Scenic opening?

[Strongbow55]

Has anyone any news regarding the scenic opening at Easter
I was wondering whether an operator had been found to man it as was suggested as a possibility

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

As far as I understand it, the Scenic Railway will not be open at Easter.

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

There's been no maintenance since last year as far as we know.

[ricardobugsy]

This is really no surprise as the Scenic has only opened for 6 weeks in the Summer holidays for about the past 4 or 5 years.

What worries me, would be, if the Scenics maintenance cost was to climb to an amount that it would not be worth an operator running the ride for such a short season.

It needs a long-term operator unless Waterbridge are prepared to pay for the upkeep themselves. Otherwise it will become SBNO - standing but not operating.

[Zoidstar]

Just finished another course in corrosion control,

what type of timber is the ride made from, if its a tropical hardwood or am oak then it will fair well against the weather for longer than if its a less dense more porurs wood.

Remind me as I just cant remember is it in direct line of sight of the sea or are there building in front of it (the latter from what I rember) as this will also have an effect on the durability of the materials, beleve it or not the timber will probably weather the einter and lack of maintanance better than any iron and certain other metals on the ride, you also have to take into account Galvanic corossion this is where two Dissimilar metals come in contact with one another however there must be three spacific eliments happening for this to happen, (i could bore you all with it but I dont want you nodding off at your computer!)

[Strongbow55]

Just finished another course in corrosion control,

what type of timber is the ride made from, if its a tropical hardwood or am oak then it will fair well against the weather for longer than if its a less dense more porurs wood.

Remind me as I just cant remember is it in direct line of sight of the sea or are there building in front of it (the latter from what I rember) as this will also have an effect on the durability of the materials, beleve it or not the timber will probably weather the einter and lack of maintanance better than any iron and certain other metals on the ride, you also have to take into account Galvanic corossion this is where two Dissimilar metals come in contact with one another however there must be three spacific eliments happening for this to happen, (i could bore you all with it but I dont want you nodding off at your computer!)

Supports are all Douglas Fir

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

Only the very top parts of one end of the ride are in direct line of the sea, and this has only been since Mr G's arcade accidently burnt down. I'll take a few photos when I get a chance.

[Zoidstar]

Cheers the proximity of the sea will always be a problem but those parts in direct line of fire so to speak will be in the highest risk catagory those with buildings in front will still suffer from a degree of salt attack but in a much smaller scale.

The buildings give some protection to the ride, in the short-medium term so all will not be lost should a lack of maintanance happen however it is not good to let it sit unsed un manintained for too long a regular programme of de-corroding the metal and treating it before re-painting and the sanding then repainting or the replaceemnt of timbers needs to be put in place.

If I lived closer...

[Zoidstar]

Supports are all Douglas Fir

Thats good very good, The Douglas Fir is a is straight grained and very strong timber. It is mostly found at coastal British Columbia sites, it is extremely resilient

The fir possesses the optimum characteristics that make it the ideal all-around timber for residential, commercial and heavy duty task.

It is a very dense timber give it fantastic strength-to-weight ratio and make it ideal for framing construction and as supporting load-bearing members.

my god i'm becoming a boring old fart!

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

I understand (and I'm willing to be corrected) that offers have been made to Waterbridge to operate the Scenic Railway this year but that these offers have all been rejected, and that Waterbridge seem keen for the ride to remain closed. Perhaps Bob could expand on the reasons behind this.

Meanwhile Zoid, this is fascinating stuff you are posting and I for one am willing to read as much on the subject of material preservation and protection etc as you are willing to post.

[Zoidstar]

Most of what I have done is more or less useless on a wooden coaster as its 99% Aviation related the other 1% is protecting a cuppa from grasping hands!

Have a bit more will post once I can get to my notes left them in the class room not going back till mid May should have some on computer though so will look for it.