As the title states, it has been a while. Much has happened over the past few years: moves, new jobs…etc. Although not much is an excuse for updates, it can be somewhat hectic resulting in lack of posting. Currently, the issue of illness around the world is a toxic icing on top of the cake of life. I hope everyone is well, first of all.

So why the lack of posting? I haven’t forgotten about the project and the plans for the future. Far from it. I’ve always wanted to continue posting and making videos of the progress, but when I had no time to progress then everything else suffered. So here is how things have been since 2016…

As some of you know, I worked for Great Coasters International designing wooden roller coasters. I worked on more than ten rides around the world. A few of the rides I personally oversaw construction onsite. The picture below was taken at Alton Towers during the Wickerman construction. This would be my last full coaster I worked on with GCII.

I spent nearly seven (7) months in Staffordshire working at Alton Towers and experienced many things I will never forget, as well as working alongside some truly remarkable people. Fortunately, I was able to explore the country and surrounding areas. But I am getting ahead of myself.

My progress began to slow as I was working in the United States on Mystic Timbers at Kings Island and eventually InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Spending upwards of two (2) months in Virginia, away from my home in Cincinnati, Ohio was difficult, but it would be the precursor to my long journey that would take me across the Atlantic Ocean for almost a year. I would end up commissioning InvadR prior to heading to Belgium.

What is commissioning a roller coaster? Prior to opening an amusement ride to the general public many tests and quality checks must be completed per law, park codes, and manufacturer’s recommendations. Checking the controls, operation, structure, and accelerations can be a lengthy process at times, but those who build are first to ride. So, if any of you have seen the Busch Gardens video of InvadR in POV (point of view) format the park released prior to opening, I actually recorded that with my personal GoPro camera. I became the the third person to ride the coaster, too. Perks of the job.

Once Busch Gardens was complete, my job led me to opening a prolonged project in Europe: Heidi The Ride in Plopsaland De Panne, Belgium.

This ride holds a special place in my heart since it was plagued with issues from the local government’s noise regulations. Long story short, I spend many months the previous year solving the noise issues and the coaster had its debut to the public in April of 2017. The layout is similar to White Lightning located in Orlando, Florida, USA, but Heidi’s structure is comprised entirely of wood. More forgiving than steel…

Heidi The Ride was welcomed by the public, and is extremely re-rideable. While in Belgium, which was for one (1) month, I made friends with park staff and continue to chat with them to this day. I hope to return to Belgium, and the Netherlands in the future since words cannot describe the impact made on my life.

Once my monthlong stint in Belgium was complete, I was destined for Staffordshire, England for my next onsite project: Alton Towers.

Alton Towers had always been a park, almost Holy Grail in idea, that I could only experience in Travel Channel specials during my childhood. Never did I imagine that I would be able to visit the park, work at the park building a wooden roller coaster, and be given personal tours of the grounds. To this day, I regard Alton Towers as one of my favorite parks. The rides aren’t necessarily the most intense, but offer enjoyable experiences.

Beginning construction on Wickerman was a tremendous experience, and the bents in the picture to the left are for the initial drop out of the station during the approach to the lift hill. The company used to erect this coaster was based in Germany outside of Hanover, and the guys I worked with were some of the most skilled coaster builders in the world. They also brought some delicious German beer and food with them for us to share. Let’s be honest, there was plenty to go around.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Wickerman, the main draw of the ride are the fly-throughs passing through a large burning (yes, actually on fire) structure. This structure is the Wickerman, and to build a wooden coaster through such an elaborate steel mess proved to be one of the greatest collaborations I experienced while working for Great Coasters. Timing and positioning had to be carried out so that no contractor onsite would be delayed. The code name for the Wickerman statue was “Big Bob” and we had many meetings to ensure we always referred to it as such.

The topping of the highest point in the ride is a great achievement when it comes to building roller coasters. Since we had a mix of German, British, and Americans working to bring Wickerman to life, I thought it only necessary to represent those involved. Later we would have a few Polish workers, and those guys were some of the nicest, and craziest human beings I have ever met. Overall, I worked with a great group of guys to bring Wickerman to life.

One contracting firm I worked with was a local architect that has been involved with many of the Alton Towers projects. The company Smytheman Architectural were the pinnacle of professionalism. I befriended a couple of guys from the company, and we remain in contact today. Since Smytheman is located in Stoke-on-Trent, I was fortunate enough to go to a Premier League match with a few of the guys in the company box. Those mighty Potters!

When you first start building a wooden coaster, once the structure is standing and plumb (vertical) you begin by nailing the walkboards and handrails. Once the walkboards and handrails are installed you can begin by adding the first ply or layer of track. In the picture to the right you see a few guys adding more walkboards up the lift of Wickerman, and the wonderful “kink” in the lift hill…that is a mind numbing story of why it exists.

As you can imagine, being in another country on another continent and on a job site building a full scale coaster makes it pretty difficult to build miniature ones. Nevertheless, I never forgot about proceeding with The Project, it was just difficult.

While the structure and track are being completed on a wood coaster, the trains begin being installed and tuned for testing. Most of the cars are fully assembled prior to leaving the shop, but linking them together and proper shims to allow a tight fit are done in the field. Great Coasters has some of the best rolling-stock in the industry, and it was a pleasure to work on and with them. I even made a few modifications that are present today.

Work continued on Wickerman even after I left England and returned home. While working, I had begun to think that maybe my time at Great Coasters was coming to an end. GCII’s business practices were changing and I wanted to pursue a graduate degree in engineering, so staying on the job site for the better part of a year started to seem less doable.

Upon returning home, I would attend my last IAAPA trade show in Orlando with GCII. It was bittersweet the leave the company I had admired from childhood and even sought to work with designing rides. But, it was something I had to do and I think things have a way of working out if you stay true to yourself, true to others, and your ambitions.

The strange thing is that I never know who is actually following along, so the chance to meet one of you guys face-to-face is always a tremendous experience, and I greatly appreciate your support. Don’t worry, I will continue with the mini rides.

So what happened next? I began working in Atlanta after moving from Cincinnati. I worked for a small engineering firm until the next industry job presented itself. I now had a chance to resume The Roller Coaster Project fully. You can see in the picture that I make a bent building fixture to expedite the building process. In this time I also began to learn more about machining, having worked on real rides definitely helped.

It seemed like nothing was going to slow my progress on the coasters, and I finally was landlocked with no foreseeable travel to new lands on the horizon. But…things have a way of “working out.”

Through an industry acquaintance, I happened to accept a new position as a mechanical engineer with a newer ride company. This company had limited roles when it came to roller coasters, but it did offer a new area to expand my knowledge: motion simulators. Incorporating what I knew of coasters into the design of these complex motion simulating devices proved to be a great learning experience.

All the while, I had begun pursing a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, but this meant I would have to move yet again to a new area and put the project on halt. I know, can’t catch a break…kidding of course. But wait, did I have to travel overseas again?

Welcome to the land of China, population 1.2 billion+Dave. Having worked on three different coasters in China, but never having traveled to Chongqing, Chengdu, or Nanchang this was my first experience on the mainland. I had to oversea the completion and commissioning of a few rides in Zhuhai, located in the south near Macao and Hong Kong.

China was an incredible experience and I look forward to returning someday. The culture, food, and people were otherworldly, and I had an eyeopening time. This also allowed me to work with different cultures, including a large Australian population. But with great travel comes less than great progress on The Roller Coaster Project.

Midnight Ride: Lionsgate Entertainment World

I remained in China for a little more than three (3) weeks. Perhaps the funniest part of the whole experience was meeting some colleagues from our Beijing office who happened to follow TRCP and discuss it with me. I mean, to travel more than 10,000 miles and find out the people you’ll be working with follow along? Small world, Project speaking. Their culture is remarkable and vastly different than any I had come across previously.

Chimelong Ocean Park - a great B&M wing coaster.

So that was the last of the traveling, right? NOPE! Next on the list was even farther…Malaysia.

For the next assignment I had to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. More specifically, the Genting Highlands summoned my presence to their new outdoor theme park. But this time it was for a coaster!

The fog at the top of the Genting Highlands was something else, and the frequency at which it would roll in was sporadic at best. This was my first experience working with a steel roller coaster, albeit a mine train and relatively small, it proved to be a worthwhile endeavor.

When the fog clears you realize it’s the opposite side of the mountain. Good Luck!

An old colleague of mine and I thought it was ridiculous that there were so many open areas without barricades to prevent falling to some sort of death. Probably should be showing or mentioning this, but oh well. In all fairness, they did follow working guidelines and I do think that this just happened to be removed due to a delivery on the faux mountain.

Malaysia was an interesting place, and I would also like to return one day. My time on this project, or at least onsite was limited, but being that the plane flights to the site rounded out at about 23 hours you can see how little to nothing could be accomplished on mini coasters.

The Lifting Force is Strong with this plane

Bringing this long story to present day…

After much happening and much travel, I have now had some time to resume designing and small fabrication of the biggest little ride to ever be. I will be working on providing updates more regularly, and I hope to resume some YouTube videos too showing the progress. I appreciate any and all of you who have stuck with The Project these many years, and I hope my story provides some insight to the many delays and radio silences. In closing, I still think things have a way of working out as long as you never lose sight of what it is that awakens you on the inside. Not to be “profound” or anything, but remain persistent and follow what it is you care about.

Thanks guys!

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It’s been a while.

The Roller Coaster Project