Sunday, February 27, 2011

Construction Update 2/25/2011

Last week the Bay Beach Zippin Pippin Roller Coaster construction site was a muddy mess, thanks to a large storm that moved through the area early this week the mud is now frozen with a fresh coat of about 12" snow on and around the construction site. Crews are moving rapidly and the track work should be finished in the next 1-2 weeks. The latest updates are below.

Steel is now going on the track at a very rapid pace, last week the steel stopped just short of the out and back barely cresting the hill seen in this picture which now has all of the steel attached.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

The steel then continues up and over the first hill on the out part of the out and back.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Note the upstop steel at the top of this hill, airtime!

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Steel then continues down the hill and up the next hill, the next hill, and then into the turn around.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

Steel is currently being installed at the turnaround with many curved sections of steel staged between the tracks waiting to be installed.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

On the back part of the out and back crews are finishing up the wooden portion of the track. During my visit they were using this jig to mark the final cut of the wooden track. The jig keys off the inside and top of one side of the track making a mark on the other side of the track with a pencil. A guide is then clamped to the track and the final cut is made with a circular saw.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

Back in zone 1 and 2 the last section of the lift chain is now in place.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Track is being laid onto the transfer table, one lane is nearly complete.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

And the other lane is just under way.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

So work is rapidly wrapping up on the track of the coaster, track work is expected to finish up in the next 1-2 weeks. Then there will be some odds and ends and clean up work. After that it is time to wait for the trains to arrive and start testing. Trains are tentatively scheduled to arrive from storage in Florida in early April.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Construction Update 2/17/2011

What a difference a week makes. Last week during my visit to the Bay Beach Zippin Pippin Roller Coaster construction site the wind chills were sub-zero, and the site was covered in snow and ice making walking dangerous. This week temperatures were in the mid 40's with light rain, melting snow, and a muddy sloppy construction sight making walking messy. Despite the swings in weather a lot of progress was made. The updates are below.

The first big news is the lift chain is in place and nearly complete. There is one small section remaining to be installed along the return between the bottom of the lift hill and the motor house.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

There was also a lot of progress in the area of the loading platform/transfer station. Let's start underneath. In the building beneath the loading platform an air compressor has been added. This compressor will supply air to the brake run and the automatic gates that will open and close to allow people to load the coaster.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

Just above this area workers have started trimming the ends of the decking on the platform.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Most of the transfer table trolleys are in place and temporarily secured to each other with some boards until the track sections can be added.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

There are still two trolleys to add.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Last week these brakes were added to the final section of track before the transfer table.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

These last brakes will be added in the transfer table area to hold the trains in place when riders are loading and unloading from the trains.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

A lot of steel track has been added, the steel now goes all the way around turn 3 and down the next drop.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Continues up the last hill before the out and back.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

And comes just over the crest of this hill, just below this area is where queue enters the zone 1 and 2 oval.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

The laminated layers of wood track now go all the way out to the turn around, go around the turn around, and are just starting to head back.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

I ended my visit with a north facing panorama and some very muddy boots.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Construction Update 2/11/2011

Another cold week in Green Bay but an exciting one as the city celebrates the Packers win in Super Bowl XLV. At Bay Beach Amusement park neither the cold weather or the Packer victory stopped progress on the Zippin Pippin Roller Coaster. For this week's update keep reading below.

The biggest change this week is the addition of the brakes. The only brakes on this coaster are inside of the oval right before and at the loading platform. During my visit crews were busy bolting the brake assemblies into place.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

The steel track continues to be put into place. Steel now goes all the way up the first uphill after the first drop and a little ways into turn 3 on the eastern edge of the coaster.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

At least one layer of wood track is now on every part of the coaster.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

Out at the turn around crews were busy laying additional layers of wooden track. Temperatures for most of the week were in the single digits with sub zero wind chills, through all of this construction crews continued building the Pippin.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

In other news over the last week the coaster critic released the first part of his list of the top ten new coasters for 2011. The Zippin Pippin made the list at number 10!

From Zippin Pippin Construction

Progress has also been made on the exit ramp with more decking and railings going up.

From Zippin Pippin Construction
From Zippin Pippin Construction

True to it's original design the loading and unloading of the Pippin is somewhat unique by today's standards. Passengers enter and exit the ride on the same side of the train. Two trains are able to run at the same time, assuming a train can unload and load in the time it takes the other train to complete a circuit this shouldn't slow things down in any way.

Next week we should see the lift chain installed. Right now it is still sitting in sections on pallets.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

I ended my visit with two panorama's, one taken looking to the south east...

From Zippin Pippin Construction

...and one taken looking north.

From Zippin Pippin Construction

That is all until next week!