Please support the campaign against browser-specific Web site
design!
This Web page discusses the Construction Watch observations during May, 1997 for the new Mr. Freeze roller coaster being installed at Six Flags Over Texas.
As of May 1st, not much new work seems to have been visibly done during the last day or two in terms of actually adding track segments to the ride. However, there are a few less-obvious things which seem to have been happening. The acceleration tunnel building is more completely covered (and presumably a lot of work, electrical stuff in particular, has been going on inside it). In the staging area, more preparation of the remaining sections of track (and the passenger loading platforms) continues. Some minor tweaking of the loading platforms is being done, apparently to prepare one end of each to receive eight LIMs which will help move the trains into the acceleration tunnel mainline. Still no sign yet of cables actually being pulled up the tower to feed the spike's LIMs.
The following pictures show several segments of the track still remaining to be hoisted into place. The first picture shows one of the two sections of track (the twin for the other train can be seen in the lower left corner of the picture) which will be mounted onto the rolling loading platforms. The plate you see on top is one of four which mate with the platform structure... (the track segment is upside down here from its final orientation). The picture also shows one of the "brakes" which as mentioned earlier seems to operate off compressed air or something. Given the future position of this track segment in the loading area, clearly the purpose of these is not really as "brakes" for a moving train, but rather just to help hold the trains stationary while being boarded.
The other picture shows one piece of the spike track, with a strip of twenty LIMs (twelve of type A, plus six of type B closer to the top) being mounted to it. Here we are looking from the top end of the track segment, and right in line with the LIM gap, towards what will be the ground once this track section is mounted to the tower. I think it's interesting to notice that this piece of track is rather different from the track segment in the other picture taken today: note how much beefier the structure is which connects these tubular rails to the supporting backbone, compared to the similar rib on the track segment destined for the loading zone. And of course, even the loading area track is quite a bit beefier than the track already in place as the train storage tracks! So there are at least three different classes of track, structurally!
Another interesting observation is that some kind of a jig is in place on the LIM to the right of the picture, compared to the one to the left. Note how much darker it is than the nearer LIM. Presumably these jigs are used during assembly for helping position the LIMs exactly right relative to the track.
(Later note... although this piece of the LIM mounting structure is clearly marked on the near end as "top", in the actual Mr. Freeze this end of the track with the LIMs is definitely mounted towards the bottom! So either it was mismarked during fabrication, or else they decided to change the orientation after the fact.)
As of May 5th, the wraparound curve track has been completed (kinda, there is one very strange supporting column which doesn't look quite right... see the detail picture below) and the first (bottom) portion of the spike track is now in place. The rider loading platforms have been lifted into place in the loading building area. There are at least three pieces of spike track still to be installed: the one with the 20 LIMs as previously described, another large piece which seems to have a brake or something at one end, and a short little track piece which apparently will be the top (it has a closed end, with a stubby little bumper, evidently to stop a train which somehow made it all the way to the top of the spike).
The first two pictures today show the newly installed piece of the spike and the wraparound curve, from two slightly different angles (the pictures are taken from the northwest side of the tower). It's important to remember (look at the picture earlier taken from the park's Observation Platform) how far away from the tower the wraparound curve actually is. On the first of these two pictures, you can see the track coming down from the wraparound curve suddenly swoop up the spike track (the portion of the track closest to the electrical conduit cluster). The second picture doesn't show the spike as well, but shows better the wraparound curve.
The third picture is just a detail shot from the second picture above, showing the curious section of the supporting column on one section of the wraparound curve. (I had seen this odd vaguely-saxophone-shaped supporting piece previously in the staging area, and wondered where it might "fit" in the puzzle). (Note that the other curious gap that I'd commented on previously was also finally filled during the last week, I don't recall if I'd mentioned that or not).
As of May 6th, the workmen have moved two of the remaining three sections of the spike track (the top/end piece, and the piece with what appears to be a brake) to a staging position next to the tower. The third piece, the one with all the LIMs, was being furiously prewired (a fairly large electrical crew working overtime on it until after 8pm) prior to installing it on the tower. Based on the frenzy, I'd assume that this means that the spike track segment with the twenty LIMs will be moved to the tower and set into place sometime tomorrow, May 7th.
Besides prewiring this track segment, the other main work going on with this track segment is the precision aligning of all the reaction gaps of the LIMs (remember from the photograph how narrow that gap is, and one doesn't want the fins on the trains rubbing against the housings or the magnetic structures themselves). And here is where the strange little yellow trolley I mentioned on April 18th comes into play... that device rolls along the track and has train-like fins coming out of it, and provides a reference jig for use in aligning the exact position of each LIM relative to the track.
Back at the station, as was mentioned before, the rolling passenger loading platforms are now in place, and that's allowed construction crews to begin placing the vertical steel ribs of what will be the themed loading building.
The strange "support column" piece hanging off that part of the wraparound curve (as shown in the detail yesterday) remains unchanged, so far. Otherwise, there are a (very) few pieces of track structure still to be installed; a few braces, a few 'serious pipes' here and there (mostly going towards the bottom of the spike track and the tower), but the only really large and substantial piece of Mr. Freeze still in the main staging area is the spike track segment with the LIMs, which I expect will be mounted to the tower sometime tomorrow.
As of May 7th, workmen installed three more track segments: the piece (actually two pieces, which I hadn't noticed yesterday... they had been joined during the LIM work) with the LIMs, and the piece with the apparently-brake. The brake piece was installed with a new "top of column" piece as well. The curious piece hanging from the wraparound turn has been connected to the support columns, by what appears to a casual observer to be "onsite engineering". :-) I'm actually rather surprised that there's not been a need for a lot more of that.
The first of today's pictures (taken about 2:30pm) shows the crane hoisting the first spike piece with LIMs into place. Note that the top-of-column tower piece isn't there yet, either. This photo also shows (along the bottom) a pretty fair view of the acceleration tunnel, (don't confuse it with the trailer-like construction office in front of it!). To the left of the acceleration tunnel, the themed station building is going to soon be taking shape (and it looks like it will be taller than the acceleration tunnel). This picture also gives a good idea of the relative position of the wraparound turn and the tower.
The second picture for today, taken about 7:30pm, shows the second and third track pieces from today now in place as well, along with the "top of column" support stub mentioned earlier. The electrical cable bundles have been pulled into the junction box at the top of the conduit cluster, so I'd guess that the next day or two will involve connecting all these electrical supply cables with the LIM motor cables that were being so busily installed yesterday. The short stub "top-of-spike" track piece is also on the ground near to the tower, I would expect it will be lifted into place (topping out the ride) sometime tomorrow.
There is up to now (anyhow) no obvious evidence of any themeing inside the acceleration tunnel. Workmen today were, however, also busily working back around the station area. There is another truckload of (apparently) something for Mr. Freeze that arrived today to the staging area, presumably more electrical control stuff.
Watching this rollercoaster take shape, I can't help but be surprised by at least several observations. First, I'm surprised that it's possible to prefabricate as much of it as is done, obviously offsite, and have the pieces fit so well once it's all ready to connect. There have been several things that appear to be 'faux pas', but a lot fewer than one would expect. Kudos to both the foundation people, Premier the ride designer and builder (?), and the construction staff who obviously have kept dimensions so well under control.
Second, one of the busiest groups of construction people have been the guys from McBride Electric, the Irving-based electrical contracting company working on Mr. Freeze. Surely most 'traditional' roller-coasters (wood or steel) don't have anything like the incredible electrical complexities of this coaster. In fact, I'd guess that the electrical cabling and power demands for Mr. Freeze are probably more than all the other coasters at SFOT put together!
On May 8th, Mr. Freeze achieved a major milestone in its construction with the topping-out ceremony, about 11am as the top section of the spike track was lifted into place by the crane (operated for this project by a crew from Mica Crane Service of Fort Worth, which has been involved in several other smaller projects at SFOT... including G-Force, Conquistador, La Vibora, and SplashWater)... see the picture below. The three men stationed at the top (all employees of Corrugated Machinery Service Company of Hurst, Texas... the contractor doing the steelwork assembly on Mr. Freeze) with the honor of bolting it into place were Brent Crocker, Michael Lynch, and Christopher Dhane. Travis Beardmore is the General Manager in charge, and Mitch Gentry second in command for CMSCo on the project. On this picture, you also see part of the wraparound curve, and the top of the Texas Tornado ride.
Today's second picture, taken after the top track segment had been attached, shows a park official being hoisted up to the top of the ride to place the US flag at the top. At the lower right of the picture, you can see an employee (probably of McBride Electric, the electrical contractors) on the top floor of the station building structure, where electrical cabinets are busily being installed.
Today's third picture shows the status of the transfer carts (as the construction crew is calling what I've been calling the rolling passenger loading platforms) and the station. In this picture, you can see the two loading platforms (the western one aligned with the launch track, the eastern one aligned with the storage track). The mysterious large shipment from yesterday's flatbed trailer is stationed to the right... it's an elevator module, evidently designed to take handicapped passengers to the boarding level!
I'm told that one of the final Mr. Freeze train cars has been put into place, and is being rolled back and forth along the launch track by construction crews to verify clearances and free rolling. The construction guys have been toying with seeing how far they can push the car by hand up the first curve!
After a very successful and momentous day on the project, a number of the steelworkers erecting the ride got together at Hooters near SFOT to celebrate the achievement, and I was honored to be able to join them. One of their proudest achievements, they said, was the level of safety they accomplished on this substantial project: none of their crew had experienced any major injuries at all (nothing more than the usual bruises and pinched fingers which are all but inevitable when handling such large pieces of steel!!). This being their first coaster erection project, they were also proud and excited by the prospect of so many millions of people soon being able to appreciate and experience their handiwork firsthand. They're looking forward to being able to say, "Hey, I built that!" and also to their promised reward of being able to be the first group of living passengers on the new ride!
But work continued apace after the topping-out ceremony, with busy electrical work continuing, and the steel stairway modules for the station being set into place.
On May 9, work continued to finalize sections of the track... tightening bolts again, preparing the structure mechanically before the electricians and other workers come in to complete their jobs too... after which, of course, some of the important mechanical aspects will be much harder to access. On the station, work continues putting up more exterior ribbing, completing stairways, and the like. Electrical workers swarm over the LIMs, the launch area, the electrical cabinets, the controls and sensors like so many bees. More would have been accomplished today, honestly, if we hadn't had a big rainstorm last night and this morning, leaving much of the construction site mired in serious mud.
There continue to be a few little design glitches yet to be rectified... a brace that's not the right size here, another one there which (if installed) wouldn't leave enough clearance for the steam railway train to pass underneath! But probably less of this kind of thing than one would by rights expect on a project of this magnitude.
Today some more pictures were taken which I hope to be able to post early next week. I also am hoping to get permission from one of the Arlington newspapers to post here a scan of a wonderful closeup picture they published today of the topping-out ceremony yesterday (now I understand the purpose of those huge camera lenses that look like Questar telescopes!)
(The steelworker comments which were taken around this date have been moved to a separate page, press the BACK button on your browser and then see the links towards the top of the Mr. Freeze page to get to them).
Also on May 9th, I asked some of the guys to take a camera up top so us eager coaster fanatics could get a sneak preview of Mr. Freeze from their perspective. And here, finally, is the result. Fasten your seat belts, keep hands and arms fully inside the car, and let's go!!
For a starter, here is a picture of the spike track and tower as it appears from the ground.
The following picture shows the first portion of the wrapround curve. The right hand side is where the trains will go up just after coming down from their first trip on the tower (through the inversion). In the upper left corner you can see part of the Judge Roy Scream. Just above and to the right of the wraparound curve is The Right Stuff (an Imax film with motion-base seats). The orange building just at the bottom of the wraparound curve is the loading station for the Mini-Mine-Train.
The following picture is taken looking up the west side of the spike. You can see towards the right the support structure for the spike track's bank of twenty LIMs, which give the trains an extra boost both on the way up, and again on the way down the spike.
The next picture shows the main tower, looking down. To the lower right you can see part of the supports for the spike track, and some of the associated LIM support structure. To the lower left and bottom, you can see some of the support structure for the second vertical piece of track (coming down from the inversion). On the back (north) side of the tower, you can see Johnson Creek, which runs here along the north side of the park.
The next picture shows the top of the inversion loop. It is taken from the south side of the tower, looking north. The freeway you can see is IH30, which runs between Ft. Worth to the west, and Dallas to the east. The CMSCo man you can see here is Ronnie Skipper.
Below you can see the acceleration tunnel for Mr. Freeze, with a portion of the spike track visible to the left. In the distance of the acceleration tunnel you can see the station area. The yellow fence is the back side of the construction fence separating the construction zone from the portion of the park that is open. The round building past the fence is Chameleon (a race simulator ride) and beyond that, the white narrow tower is the Texas Chute-Out.
Next you can see part of the second vertical run, coming down from the inversion and headed toward the wraparound curve. It's on this portion of the run that you'll be basically freefalling straight towards the ground, facing down!!! :-) The reddish track you can see just above it is part of the Mine Train.
The left side of the next picture shows again part of the spike track, and a piece of its bottommost LIM. Just to the right of top center you see the exit at the north end of the acceleration tunnel. To the upper right corner, the track is coming down from the wraparound curve. The second picture shows again the acceleration tunnel, and you can just see the nose of one of the train cars sitting on the track.
The next picture is a view looking up the spike track past the bank of twenty LIMs (you saw a similar picture before, but then this piece of track was on the ground in the staging area). At the top of the spike track, you can see the American flag which was placed there yesterday at about 11:30am during the topping-out ceremony.
The next picture is another view looking down, this time along the east side of the spike track and past the support structure for the bottommost two LIMs. At the bottom, to the left you can see the track coming from the acceleration tunnel. The track in the middle goes to the wraparound curve. You can see just to the right of it part of the red track for the Mini-Mine-Train. The following picture is a view from about the same location, but looking up this time. To the left you see the cabling and support structure for the spike track LIMs.
The following two pictures are looking southwest, down between the spike track and the southern column of the main tower. The reddish track you see is for the Mine Train. Just to the left of it, in the center of the first picture, is the track coming down from the loop and going up to the wraparound curve. The second of these shots shows more of the spike track itself, looking down.
The next picture is looking towards the south from the main tower. To the immediate right, you can see some of the outer structure of the LIMs (this should look familiar to you by now, especially if you've been to look at the pictures of the LIMs taken during manufacture). You can see the second half of the wraparound curve, heading towards the bottom of the picture towards the spike. The red track along the ground is part of the Mini-Mine-Train (you can see why it's not operating during the Mr. Freeze construction... you know, if it turns out they are able to put it back into service when Mr. Freeze is done, the Mini-Mine-Train is going to have an excellent new sudden surge in riding interest... although for reasons certainly never imagined by its designers!). Just above and to the left of the wraparound curve you can see G-Force, the park's Intamin freefall. To the left of the wraparound curve you can see the Texas Tornado ride. And the track going across horizontally just below the center of the picture is the steam railroad track. The picture following is just another shot of the northern end of the acceleration tunnel.
The following two pictures, taken back down on the ground, show the exit at the north end of the acceleration tunnel. You can see again the nose of a train car where it is being used for testing purposes. Just to the left of the ladder, you see again the end of the long row of Winkle Electric's electrical cabinets which supply power to support the five thousand horsepower worth of LIM power that Mr. Freeze needs!
The second back on the ground shows CMSCo employee Ben "BB" Lofton, as well as to his right some of the mud from the unusually heavy rains this spring that have hindered Mr. Freeze's construction here. To the right you can see the track coming down from the wraparound curve (past the upper right corner), and the bottom point from where it (to the right of the picture) will head up the spike. These two places on the ride (just coming out of the tunnel, and just at the bottom before the spike) should be the two fastest places on the entire course... you will be going 70mph here. (To Ben's left you can also see one of the ladders which will be mounted on the southern support column of the main tower).
I would like to express my most sincere gratitude here to the terrific men of CMSCo for their fantastic assistance, without which we coaster fans would not have had the delight of these wonderful photographs. Thanks, guys!
Note that larger versions of the above series of scans are also here, but I don't know if it's worth uploading them to the Web site. Perhaps the smaller versions as I've used on this page are sufficient. If anyone feels strongly that they'd like the larger versions, E-mail me please and express your opinion!
On May 12, work continued on the electrical systems, the station building framing, transfer carts, and much other internal electrical work. Most of this work doesn't show up much from the outside, of course, but is absolutely essential before the first trains can actually test out the new launch system.
On May 14, non-dramatic but important work continued... more work on the station building (which now has roofing framing and some side wall slats in place), more torquing of bolts on the flanges which hold the track structures together, and such.
Some of the steelworkers have loaned me their personal photo album including some tremendous photos from the early stages of the construction. As soon as I have a chance to scan those photos, hopefully in the next couple of days, I'm going to post them here too. So stay tuned. [grin!]
On May 15, detail work continued on the complete track... going over the track with a fine-toothed comb, torquing flange bolts and tweaking all the track junctions (sanding them down where necessary) to eliminate bumps and un-evenness as much as possible... all to give the smoothest possible ride, important for such a high-speed coaster! The electrical guys continue their amazing work too, as evidenced by the huge piles of scrap cabling they're producing as they connect and test all the wiring and other electrical systems that operate Mr. Freeze's 224 linear induction motors, as well as all the other electrical control and command systems that such a technically sophisticated coaster requires.
On May 16, another construction milestone was reached. This morning, the remainder of the first of Mr. Freeze's two seven-ton trains (a blue one, perhaps they both are?) was assembled into place along the launch track. So there is now a complete train, which I'd assume the electrical guys are using both for confirming mechanical tolerances of the LIMs and perhaps even for verifying thrust of individual LIMs?
Work also continues on the boarding station building. In the picture above (taken from the new railroad crossing where guests enter Good Times Square, the new steam train station is just to the left of the photo), despite the lower portions being very dark, perhaps you can tell that some of the aluminum (?) wall joists are now in place on the far end (there, up to the roof), as well as many more of them on the lower levels of the station. So at least some of the station walls themselves should start going up soon, probably by the beginning of next week.
In the picture just above, taken early this evening from aboard the Air Racer airplanes, you get a good view of the new coaster. You are looking in the east-northeast direction. The large blocky structure you see just behind the crane is the end of the acceleration tunnel.
Brief side trip to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey: at 6:30am on Saturday, May 17th... "Batman and Robin are in Flight... the LIMs are kicking, 'the ride is awesome'."
No word yet on when the ride will actually open to the public, I expect there is a lot of final tweaking and tuning to be done before that happens.
I expect similar announcements regarding Mr. Freeze both here and at Six Flags St. Louis during the next week or so.
As of May 19, the steelworkers continue to go over the track with a fine-toothed comb, sanding down any irregularities at all the joints and checking and double-checking every bolt. At the loading station, wall joists continue going up in preparation for putting up the walls. The electricians continue to swarm over the massive electrical installation, in preparation for a planned first test launch, expected later this week.
This portion of the job is hard on the steelworkers, since the heady exhilaration of seeing dramatic progress as each major new section is set into place is replaced by the minute and exacting attention to a thousand tiny but critical details. Combined with their looking forward to their next assignment, it's a time of mixed feelings... glad to be going to a new challenge, but almost a bit of regret I think for some of them to find this job nearing completion. Those preparing to leave in just a few days for their next assignments realize that by the time they're back to Texas, in almost a month, Mr. Freeze will no doubt be opened to the public... having denied the steelworkers who built it the pleasure of seeing the opening which will culminate so very much of their hard work.
But the steelworkers will always have their memories of the project, in the form of their personal photo albums of the pictures they've taken during the construction. They've very kindly consented to share those personal pictures with roller-coaster buffs here on the Internet! So click on the link to see the Steelworkers' Personal Photo Album... a unique chance to experience the construction of Mr. Freeze through the thoughts and minds of the people who actually assembled the ride. You will be able to page through the same album of pictures that the steelworkers will keep as their own lasting memories of the project.
If you'd like to see some of the pictures taken on May 18th of Mr. Freeze's near-twin in St. Louis, those have been moved to the St. Louis Mr. Freeze page.
As of May 20th, not a lot new to report. Continued work on the station building wall joists, more sanding and smoothing of track section junctions, torqueing of structure bolts, painting, and the electricians busily cabling and testing. I do, however, have more pictures to share, that have been taken over the last several days for us coaster buffs by the construction workers.
These first pictures show the main tower of Mr. Freeze, view from the south, taken from up on the wraparound curve.
The next picture shows a view of the ground from about the same point. To the left you can see the track coming towards the wraparound curve from the tower. Note the track for the Mini-Mine-Train which passes right through some of the supports for Mr. Freeze! The track at the bottom is for the steam train.
More views of the tower, from the wraparound curve. In the second shot, note how full and muddy Johnson Creek is following the heavy rains of the previous day.
The following picture shows the acceleration tunnel from the top of the wraparound curve. Note the structure between it and the track, which would appear to be part of a queue area. Other new details can also be seen, such as the stairway down from a service entrance on the backside of the tunnel. It's interesting to observe how shiny the paint is on these new rails... compare that to how scuffed the finish will be once trains start pounding their way down this section! This is also another good place to notice how heavily banked the track is here... nothing at all like the leisurely horizontal cruise at height as was suggested in the artist's conception drawing as posted earlier!
Next are two pictures which show part of the top of the wraparound curve looking the other way, down towards the track coming up from the downside vertical on the main tower. Again, note the greater-than-ninety-degree banking... a clear sign of the high speed you'll be travelling at this point! The red track you see to the west in the first of these is for the Mine Train ride... a good ride, but clearly not in the same league as Mr. Freeze!
I really like this next picture, taken of the top of the wraparound curve. You are looking to the west-northwest here. Just above the track backbone, you can see the double loops of Shockwave, which I believe was the first double-looping steel coaster. SFOT has a proud tradition of "firsts".
Next we have a view down to the ground, showing the support structure for the wraparound curve and a view of the steam railroad track passing underneath. Note how the bolts on the support structure flanges have been painted to match the structure... part of the detail work the steelworkers have been busy doing the last few days. You can see the paint on the photographer's hand.
The next picture shows the Texas Tornado ride as seen from the wraparound curve. Behind it you can see the ramps up to the new steam train station (the train is in the station here, in fact) and just above that, in the upper left hand corner, you can see where the loading station for Mr. Freeze is taking shape. The yellow fence, again, separates the construction area from the open part of Good Times Square.
This next picture shows the wraparound curve as seen from directly underneath.
And this last picture is a view towards the west-southwest from the wraparound curve. The large grey building towards the left in the photo is "The Right Stuff", a motion-base-seat Imax film. Above it, you can barely make out the yellow and red tracks for La Vibora, the bobsled ride at the far corner of the park. The large building just behind the arch for the Dive Bomber (skycoaster) is Runaway Mountain, the indoor Premier coaster which was also (like the skycoaster) added to the park for 1996. And beyond Runaway Mountain, you can see the top of the lift hill for The Texas Giant, the park's legendary woodie. I believe that the steelworker in this photo is Steve Anderson.
I've also finally gotten permission from the photographer, J. Mark Kegans, to repost here what I consider the most dramatic picture of the topping-out ceremony from the local press (this picture appeared on the front page of the Arlington Morning News on Friday, May 9th). At the top you can see Lane Williams (who has just attached the American flag), Troy Rockey (one of the CMSCo steelworkers) and Jerry Bolden (taking the picture looking down from the top). But what I especially like about this picture is the fact that you can see three of the other CMSCo steelworkers (who have just put in the bolts to secure this top piece of track) clinging precariously (some 23 stories above the ground!) to the spike track. Again, these three are Christopher Dhane (lower left), Michael Lynch, and Brent Crocker. Chris is hanging on to the brake which would slow down a runaway train before it could hit the top of the track. Note that there is still a black rubber bumper on the top plate, just on the off chance that a train ever did actually make it up that high.
As of May 21st, workmen at the site continue touching up detail items. Brent Crocker went back to the very top of Mr. Freeze (even had to climb the last part of the way, now that the very tallest crane isn't onsite anymore) to remove the American flag placed there during the topping out ceremony... the flagstaff had been strapped to the tubular steel rail, and there had been concern that if a train ever had gone to the extreme top, that the straps might have damaged the foremost wheels during those last few inches. And more painting, tightening, sanding, tweaking, finishing. But the steelwork is very nearly finished now.
Electricians probably have the biggest and most crucial job to do now, having to individually confirm (among other things!) the correct cabling and operation of each of Mr. Freeze's 224 LIMs, and correcting those few which they find weren't cabled right the first time. I'm told this is done by placing a separate fin (or screwdriver, or whatever metal apparently) within the LIM's energized (partially?) magnetic field, and verifying the (strong!!!) force acting on it. Anyhow, today they apparently finished such testing and correcting of the last of the LIMs. Of course, that's only part of the job... braking systems, control and sensing systems, and lots more all have to be perfect. Not to mention the transfer carts which shift one or the other train into launch position, and which have required a lot of attention.
There is also a lot of purely exterior work yet to be done. Although most of the wall joists now seem to be in place (see the picture below), there's still a lot of interior and exterior wall facings yet to be done. The area behind the acceleration tunnel (which looked to me in an earlier picture like possibly a queue area, although I suppose it could be just a storage building for parts or something) has been roofed and some of the exterior wall facings installed. Some of the themeing touches (giant ice cream tubs, flavor vats, and the like... the themeing is apparently to be "Mr. Freeze's ice cream factory") have arrived and are enshrouded in plastic in the staging area, patiently waiting installation. In the acceleration tunnel, curved metal arches have been installed over at least the last portion of the launch run (it's not clear yet if there will be a cover, or if the arches alone will be placed). Of course, no landscaping at all has evidently been started yet.
I've gotten several very nice E-mails from people pleading to know when Mr. Freeze will likely open; of course, nobody knows the answer to that question yet, or else there would have been an official announcement. I know that everyone hopes the answer will be "as soon as possible", but in fact the answer is more one of "when it's ready, and not before". If I had to guess, and it's pure speculation, I'd say that there's a strong likelihood that the ride will be open at least by the time the movie opens, which I think is probably still scheduled for June 20th... so less than a month now. How much earlier than that it might open is very hard to say. My gut feeling is that sometime the first or second week of June is probably in the ballpark, but again that's just wild speculation on my part and of course shouldn't be counted on. It is a very safe bet that the wildly optimistic fellow who wrote me and who's hoping to ride Mr. Freeze this weekend (!) will be disappointed (although there are certainly enough other coasters in the park, including the justly legendary Texas Giant, that it's hard to imagine anyone being terribly disappointed here, with or without Mr. Freeze).
On May 22nd, another major milestone for Mr. Freeze was reached when shortly after 9pm, the first (reduced-power) test launches of a real train took place. The first launch that actually went any appreciable distance (i.e. up the curve) took place at 9:22pm, and the nose of the train went to just about the top of the second "K" brace. There were several other test launches over at least about the following twenty minutes, with the greatest distance the train going up the first vertical to just past the top of the third "K" brace. I finally left for home about 10:15pm, after about 30 minutes since the preceding launch, so cannot say personally just how much further the test launches have gone since then. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if there will be full-circuit full-power launches before the weekend is over (if there haven't been already as I write this).
Additionally, the themeing elements which had been sitting enshrouded in the staging area have vanished, presumably having been set into place in or around the station building.
As of May 28th, much of the exterior covering panels of the loading building have been installed. Along the west side facing the steam railroad tracks, there are several dark "windows" and a section with vertical board "siding". The south end of the loading building is still mostly quite open, suggesting that it will receive some kind of special treatment. While it's still open, there is clearly a ramp inside from the lower level up to boarding level (or down, perhaps... not clear at this point which direction the queue might be moving here). On the boarding level, past an interior wall, one can see some of the themeing elements which I referred to previously, still enshrouded in their plastic coverings. On the east side of the building, there are a couple of steel structural elements which would appear to be supports (one of them looks vaguely like a small heliport) for themeing elements (depending on how similar the building ends up looking like the artist's conception...). Up on the roof, there's a large open-air unroofed (so far?) section in the middle. No special painting, signage, or exterior themeing elements visible as of today. I'm told there is a queue area of sorts taking shape behind the building (i.e. on the west side of the acceleration tunnel), so it appears that the queue will go through the building somehow, to outside on the west, then back into the building for boarding. Workmen (welders, roofers and others) were busy on the loading building tonight, even past 9pm.
The track structure itself seems to have received a lot of finishing touches. The bracing piece which had been left out for quite a while (since it would have prevented the passage of the steam train) has been replaced with a higher horizontal piece of pipe, apparently welded in place (and the former mounting flanges in the lower position seem to have disappeared). Another large angled-vertical brace towards the bottom of the spike track has also finally been placed. So with these formerly missing pieces present, the track now would appear to be fully present and secure. Towards the top of the LIMs on the spike track, this evening there was some kind of a flat surface that seemed to be mounted on the track (initially it seemed to be the alignment cart, but it's not that high off the tubular track... nothing reaches as far as to the gaps on the LIMs). It almost might be a coaster equivalent of the plugs on a maximum-temperature thermometer, although I've certainly not myself seen a train go that far up the spike yet.
For the first time, the rumor mill here is starting to talk about possible opening dates, and it seems that most of the speculation seems to be for about two weeks away, with suggestions that the ride would likely open on a Friday or Saturday, with the possibility of a "soft opening" with a small number of people perhaps being able to ride a few days before that.
As for the other parks, the rumor mill there in Missouri has it that the St. Louis Mr. Freeze had unfortunately experienced some damage during initial testing, with workers there busily doing electrical-type work even on Memorial Day. Speculation there seems to suggest a Press Day possibly on June 4th.
In New Jersey, the unsubstantiated rumors are that the first train launches there resulted in quite a bit more damage to the wheels of the train than was expected, supposedly due to insufficiently smooth track segment junctions. I'll post more information as soon as I have it.
Use the BACK control on your Web browser, or click here to return to my main home page.
Please support the campaign against browser-specific Web site
design!
Artist conception images and drawings are copyright Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. (C) 1997, Mr. Freeze and related elements are property of DC Comics, (C) 1997. Photograph of the Mr. Freeze topping out ceremony (C) J. Mark Kegan, used by permission. The rest of this page (including my own original photographs) and all linked contents originating with me are Copyright (C) 1997 by Gordon E. Peterson II, all rights reserved worldwide. Last revised June 12, 1997.