The Loch Ness Monster

[b.mac]

Yep all the old school Arrows prior to the 1980s had "video game controls." The operators would have to control both the waiting brake and the station brake in order to properly park the train, but there was some forgiveness in parking distance as they could be off by about a foot and still operate in the station as intended.

When the ride was modernized and reprogrammed that's where you get that mesmerizing clapping noise in the station every time a train comes in.

 

[----------------------]

Our new trains are such abominations

 

[b.mac]

They're recreations of the later era Arrow trains, which have a higher center of gravity compared to the original models that LNM ran.

S&S seemed to have taken design elements from both, which is why they are so weird.

 

[Mushroom]

I love the new trains. They’re smoother than the old ones, but more importantly, they’re far less restrictive. It feels like they’ve updated Nessie for the 21st century.

 

[Zachary]

I love the new trains. They’re smoother than the old ones, but more importantly, they’re far less restrictive. It feels like they’ve updated Nessie for the 21st century.

Counterpoint: No orange stripe.

 

[Mushroom]

Counterpoint: No orange stripe.

Ugh, you win...

 

[GrandpaD]

Counterpoint: No orange stripe.

Here we go with the paint thing again. They saved $$ on orange paint...

 

[b.mac]

They gave the leftover from Tempesto to Sea World Orlando.

 

[sereniv]

don't know if anyone has seen this, but there is a leftover original (I'm assuming because of the orange stripe) lnm train car by the old drachen fire storage area. (the building not used for mazes? don't know its original purpose) within the building there are also multiple, varied different parts for rides...as well as being the green room for lumberhack and vault.

 

[GrandpaD]

Ok @sereniv . Also, if you look on Earth or Maps, there's about a train of old cars back in the trees.

 

[sereniv]

ah so its not as exciting as i thought ? my bad

 

[ControlsEE]

But I'd totally forgot about this little "factoid" from an old BGW Corp. blog. (I rode it the first day...I wish the RideOp would have goofed up...)

"One of the most interesting history points of The Loch Ness Monster was that the operators used to manually stop the train in the station. If for some reason an employee did not stop the train in time, the train would have to go all the way around again. That gave some lucky guests two rides in a row on the famous Nessie.

The original control system would have had relay logic, so it probably relied on heavier operator intervention, hence allowing the trains to roll through and stop where the operator tells them to. Nothing to knock out the brake control relay with a "that's far enough." I would love to see what those cabinets and prints originally looked like, or maybe not. Using relays to control things is a really messy way to do it anymore. Trust me, there are a number of machines I have worked on that are all relays and they are just a nightmare to work with. Anyways, I don't know when a PLC was installed on LNM, but it probably wasn't before the mid to late 80's. While PLC's were first invented in the early 70's, they were very rudimentary and focused on controlling a large assembly line, as well as usually made custom for the plants. Allen-Bradley came out with the PLC-5 in the 80's and that's when they really took off. A lot of the work I have had lately has been replacing those really old PLC's with the newer Logix PACs.

 

[basseyfish]

Im not going through all 72 pages, so what happens when nessies time is up, would it be replaced with something different? Or maybe a complete new rebuild with the same layout. Like The Incredible Hulk was.

 

[BGWnut]

Im not going through all 72 pages, so what happens when nessies time is up, would it be replaced with something different? Or maybe a complete new rebuild with the same layout. Like The Incredible Hulk was.

I think the day the park replaces Nessie will be a cold day in hell. They will do everything in their power to keep her. She is easily the most iconic coaster the park has. The park will do what they can to prolong her life as long as they can.

That being said when Nessie reaches the point that it has to go I don't want them to just rebuild with the same layout. I want them to pay homage to her with a new coaster that hopefully also retains the interlocking loops.

 

[Jonesta6]

And a tunnel element, preferably with the proper effects actually working

 

[warfelg]

Keep her standing as a tribute.

 

[Jonesta6]

Keep her standing as a tribute.

Realistically, once her time has come, they'll likely need to make space since unless they start using the undeveloped land more, they'll be out of expansion space.

Would be interesting if they could keep the loops structure as part of a new ride, basically replacing the rails but keeping the loops.

 

[metalman]

In a refinement, I would love to see those pre-humps (for lack of a better word) removed for a seamless transition into and out of the tunnel and continuous travel up the hill after the tunnel by taking away the 2nd chain lift.

Just spitballing here-
Has there ever been a hybrid main chain lift/ mid-course launch coaster. It would just need a little nudge of speed coming out of the hill to keep going.

 

[BGWnut]

Personally if the park ever does have to get rid of Nessie, I hope they do what Alton Towers did with corkscrew and keep the signature element but move it to a more visible place. I think it would be really cool to have it in the entrance plaza in the open area behind the ticket booth across from the stroller and wheelchair rental shop.


This is what Alton Towers front entrance looks like with the corkscrew over the entrance.

 

[Jonesta6]

I like the idea but I don't think that's going to be feasible from the sense of height and width - the corkscrew works because of its relatively low profile and fits the length of the entryway. The loops will dominate the trees for sure, and not sure about width.