Scott And Carol Present - ZDT's Switchback Opening Day

After a few delays ZDT's Amusement Park has announced that Switchback will open to the public on Saturday, October 17th. Here is a look at the very cool and comfortable Timberliner Train.

  



On Monday September 14th, Switchback ran its first official test run. Thankfully, the kind folks at ZDT's recorded the whole thing, from both on-ride and off-ride cameras for all those that have been eagerly awaiting for this unique ride to open.

The park is still making adjustments  to the track to make for a smooth ride, and fine tuning the sensors and programming for smooth operations. Park spokesperson,  Zac Donhauser, stated the ride is not quite as quick as you'd expect on the return trip...but not to worry!  It was planned that way for the park's initial set of test runs, and will certainly become faster in the coming weeks.  

We can hardly wait to trek to  Seguin Texas to ride Switchback!

Switchback Now Testing at ZDT's Amusement Park

© ZTD's Amusement Park

ZTD's Amusement Park has officially started testing on the all-new Switchback wooden roller coaster, and has the video to prove it.  The Texas amusement park hired The Gravity Group to create a unique coaster for them, squeezing the ride into a tight layout that contains extreme banks, hills and curves.  The new video is from when the ride just began its runs, so I would expect it to speed up even more as it breaks in.

© ZTD's Amusement Park

The Switchback starts with a 63 foot lift, a quick turn and then a 58 foot drop toward the ground.  A series of quick turns and hills - including two trips under a building and a 104 degree over-bank turn - lead to the spike seen in the photo above.  The trains, which are cute little eight-seaters, head up the spike until gravity takes over, pulling them down backward.  The entire course is then done in reverse, with a section of switch track getting the trains back to the station.

Hopefully the ride will open soon now that successful testing is under way!  Check out the full video of on-ride and off ride shots at this link.

ZDT's Announces Record Breaking Feature for Switchback Coaster

© ZDT's Amusement Park

Steady progress has been made on the Switchback, a new wooden shuttle coaster at ZDT's Amusement Park in Texas, with only one major element left to go up.  The above photo shows the entire layout of the coaster, from lift hill on the right to the far (extremely banked) turnaround on the left.

That final element is a giant spike that the train will head up, eventually losing momentum and then falling down backward - sending riders through the course backwards.  Today's announcement was all about that spike and its now record breaking proportions.

© ZDT's Amusement Park

This is the base of the spike as it currently stands, and when complete the park has announced that the train will hit an impressive 87 degrees on it, just three degrees away from fully vertical.  That steepness beats out the current record holder, Goliath at Six Flags Great America, which plunges downward at 85 degrees.

Switchback's "grand spike" will extend to a full 90 degrees, however trains are not expected to make it that far up the element before gravity stops them.  The exact degree that the trains reach will be determined in the coming weeks when the spike is complete and testing can begin.  We can't wait!

Scott And Carol Present - Another ZDT's Switchback Update

While ZDT's Amusement Park noz longer anticipates Switchback opening during summer break, the crews are working diligently to get this exciting and unique coaster completed as soon as possible! 

The beautiful skies with light fluffy clouds are a great contrast to earlier this year, when massive thunder clouds dumped near record rains on Seguin TX on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Switchback is really beginning to take form, as track work continues on the initial lift-hill and drop. 

Structure and tracking have also commenced where the coaster will hug the ground beneath the awning. Guests who remember pushing carts through the old grocery never approached the speeds that Switchback will travel. 

Utilizing the existing buildings on site gives Switchback a unique character all its own, because no one else would take the time to incorporate everything as cohesively as ZDT's. 

The tracking is also moving right along on the over-banked turn and it is nearing completion 

Here you can see the head chopper effect that riders will experience as they go through the crossover.

This wider view of the crossover shows how tight a fit Switchback is for ZDT's. Tracking has begun here as well as where the crossover takes place in route to the final spike!

Another building fly through, with a twist!

Of course you can't, but it almost seems like you could high-five other guests who opted for the water slide instead of the roller coaster side. And there is another attraction on the inside of the turn. No space is wasted  at ZDT's Amusement Park.

The more of Switchback we see, the more we can appreciate how much effort went into the design by the Gravity Group team. Our thanks to ZDT's for these pictures, and for the tireless efforts of Danny and his crew. Stay safe and remember to drink lots of water, we remember how hot it was when we visited during the spring.

Scott And Carol Present - Another ZDT Flashback Update

Here is the latest pictures received from ZDT's Amusement Park today. The weather must be improving because the construction pace is picking up.

Switchback has come a long way in the past few weeks! The biggest changes have been in Zone 3 with the initial lift hill and drop. This section now stands at its full height of 63.5 feet. 

This will be the second highest part of the ride, after the spike at the tail end of the ride in Zone 2. 

The structure in Zone 1 is near completion, and should start receiving track in a few weeks. 

The over banked turn looks to make for an exciting ride! The tight radius should make for some intense lateral forces,

Zone 2 will be final area in which we will be erecting the ride's structure. This zone is made up of the area where the track goes underneath the awning of the building, and also the zone that contains the final spike at the end of the ride. 

The foundation in the zone was completed recently, and looking at the concrete network you can imagine where the track will be running through based on the pattern in the picture. We should start seeing more progress in Zone 2 in the next couple of weeks.

ZDT's Tops Out Switchback + Other Ride Progress

© ZDT's Amusement Park

Things are moving quickly now that vertical construction is underway on Switchback at Texas' ZDT's Amusement Park.  We first saw supports for the wooden shuttle coaster go up for the ride's far-end turn, but things have gone higher in recent weeks.

Above is a photo of when Switchback's highest support was put into place.  That was at the very top of the 63 foot tall lift.  You can see the initial 180 or so degree turn also starting to be put into place, after which the trains will plunge down a 58 foot drop.

© ZDT's Amusement Park

This photo lets us see the entire L-shaped layout of the Switchback.  Designed by the Gravity Group, the ride will start with the lift/drop seen in the background on the right.  It will race toward the building in the center of the photo, pass through it as it turns, then head toward a 104 degree overbank turn at the far left.

Passing through the building again the ride will travel up a spike that will be in the right foreground, losing momentum and then completing the course backwards.  A switch-track section located after the first drop will point the locomotive-themed train back to the station.

© ZDT's Amusement Park

In this even more recent photo the start of the ride's first drop is in place.  The steep plunge will get the train moving at 40 miles per hour.

A lot of progress has taken place in a short amount of time, I can't wait to see the rest of the coaster go up - especially that reverse spike!

Scott And Carol Present - An On Site Construction Tour of Switchback at ZDT'S Amusement Park

One of the more interesting projects for this season is moving along in Seguin, Texas.

Danny and Sarah Donhauser welcomed us for visit to personally see how Switchback is progressing. Danny has left the operation of ZDT in Sarah's hands and is working pretty much on construction only, until the coaster is finished.

   

Here the excavation has been done for this section and you can see how the foundation has been tied together. Danny stated that the poor soil conditions require a more extensive support structure, but it should last much longer since they are doing it right from the beginning. The foundation extends 27 to 30 feet below ground level and there are 128 pilings.

Here you can see some of the first ledgers that have been installed. All of the pressure treated yellow pine is onsite and ready to be installed once the tracking can get started.

The extreme angle of the  track show here led to an interesting phone call back to the guys at The Gravity Group. Danny thought there was an issue with the short length of the foundation so he checked it because he thought a mistake had been made, but all was well, because now you can see that the shorter width is correct due to the high banking.

Switchback uses a steel support structure, and here you can see the "assembly line" for the bents. This is a larger version of the erector set you may have played with as a child.

They are quite large and it is a good thing the Donhauser's own the whole block, because they need the space. Some of these tall bents should be put in position in about 2 weeks if the weather cooperates during the rainy season. That will result in a major change to the skyline of ZDT's Amusement Park. Due to the nature of Switchback, it will have two toppings instead of just one, just another unique feature of the ride.

The coaster is so tightly fit squeezed in between the buildings that on this section the lifts must be assembled vertically in place because the crane cannot get to a reasonable position. Of course larger cranes are available, but for just such a small portion of the ride it would not be economically feasible, so they work the structure up, one piece at a time.

The process for Switchback has to ebb and flow due to not being able to continuously do each of the processes. First they dig, then that equipment gets moved out and then they pour concrete, and then they erect the lifts. Usually  projects just start at one end and move across the site but here discrete operations are required. Yes the coaster will go through this corner of the building.

More than one building had to be modified to fit in the roller coaster. Here is another one, which should result in a great sideways head chopper during the ride. Hopefully later this summer we can all ride a coaster like our great grandparents did during the first golden age of rollercoasters. We can hardly wait. Our thanks to Danny and Sarah for their great hospitality and continued wishes for good weather this summer.

Scott And Carol Present - A ZDT Switchback Update!

The latest news from ZDT's Amusement Park is... Switchback officially went vertical this past weekend! In the next couple weeks, the structure and tracking near the over banked turn should rise up to near completion. And then the wood track can begin.

At this point it looks more like an Erector set, but once the metalwork is assembled the rest should move very quickly. Is anybody ready to ride?Our thanks to the Donhausers at ZDT's for continuing to keep updated on this unique roller coaster designed by our friends at The Gravity Group. 

Scott And Carol Present - A ZDT's Amusement Park Up-Date!

Our friends, the Donhausers from ZDT'S Amusement Park sent us another exciting up-date on what's going on with Flashback construction. They picked a beautiful day to take pictures, with a blue sky and light fluffy clouds.

This lot had always been a part of ZDT"s parking lot, but this is no longer the case! In response to this elimination of parking spots, 

ZDT park has been hard at work in adding even more parking to accommodate their guests! For every parking spot that was eliminated, they have added about five more spaces in preparation for the increase in guests because of their new ride!

Since there is a tall crane near by, in "Zone 3," this may be where boomerang element will be? The auger is being utilized to drill holes for some of the footers and other foundation items.

In this view of "Zone 1," it appears that the section on the left side is the outbound section leading into a curve and the inbound section will run through the open door of the building on the right side. It gives us hope for summer to see the workers wearing only long-sleeved shirts, as the outside temperature in Indiana is 2 degrees, with a wind chill of -13.

 

This is the ground hugging over banked turn heading into the building. The foundation work in the area around this turn, from the over end of  "Zone 1", is nearing completion. In the coming weeks this  part of the coaster's structure should be the first to start rising upwards!

Meanwhile, the park has officially fenced off the area where Switchback's train station and lift hill will be placed ("Zone 3",) and are currently working on the foundation piers for this section. This is the view from the other end with the crane (?) in the background on the left.

Thanks to the Donhausers for sending along the update, as if we were not already excited about visiting ZDT's Amusement Park and riding Flashback. We also enjoyed seeing the green grass and trees with leaves on them.