Wicked Cyclone Construction Update #24
The final piece of track has been installed and painting of the structure has begun! This is Wicked Cyclone construction update #24.
If you’re not following us on any of our social media pages, you missed one exciting week. Because Six Flags New England was open for spring break, we got to see just how much work goes into a project like Wicked Cyclone. Today, the final piece of track was installed. So without further adieu, let’s jump right into the pictures.
The completed northern section of the coaster is looking fantastic! It’s going to be awesome when entering the queue for the coaster and having a train fly over your head only a few feet away.
The construction site was very busy on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.
And here it is… This was the final element to be installed. This airtime hill is a lot more pronounced than what the renderings showed. It looks like there’s going to be a ton of ejector airtime here:
Workers securing the final pieces.
These next few pictures are of the Double Reversing Bank Airtime Hill. The element is buried within the structure, therefore it was very hard to get any good pictures of it from the midway.
Extreme closeup of this world’s first element!
This is the turn leading into the Double Reversing Bank Airtime Hill.
See how dense the structure is? The added bracing makes it even harder to see.
Overview of the infield area. If you look closely, you’ll be able to see new steel support columns for the upper portion of the track.
The blend into the existing steel support tower, so it might be hard to see…
Here’s a much better angle.
Here’s a good shot of the lift chain and anti-rollbacks.
Not only has the track installation been completed, but the theming process has begun. Through out the entire week, workers were painting the side of the station in preparation for the transformation into the C.H.A.S.E. Command Center. I’m sure we’ll see the actual theming going up soon.
The train is in the maintenance shed! This is actually the blue train, which we actually haven’t really gotten a good look at yet.
Overview of the station area and whatever’s happening to the exit ramp.
This is another thing we’ve been watching all week. It just gets weirder and weirder. At this point, it’s looking like the photo booth will be elevated on a deck. Then the exit ramp will go along the deck?
Or that assumption could totally be wrong.
Making things even weirder is this new concrete pad that was poured. This must be where the exit ramp meets the ground.
Speaking of the exit and the ground… The path under the structure has even completed.
Part of the theming for the gift shop has gone up. All it is is the little vent thing on the roof.
Here’s another new concrete pad. This is directly to the left of the entrance to Cyclone/Wicked Cyclone. We’re confident in saying this will be for a test seat.
It’s a bit hard to see, but a new concrete path has been poured. There’s a really nice view of this new path from the top of New England SkyScreamer, but unfortunately photography is not allowed on the ride. Basically, it looks like the path that was there for Cyclone’s queue, except instead of turning left once inside the structure, you go right and along the newly installed airtime hill. From there, we have no idea where the queue will go. It will obviously need switchbacks somewhere along the way, we just don’t know where.
One last shot of the new airtime hill.
Flashback’s exit provides some different views of Wicked Cyclone:
Here are some random shots. The zero-g rolls are very hard to take pictures of. Since they’re so unique (seriously where have you ever seen two zero-g rolls stacked on top of each other?), I’m thinking they’re going to have the queue go by them. It would be a great photo opportunity.
What’s this…? Let’s head outside of the park now to check it out.
The orange train is out in the maintenance lot!
I’m sure it will be loaded onto the track sometime this week.
Let’s now check out the painting progress. There were several different crews working all through out the layout. If they keep up this pace, the entire structure will be painted within the next two weeks.
This whole portion of the turn into the brake run has essentially been completed. Note the tarp over the track, making sure none of the storm gray colored paint messes up the vibrant orange.
I’m a huge fan of the gray. I know some people are upset that the structure is no longer the classic white color… Oh well. We still have Thunderbolt, which was just repainted in 2013.
Plus, the orange and gray go together beautifully.
They’re painting the structure with rollers and brushes.
Now heading over to the other side of the station. The control room has now received its side paneling
We spotted this box with what appears to be fake rocks. Could this possibly be for theming?
A new staircase was also built to the side of the lift hill.
Here’s a shot of the bottom zero-g. In the right bottom left corner of the picture, you’ll notice the gray spots on the track. I’m sure they’ll eventually go around the track to touch up any areas that need it.
And final shot… A new catwalk is starting to go up along the final stretch of track. You can also see the beginnings of a new fence as evident by the black posts in the ground.
