Reviews
The rollercoasters in Britain’s theme parks grab thrillseekers by the throat and force them to cough up a scream, or at least sit up and pay attention.
Alton Towers, the UK king of the theme park thrill, is no stranger to providing rollercoaster thrills, bringing enthusiasts a selection of white-knuckle-worthy efforts over the years. This year, in time for the park’s 30th anniversary, comes Th13teen, a £15 million, gothic horror-themed rollercoaster through a creepy forest. It’s been two years in the making.
Among the standard dips, twists and turns is a unique element – technology that makes it the world’s first freefall-drop rollercoaster. This doesn’t mean a simple vertical drop. Oh no. Rollercoaster designers have been there, done that and worn the shrunken, sodden T-shirt. This is a section of track that actually drops 70ft – first, a small fall of 10ft, just to get the pulses racing, followed by a sudden 60ft drop – all in the dark or, in some sections, pitch black. In addition, the train accelerates in reverse so that riders complete the last section backwards.
It is mighty impressive stuff but Alton Towers’ technical experts won’t give too much away about how the technology works. What they do say is that the track drops freely under gravity. It is then brought to a smooth halt at its lower position by magnetic brakes on the fixed structure, which act as fins on the moving structure. The train accelerates backwards on to a connecting section of track by pairs of electrically driven tyred wheels, which act as traction plates under the train. Once the train has sped away, the movable section of track is raised to its starting position by hydraulic rams.
The overall ride experience is fun through and through but much tamer than some of Alton Towers’ other metal monsters.
While renowned coaster designer John Wardley and Swiss manufacturer Intamin have generally done a good job in developing Th13teen, the park’s marketing team may have shot themselves in the foot by billing the ride as the ultimate rollercoaster. This it is not. It has also been promoted as a “psychoaster”, promising the rider a mix of physical and psychological fear. It is times like this when the brakes should be put on the marketing machine and the engineers allowed to just do their job.
Alton Towers claims that so much theme park technology has never before been combined into one ride. But after observing the impressive coasters in the US, this is probably an exaggeration. That said, it cannot be ignored that Th13teen uses rollercoaster technology in a revolutionary way that five years ago was probably thought not possible. It is something Britain should be proud of and paves the way for more exciting ride designs.
America’s theme parks will no doubt take Alton’s idea and make it three times higher. But it’s nice to know that we did it first.