Steel Force Construction Diary #7

Last time we were on May 9th, the day before Dorney opened for the 1997 season. The opening of the ride had already been delayed, and construction was at a frenzied pace.

In addition to having the turn around helix completed, they also had supports up for the entrance to the mid-course brake run.

They also had up the supports for the mid-course. Well at least some of them. I'd have to go back through some articles about it, but I know they had some problems getting permission for these supports because of how close they were to the creek and they were eventually modified from their original design.

This is the last picture from the 9th. It was pretty exciting back then to see the ride from Hamilton Blvd. like this. Also, take note that part of the parking lot had been paved and even the parking lines look bright and new.

Here we are on opening day, May 10th, 1997. This was taken from the Sky Ride, remember that? Ha ha. Anyway, they had supports piled up over by the entrance road, still on the trailer they came on. As you can see, some were painted, and some were not.

Here's the view of the turnaround from in the park. As you can see, they were putting up supports even on that Saturday to get the ride done. And as you can also see, they weren't even painted yet.

Here's a somewhat foggy looking view of the station area. Next update will have better views of the area, so let's just consider this a teaser for next time!