Steel Force Construction Diary #10 - Final!

This will be the final in a series of posts that honored Steel Force's 10th anniversary, and oddly enough it ended up being the 10th in the series.

I had a bunch more before & afters to share, and that's right where we left off last time. So let's continue!

Always a nice shot - really 'framed' the park well when the ride was built.

Obligatory ferris wheel shot. I wish I had a newer one with Hydra instead of Hercules.

Like this one a lot. It really shows how they altered the landscape for the station area.

They really did remove a lot of trees for the helix. I understand why, but wouldn't it have been awesome if they left as many as possible? It would have been extra dark that first season before the go-karts went in below the helix.

Better shot of the hill before and after. Hi Hercules!

I'll leave you all with this final shot, taken at the end of the 1997 season. That's all I've got! I hope you enjoyed this series. I actually had fun going though these old photos.

Can't wait to give it a spin in a month!

Steel Force Construction Diary #9

Okay so the ride was done the last time we checked in. The ride opened on May 30th, 1997. It was quite a day to be at the park.

This was taken that day. I remember that they had VIPs or something that rode first and they had this little pretend fence up at the entrance to the ride's plaza. At something like one or two in the afternoon the crowd basically broke through and poof, the ride was open.

Now that we've covered the ride's construction, I have a bunch of before and after photos. There were more than I remembered, so here are a few and the rest will come later.

We all know it, but this picture really shows just how much the ride changed the park's skyline.

The lower part of the park was changed forever. This is looking at the employee entrance to the park.

Also at the lower part of the park by the employee entrance.

Okay that's all for now. In the last update in this series I'll have a bunch more before and after pictures.

Steel Force Construction Diary #8

So the park is open at they are rushing to get the ride done. Let's continue.

Here we are, still on May 10th, 1997. As I said in the last update, here is a better view of the station area. As you can see, the station still needed a roof on it. The entrance plaza was complete though, along with the ride's sign and queue.

Here's the other side of the plaza. You can see that the on-ride photo location is complete, and you can get an even better view of the station work going on.

Here's the mid-course brake run on May 16th, 1997. The supports were up, but the track was not placed on them yet.

The other side. They were placing track while the park was open. It looks like almost all of the supports were up, there were just a couple left to go up in that gap. This was actually taken two days later, on May 18th, 1997.

This was taken on May 23rd, 1997. As you can see, Steel Force's track was complete! It happened sometime between the 19th, and 22nd, but I don't have the exact date. Also take note that the supports in the background were painted white, a primer for their final gray color.

Now that the ride is complete, all that's left to do is open it! That'll be next time. I have the opening day stuff, along with a series of (I think) cool before and after photos of the park that really show the changes that Steel Force made. Stay tuned!

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!

Steel Force Construction Diary #6

To celebrate President's Day let's continue following Steel Force's construction. Last we saw they had begun to work heavily on the turnaround as the season approached.

This was taken April 26th, 1997. As you can see, they have still been working on the turnaround. The water level is pretty low in this pic, and I'm not sure if that is because they were working on the damn for that lake or if it had to do with the ride's construction.


This is also from the 26th of April. They had put the track up on the first bunny hill in preparation of connecting with the soon to be completed turnaround area. Also take note that the parking lot is having some major paving going on. As we saw from earlier pictures, Dorney's lot did not even have a majority of itself paved until the 1997 season.


Here we are on May 2nd, 1997. I believe the park had announced by now that the ride would not open with the park. As you can see, the push to get the ride done even involved adding the large supports for the turnaround while they were not yet painted.


This was taken on May 9th, 1997 - the day before the park opened for the year. They got the helix tracked, but still had to add the midcourse brake run and the track between that and this helix. You'll take notice of the piece of track that has been removed from the helix to allow the crane to move in and out of the area.

There's more from the 9th as it was an exciting time - but that'll have to wait until next time!

Steel Force Construction Diary #5

Sorry this Steel Force retro construction update is later than I wanted, but with so much going on lately it's taken a back seat. But here we are, so let's get updating:

Here we are on April 5th, 1997. As you can see they've started to focus work on the turnaround by Hercules. They have a bunch of the footers done, and they have moved track pieces to the area.

Here's track waiting to be placed on April 11th, 1997. As you can see like other coasters under construction, they have numbered the track pieces. Here are numbers 27, 29, and 30.

This is also on April 11th. It's the station, brakes, and transfer track area. Here's what's what:
1 - The on-ride photo location.
2 - The station. Only the bottom part was up at this point.
3 - The brake run. As you can see it's only got its primer paint on it.
4 - The transfer track area. No track has been placed on it at this point.

This is April 13th. They had started to place supports on the lower part of the turnaround. More track has been moved over and is waiting to be placed. All the footers for this section appear to be finished.

Next time things really start flying as the park opening approaches!

Steel Force Construction Diary #4

Back to the construction of Steel Force. When we left off the ride had just topped out. Now things really start to pick up.

Here we are on March 29th, 1997. As you can see they moved along quickly and have the entire lift hill and drop tracked. You can also make out that some of the bunny hills on the return run have been tracked. Thunderhawk's sign is also totally ripped down now, sadly.

This is where they painted the track and supports after they arrived at the park. You could see the paint on the ground up there the entire season after the ride opened!

This shot is from the very start of April, 1997. You can see that the supports for the second hill have been completed. Also, say hi to Hercules.

And here we have a shot of the newly tracked bunny hills. You can see where they stopped placing track at the bottom of the first drop. If I remember correctly, they had some issues with water while digging and pouring cement for the tunnel down there. Obviously it eventually was completed, but it gave them some problems for a while.

Next time we start both the station area and the turnaround!

Steel Force Construction Diary #3

Merry Christmas!!!

Where were we?

Oh yeah, they were building Steel Force ten years ago. Let's continue!

March, 1997. The supports for the 2nd hill are now complete. Work on the parking lot continues are dirt is pushed neatly into piles. Also take notice of all the houses that were still standing along the entrance road to the park. They all bit the dust during this off season.

Also March, 1997. The supports for the lift hill and drop are almost complete. I just noticed that you can see the Sky Ride in these photos! Aww, remember the Sky Ride? Good times.

Poof! I just finished the lift hill supports! This was like 2 days after the above photos. I know it's not a big deal, but it was when we all first got the full idea of how tall this ride was.

And here we are, March 12th, 1997 - the coaster has now topped out. Not sure if you can see it in the large version of the photo, but yes, the American flag is perched up there at the top. Yes, god bless the U.S.A.

Next time we've got lots of track placement and other goodies!

Steel Force Construction Diary #2

Where were we? Oh yes, we were following the construction of Steel Force to honor the ride's 10th anniversary this year.

Some time has passed since the last photo in the previous update. Now we are at the end of January, 1997. As you can see, Steel has started to rise. A bunch of the lift supports had gone up at this point. Also worth mentioning, you can see that the parking lot was still not paved and only in the process of receiving lighting during this off season.

Here we are at the start of February, 1997. No super huge changes here, but they have started to build the supports for the drop. Also, take note of the big Thunderhawk sign that is on the ride's lift. I always though that sign was neat, I wonder why they removed it?

The week after, they had started the supports for the 2nd hill. Winter was in full force at this point, which is made clear by the snow on the ground.

At the end of February, 1997 work on the turnaround portion of the ride was in full swing. While land clearing had taken place earlier, it wasn't until around this time that footers started to be poured on the hill for the turnaround. It's pretty strange to see this view with Steel Force's large helix missing, and also Hercules still standing. Say hi to the ghost of Hercules!

That's all for now, I promise the next batch of pictures is where things start to get more interesting!

Steel Force Construction Diary #1

Steel Force celebrates it's 10th Birthday this year, (11th season, though) which is a nice milestone for the ride. When Steel Force at Dorney Park was being built I was a total spaz about new rides and took a lot, really a ton, of pictures of it being built. I figured that it would be interesting to share a much condensed version of this 'photo diary.' That said, there's only one place to start, and that's the beginning.

At the end of the 1996 season, this sign was put out in the park. It was located (obviously) in front of the Carousel at the main entrance. I know the detail of the stats doesn't come through clear enough, but the layout does. I like the slogan "A Coaster To Metal With!!" - I know they used it some in the first year but it seemed to trail off after that.
This view is from August, 1996. As you can see they started to demolish the picnic groves that used to sit along the lake here. You can also see the lake that was here, now where Revolution and some overflow parking now stands. The tires are in the water because the Swan Boats had a season here before being moved over to the other side of the park. The area that eventually became Steel Force's station was some employee parking.
This view is from October, 1996. You can see that not much more demolition took place, however, you see that white stuff sitting behind the trees, next to the lake? Yes, that's track! The first track arrived at the park in October, and was not painted its final color. There's a fun fact for ya!

You like? let me dig out some more photos!