Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

The Save Dreamland Campaign was launched by Joyland Books in January 2003 and is now supported by several thousand people. This is the place to discuss all aspects of saving Margate's famous amusement park and its iconic , Grade II listed Scenic Railway, Britain's oldest roller coaster.

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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby Peet » 10 Aug 2015, 16:09

This has gone way off topic guys, this topic is about the testing of the Scenic Railway.

Does anybody know if this has been an ongoing testing campaign or was it just a one off? I can imagine the brakemen will need considerable training and I would be interested to know if this can be done on the dummy train or whether they'll have to wait until the real trains are delivered. Can anyone shed any light on this?
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby AJ » 10 Aug 2015, 17:37

aweber1us wrote:Yes the Scenic is still down but at a guess people are going to moan about that once it is up an running. My veiw is it will never be the same and is only a copy of what was there which is now caught up in 2015 regulations.You could only ever do so much with what was left, it is a first class job.


Its better than another coaster lost and without it there wouldn't be a new Dreamland at all. Lets hope its up and running soon as I hear the Mouse is due to leave.
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby aweber1us » 10 Aug 2015, 20:00

I understand that the bogies and the brake on the test train are what the seats of the train will be fitted to. I should say I have know way of knowing if this is correct.
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby SuburbanHomeboy » 10 Aug 2015, 20:48

aweber1us wrote:I understand that the bogies and the brake on the test train are what the seats of the train will be fitted to. I should say I have know way of knowing if this is correct.


From what I saw on the testing day, this very much looks like being the case. The test train had a metal frame attached to the wooden platform, and the makeshift seats were attached to this frame. There were two other metal frames sitting on the station platform - they wouldn't have made these frames if they were only meant to be on the test train.

My guess is that the frame will be used to support the seats, and the decorative sides will be attached to the outside of the frame. The frame itself is narrower than the wooden platform, which seems to support this idea. I recall that the original trains were basically the wooden uprights attached to the wooden platform using 90-degree brackets. This could be one of the new features, as the frame will make a footwell to keep legs inside the train.

Pure supposition, of course, but it seems likely given what I saw that day.
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby porf » 11 Aug 2015, 19:17

From the operating company's Facebook page today :

We have every indication, from our partners at Thanet District Council, the Scenic Railway will completed by October.
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby SuburbanHomeboy » 12 Aug 2015, 08:37

October?

In marketing terms, this is a great time for the Scenic to open, as all those who want to ride it will be heading down to Dreamland as it builds up for the end-of-season Hallowe'en event, boosting attendance figures.
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby AJ » 12 Aug 2015, 09:33

Mmmm..... not so sure Rob. I'm now of the kinda of thought that maybe they should have just come out and said that the Scenic would not be ready this season rather than keeping everyone guessing and go for a big publicity launch next season. If she does run in October for just a few weeks and suffers from teething problems it could just end up with negative press which really wouldn't be good in this current media climate of hating on fairs and especially rollercoasters. I know there is the school half term October, which is usually at the backend of the month. We usually go away for the week and out of the last four years only last year wasn't a wash out with that amazingly hot week. I guess Dave and the guys won't be running down to the beach for a bucket of sand when it starts to rain anymore.

On another note is Dingo still around?
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby SuburbanHomeboy » 12 Aug 2015, 09:48

Just trying to put a positive spin on things. I actually agree that it'd be better to hold off now until next season if October is the best they can do - then the Scenic can open with the other fully restored rides, such as the vintage Caterpillar. I also hear that David Littleboy's awesome Waltzer will be making an appearance next season. But hey!

ANd do you mean Freddy Dingo? He's still around, just about... Gammy hind legs now, still he is getting on. The ex has him down in Devon now - I have visiting rights, plus I get to go to Dingles when I'm down there too!
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Re: Scenic Railway being tested 23/7/2015

Postby Jim Douglas Jr. » 12 Aug 2015, 23:13

I'm terrible, but I wonder what Bob thinks of this... or if he's finally eaten himself into a heart attack and is now decomposing in a dirty flat somewhere.
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