side. |
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13th February 2005
Looking up at the crossover shows you the sheer scale of this new roller coaster. |
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13th February 2005
From the top of Corkscrew's lift hill, we can now see a large majority of the ride circuit in one shot. |
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13th February 2005
A beautiful shot of the newly repainted Corkscrew. |
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13th February 2005
A lot of work is happening in the hydraulic room at the moment. The hydraulic pipes are enormous, and the associated equipment (pumps/accumulators/tanks etc) are also massive. The winch cable has also been put in now. |
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15th February 2005
The trains have arrived! One, consisting of just two cars, is being winched around the circuit to make sure there are no problems with the track. |
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15th February 2005
Work is continuing on the ride's station platform. These objects seem to be the loading bays. |
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15th February 2005
Rita's queue line entrance, themed as a giant half-tyre, is now in place. |
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15th February 2005
A closer look at the "test" train, which consists of just two cars. The trains, once ready, will probably be five cars in length. |
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17th February 2005
Rita's presence will be very much felt even by the Sky Ride station next to Ug Land. You can just see the maintenance garage being constructed alongside the train on the track. |
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17th February 2005
The final turn of Rita, with a car resting in the brake run. This turn will be taken at a reasonably low speed as it immediately follows some trim/block brakes. |
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17th February 2005
Down by Corkscrew's brake run, you can see how close Rita comes to the Vekoma - a very stark contrast between old and new! Also, you get a clearer view of the maintenance shed frame from here. |
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17th February 2005
The train in the brake run. Tying in with the already apparent theming, the cars have a very striking "hot rod" image about them. |
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17th February 2005
A closer look at the front of the train. The ride's logo is clearly displayed inamongst the "flame" graphics. |
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17th February 2005
A closeup of a row of seats, which confirms that the ride has OTSRs ("over the shoulder restraints"). |
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17th February 2005
Looking down the brake run, at the station. You can clearly see the brake section above and to the right of the station platform. Also note the transfer track mechanism, which normally would be across to the right to allow trains to enter the station. |
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17th February 2005
The final turn, brake run, and also the transfer table which leads into the maintenance shed for the ride. |
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17th February 2005
The launch section of track. Even though the steelwork is all in place, there is still a lot of work to do before the ride can open to the public! |
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17th February 2005
From inside the "control tower", you can clearly see the steps up to the platform for the normal queue and priority pass holders. Also note the exit steps just behind them. |
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19th February 2005
Rita's control tower. Note the distinctly "Ug Land" patterns on the stairs up to the door. |
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19th February 2005
The track dominates the Ug Land skyline. |
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19th February 2005
The view through the Ug Land entrance arch. work is continuing on the station area of the ride. |
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19th February 2005
Rita's ride photo booth and shop, which now seems to be complete. The "race track in Ug Land" theme is achieved by mixing the prehistoric leopardskin look and the chequered poles. |
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19th February 2005
One of the trains sat in the brake run. Once assembled fully, the trains will be five cars in length. On the front train, you can just make out a "Rita" logo leading into the flame motif. |
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19th February 2005
The final turn of Rita, with Corkscrew right next to it. |
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19th February 2005
The train in the brake run. Work is also going on under the station at the moment. |
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19th February 2005
You can see the frame, to the right of the control tower, that will hold the themed "starting lights" for the ride. |
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19th February 2005
The Rita maintenance shed, still under construction. |
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19th February 2005
Above the Rita train, the striking image of Corkscrew and Rita. Ug Land will be very crowded from 2005 onwards, in more ways than one! |
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19th February 2005
In Fountain Square, the RCS construction team are still very much hard at work. |
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20th February 2005
Next to Rita's exit stairs is the lift which will allow disabled guests to get onto the station platform. |
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20th February 2005
Rita's control panel, freshly installed in the control tower. |
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20th February 2005
In this photo of the side of one of the cars, you can see the Rita flaming motif much more clearly. |
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20th February 2005
The test train in the brake run. |
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20th February 2005
More work is being done on the maintenance shed, which will house one or both of the trains once complete.. |
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20th February 2005
Underneath Corkscrew's first drop, looking towards the new coaster. |
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20th February 2005
The final turns of both Rita and Corkscrew. These two roller coasters are much more intertwined than the Nemesis/Air paring across the park. |
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20th February 2005
This massive silo is being used for holding silica sand, which is used in the track. |
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23rd February 2005
Corkscrew's station, without a roof to cover it from the snow fall. Note how close Rita comes to it. |
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23rd February 2005
From Corkscrew's brake run, we take a look towards Rita's station. |
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23rd February 2005
A closer shot of one of Rita's trains, sat in the launch area. |
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23rd February 2005
From Corkscrew, we take a look across at Rita's hydraulics shed, along with the "tyre" entrance sign, and the posts marking out Rita's queue line. |
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23rd February 2005
The Priority Pass Queue entrance (left) and the Single Rider Queue entrance (right), complete with "flaming tyre" signs. |
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23rd February 2005
A look at one of the Rita trains, now fully assembled. As anticipated, the train is five cars in length. No modifications have been made to the restraints at present. |
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23rd February 2005
Rita's queue line entrance sign, as seen from the front. The tyre motif is continued here also. |
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23rd February 2005
Corkscrew's queue line entrance, which has now been reinstalled in Ug Land, having been removed in December. |
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23rd February 2005
Another look at the sign. In the background, you can see both Corkscrew's queue line being built and also part of Rita's. |
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23rd February 2005
These posts in front of Rita's station are marking out the normal and single rider queue lines. |
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23rd February 2005
Ug Bugs, which has been relocated to the old Cadbury's Chocolate House site in Cred Street. It remains to be seen whether the ride will keep its old name in 2005. |
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24th February 2005
The second train is being delivered. |
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26th February 2005
One of the Ug Land entrance arches, now with two foghorns attached. |
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26th February 2005
Looking through the famous corkscrews, at the new backdrop of Rita. |
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26th February 2005
A close up of the much brighter yellow colour of Corkscrew this year.
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26th February 2005
Train 2, which was delivered on Thursday. Note that it's on track out the back of the maintenance shed!
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26th February 2005
A closer look at the back of the second train. |
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26th February 2005
Here we take a look at the wheel mounting of the second train. |
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26th February 2005
The second train seems to be a different colour to the first one - this one is a purple colour as opposed to the dark blue of Train 1.
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26th February 2005
The inside of the maintenance shed, still under construction.
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26th February 2005
Rita's maintenance shed, the track, and Corkscrew, all tightly packed together. |
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26th February 2005
One of Corkscrew's trains, sat in the ride's brake run. It was put back onto the track on Thursday. |
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26th February 2005
Looking up the disabled access ramp of Corkscrew, with Rita towering above you.
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26th February 2005
From Corkscrew's lift hill, we take a look across at Rita's train 1 in the launch area, as well as the first brake section above it.
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26th February 2005
Looking at the second Corkscrew's second corkscrew, looking fantastic now it's had a lick of paint.
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26th February 2005
From this vantage point, you can see much of Rita's track circuit, and the work going on below.
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26th February 2005
Another look at Rita's train, as work continues on the station platform.
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26th February 2005
Corkscrew is still having its station canopy redone, and you can see work continuing on Rita's queue line in the background.
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26th February 2005
Rita's final turn and maintenance shed. The shed has been constructed using steel from the now dismantled Cave Games building.
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26th February 2005
With the steelwork in place and the trains on track, it won't be long before Rita starts the testing process.
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26th February 2005
This turn will get the adrenaline pumping as you fly past Corkscrew at high speed.
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26th February 2005
In this shot you can make out the Ug Land entrance arch, and also another "flaming tyre" motif on top of Rita's on-ride photo shop, if you look carefully.
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26th February 2005
One of the Corkscrew trains, which has not been re-themed for the new season. However, head padding will be added to one of the trains for 2005, which some people may be relieved to hear!
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