The Ultimate (roller coaster)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2019) |
| Ultimate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lightwater Valley | |
| Location | Lightwater Valley |
| Coordinates | 54°10′26″N 1°34′07″W / 54.1739°N 1.5687°W |
| Status | Closed |
| Opening date | 17 July 1991 |
| Cost | £5,200,000 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel |
| Manufacturer | British Rail |
| Designer | Big Country Motioneering Robert Staveley |
| Track layout | Terrain |
| Lift/launch system | Two chain lift hills |
| Height | 107 ft (33 m) |
| Length | 7,442 ft (2,268 m) |
| Speed | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 7:34 |
| Capacity | 400 riders per hour |
| Height restriction | 51 in (130 cm) |
| Trains | 2 trains with 10 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 40 riders per train. |
| Ultimate at RCDB | |
The Ultimate is a steel roller coaster at Lightwater Valley theme park, near the small cathedral city of Ripon, in North Yorkshire, England. In 1991, it took the record of longest roller coaster in the world from The Beast at Kings Island. Following the opening of Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan, it became the second longest roller coaster in the world, but it still remains the longest in Europe.
The Ultimate is not operating for the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[1]
History and design
Track layout
Ultimate starts off exiting the station using two drive chains underneath the train, it then turns a corner just outside of the station to reach the first lift hill. The first lift leads to the first big drop of the ride. When the train has got to the bottom of the drop it then bounces over two large bunny hills before travelling at speed along the track towards the second lift. On approach to the second lift, the train goes over several small bunny hills and then climbs onto the lift. At the top of the lift, the train goes round a left hand corner pointing it in the direction of the woods. The train then drops into a heavily wooded section and rattles its way through the woods. After at least five banked turns, the train travels down an offroad track and through a double helix tunnel. The last section of the ride can often stall the train on cold days and most mornings. The train often has to be pulled along with a JCB digger to make it onto the return lift hill and back into the station.
Building Ultimate
Ultimate represented an investment of £5.2 million and was the concept of the park's original owner, Robert Staveley. Construction work began in early 1990 and took eighteen months to complete before the opening to the public on 17 July 1991.
While Ultimate was designed by Big Country Motioneering, they were not involved with the completion of the project. Lightwater Valley's owner had engineers from British Rail oversee the construction. A few sections of track on the second half of the ride were redesigned to change their banking. The track was made by "Tubular Engineering".
Set within 44 acres (178,000 m2) of woodland, Ultimate takes passengers on a 7 minute 34 second ride along 7,442 feet (2,268 m) of tubular steel track (an average of 11.2 mph (18.0 km/h)), with two lift hills of 102 and 107 feet (31 and 33 m) respectively (140 feet (43 m) when taking the full gradient into effect[clarification needed]) which rest on Canadian redwood trestles. It currently runs two trains on a normal day, each of which can hold a maximum of 38 passengers. It originally had over the shoulder restraints but after complaints of discomfort, these were changed to a giant lap bar.
Incidents
In June 1994, a deer from a nearby forest strayed onto the track and was hit by the train. A 12-year-old boy was taken to the hospital as a result of the accident.[2] In September 2014, another collision with a deer on the track occurred. No riders were injured, but the deer was killed instantly. Park officials stated that although the perimeter is fenced off, animals such as deer occasionally get in.[3]
Ultimate in popular culture
Ultimate was recreated as "The Storm" in the "Katie's Dreamland" scenario in the original RollerCoaster Tycoon PC game.
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Station of Ultimate -
One of the two trains on the first lift hill -
Riders' point of view of the first lift hill
Trains
Ultimate has two trains: both are dark blue (previously, before being repainted in the 2018/19 off season, one was red and the other was blue). The trains consist of ten cars with two rows of two seats. The front car has one row so the train can carry a maximum of 38 riders. The front car has a small locomotive modelled on the front car instead of two extra seats. Due to the ride duration of over 7 minutes, taking into account the ride's two trains and their respective riders per train, the Ultimate has an estimated maximum capacity of roughly 400 riders per hour.
References
- ^ https://www.lightwatervalley.co.uk/news/view/covid-19-latest-news-for-visitors
- ^ "Thrills turn to terror on white-knuckle ride". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ "Lightwater Valley Roller Coaster Accident Decapitates Deer As Riders Watch In Horror". The HuffingtonPost. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
External links
