Valravn Goes Vertical--Construction Starts

which two supports did you say were installed. I see that you colored the short support at the bottom of the dip before the break run. what was the other support that you colored in?

I really had to look for it. It's mostly covered up by a track piece, but it's the fourth support from the colored in support on the dive loop. It's very hard to see.

I agree that it's hard to see. I think the next time I do this I'm going to have to try to lighten the uncolored sections a little more... too late to do that this time around though

I went onto Google Maps and on the satellite mode that have Valravn written in over the movie theatre. Just thought I would pass that along.

It looks good. Can't wait to ride.

they're currently putting in the second immelman. The webcam is very clear

Dive loop

Kind of surprised that both CP and B&M would make the second half of this ride so very similar to Gatekeeper.

Sorry I'm late to this party, but I have a quick question... What do the lasers have to do with ride closures?

At Darien Lake (my home park) the lasers from LaserBlast! can be seen projected clear across the park and in to the Performing Arts Center (where they hold big name concerts)... Granted the show starts after the park closes. Maybe that's why; they would have to shut down so many rides.

I lurk more than I post, but I wanted to share this info. My wife and I took our son to Castaway Bay over the weekend. We drove up to the main gate to see the construction Saturday night and yesterday morning. Wow, Valravn makes the skyline look even more impressive. I wasn't thrilled nor disappointed about the initial announcement, but seeing it really made me anxious for opening day. Especially since it was 60 degrees over the weekend. Being in Sandusky during the offseason was so strange otherwise. It felt like we should have been waking up and heading out for early entry rather than putting on swim trunks and getting a 3 year old dressed, lol.

It is a little difficult to see in pictures, but it does not seem that the second drop on Valravn is 90 degrees as the first. Can someone verify?

Not quite 90 degrees from what I saw, but it's really close, so close that I don't think you'll notice whether it's 90 degrees or 85 degrees.

Cool thanks for the update!

Shane Denmark said:

Sorry I'm late to this party, but I have a quick question... What do the lasers have to do with ride closures?

I'm guessing because it's bad for your eyes.

I think it's something more to do with the prox sensors on the lift, brake and mid course.

One support and 3 pieces of track installed.
Link to gallery | Animated gif

Most proximity sensors are magnetic, no idea how lasers would interfere with that type.

I did say "think". I had heard that lasers have some effect on "sensors". The source I heard it from didn't specify what kind of sensor so that's my fault for saying prox sensors specifically. But I would think that it's more than just because it's really bad for your eyes. That's an obvious and valid enough point but is just, in my opinion, not THE ultimate reason.

While i'm not sure if the newer rides have these sensors (though I know Banshee at KI has them), many older rides/coasters have photo sensors that project a beam of light from one to another (typically projected diagonally across a braking area like a block brake). Lasers and other intense light sources can interfere with these sensors cause the ride to stop and could potentially cause unwanted stress to the ride or even a potential evacuation if they cant clear the photo sensor error with in a reasonable amount of time.

There were a few instances where sunlight would cause problems during certain weeks at Gemini and Mantis when I worked those rides, in the past.

Interesting, magnetic are the cheapest, simplest, and basically most reliable due to interference issues like sun light, lasers etc... I guess I just assumed they were mostly magnetic due to these reasons but hey, ya learn something new every day right?

Although the modern proximity switch is a wonderful piece of hardware, it still has some limitations. Its biggest shortcoming is that it can only detect an object that is in close proximity to the switch. This works well to detect when a train passes a specific point, how fast a train is moving, as well as checking the integrity of brake fins, chain dogs, and anti-rollback devices. What they do not work well for, is checking to see if an extended piece of track is occupied. This job is better accomplished with a photo eye, very much like the ones used for garage door safety. By placing the sensor so it faces diagonally across the track, one sensor can cover a large area of straight track.