british roller coaster manufacturers?

is there any?

there is loads all around the world but i cant find any in britan[:(!]

Only one off rides I think, some of the older rides had one man designers, but not big companys as far as I know.

ok thanx

there are no british manufacturers.
on the other hand there is alot of british designersin the idustory (will find some names)
so which do you think is better, saying this was built by a british company or this ride came from a genius grown in britain?

I can't think of any either, they do have Vekoma across the North Sea over here in the Netherlands[:p]

Is Vekoma really anything to brag about?




j/k

Well the us has or had arrow dyanamics, s&s power, cci, gci, premier? I dunno I cant think of all of them.

[coolbeans326]

gravity group

[Dirk_Ermen]

^^ is that one is britain?

No, Gravity Group is out of Cincinatti Ohio, 3 hours from me. Neither are any of the other ones.

in france there is Reverchon and in itali there is pinfari

[gouldy]

Originally posted by gazag

there are no british manufacturers.
on the other hand there is alot of british designersin the idustory (will find some names)
so which do you think is better, saying this was built by a british company or this ride came from a genius grown in britain?

Yeah, I know what would be the best, having both great designers and great manufacturers

But you know, I think I would prefer to have the best designers than the best manufacturers. Live long John Wardley

Yeah we have John Wardley, maybe one of the best steel coaster designers to have ever lived?? We dont know about how he can handle woody designs but he would probly be very good at them too!!!

John Wardly is ok...Hes only responsible for a few actual stand out rides. Oblivion, well, I think Shiekra or whatever is proof that that design had more to it.

Same for Air.

Nemesis, yes, thats his baby, always will be. Hes a great mind, great imagination but I dont even know if Id considering him one of the best because hes got one good ride.


I think as coaster riders, we owe quite a bit to Anton Schwartzkopf and Werner Stengel (an understudy of Anton). They are the real masters.



But whatever the case, its not a pride issue. You need both a great designer and a great manufacturer to produce a great ride. What would nemesis be if it had been manufactured by Vekoma before Vekoma got with the times?

Or if rides such as Goliath and Expedition Geforce were manufactured by Arrow or Morgan?


You cant have one without the other. Its like a master painter with no paint, or no canvas. The idea is there, but theres no medium to properly put it on.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by Real

John Wardly is ok...Hes only responsible for a few actual stand out rides. Oblivion, well, I think Shiekra or whatever is proof that that design had more to it.

Same for Air.

nah man, You need to ride Oblivion to see what its about really. Its obvious that the design could have a lot more added to it or a lot more made from it, but that ride is supposed to be all about intimidation and it is probably one of the most intimidating rides I've been on ..... its still poop but you know, it does what Wardley was aiming for.

Same for Air, because he designed the whole "Flying" coaster concept anyway and it was designed to give the feeling of smooth and graceful flight, which the Air design perfectly encapsulates. Whereas if you look at the other flyers around, like the Superman rides, they don't do what the ride type was designed for if you see what I mean. Air is unique, it is the only ride that gives the feeling of slow and graceful flight. That is not something I look for in a ride and so I think Air is pretty poor too, but still for sensation seekers rather than thrill seekers, its an amazing ride that is unparalleled.

Can't disagree with your Stengel comment though, probably my favourite designer

I dont believe that he created the flying concept. Vekoma had their own flying concept and Wardly probably saw that and went to B&M (knowing their reputation) and said "hey, lets do a flying coaster". The rest was B&M's work, not really Wardleys. And if he meant it to be a "flying" thing, when I first saw Air I thought of Superman, not really flying. Must be an American thing, but just the "prone" position makes me think "superman" completely. It was only natural SF would install those as superman rides


Same for Oblivion. I say its not much to me because of 2 things:

Themeing never "enhances" a ride for me. If it were to scream at me "DONT LOOK DOWN OR YOULL DIE" it still wouldnt enhance the ride. Its still just a drop ride with an overbank. Im not trying to turn this into a "alton rides suck" thing or anything, I completely know what constraints they are under. In fact, I know Id like Oblivion because I like drop rides. But, I for one dont think its much on the "design" side. Yes, it does what he wanted it too do and thats ALOT more than most rides do, actually follow through on a theme. But I havent been intimidated on any ride since my first ride. Maybe a little on Dragster but I was also super excited.

Oh I take that back. I was intimidated on Shivering Timbers, Back seat, 3 click ride. THAT will scare you, trust me.

Back on topic (not tryin to slam anything either, dont assume that)
Wardly is an idea man. A GREAT one at that. His ideas have helped pave new roads in the industry. To me, Oblivion and Air were concepts that he helped initiate, but to me were far from being "fleshed out". You are right, they do what he wanted them to do, but I especially feel that the Flying coaster concept he could have done a little better. Seeing as though its super slow and theres 2 trims on the ride.


Reguardless, Wardley's a good man. A great thinker and an asset to the creative world. I just dont think hes the hottest designer, but one of the better (top 5) idea men, up there with Disney and such. (though Disney would be #1)

IMO, Wardley would be more properly deemed one of the greatest ride innovators rather than designers, as Stengel and Schwartzkopf have created better layouts and experiences than Wardley by far IMO, but they cannot begin to approach Wardley's ability to create new concepts and experiences, as such rides as Air and Nemy remain one-of-a kind experiences to this day, and Oblivion has been duplicated very few times in comparison to such experiences as floorless B&M's, Schwartzkopfs, and others.

Yea, thats more along the lines what Id put him in. Hed go in a similar category as Disney. He comes up with a great idea, then has someone else design and fabricate. Nothing wrong with that, you cant do it all yourself.

Being in the same category as Disney though, that says alot.

id like to see Wardley do an open coaster(not compact) but allso fast(not like air!) cus nemy is quite conpact but it is over to fast same with oblivion but air is to slow it just gets boring, so it would be fun to see how Wardley would design an open coaster.

i hope that makes sence lol

[gouldy]

Wasn't Dragon kahn designed by wardley? Or am I just being stupid Because that is a ride built on a large scale, I love that ride, I thought that was something quite special cosindering it is basically just another basic B&M. Well, I guess thats why I thought it was designed by Wardley, because it seemed special [:)]

http://www.rcdb.com/quicksearch.htm?qui ... ragon+khan

Dragon Khan was by Stengel. Even Nemesis was designed by Stengel, but Wardly gave them the concept and basically said "I would like to do this, this and this" and then Stengel does the rest.


Much like the Imagineers at Disney. They come up with an idea, then they start to flesh it out. Do story boards, do basic drawings and basic ideas. They tell a designer then what they want it too have and in alot of cases, if the designer is good and well respected, they will give him some creative freedom as well.


Stengels involvment in the last decade has been enormous when you think about it.

http://www.rcstengel.com/
Stengels new website



Sorry as a designer myself I see a fine line between an imagineer (like Disney, Wardley) and a designer like Stengel and Schwartzkopf.

Originally posted by kurtis

and in itali there is pinfari

What about zamperla? [blah][lol]

lol, your just being picky now lol[lol]

the only problem real is that he did design nemesis it wasent werner he isnt an imagineer he does design them and he designed stampidia

[gouldy]

Real is right, he is an imagineer, I have a tv programme recorded on tape with him admitting so . He has a team of designers and engineers that finalise his ideas. He didn't 'design' Nemesis himself, yes he had the ideas but it was his engineers and so on that made it possible.