Hello and welcome to our first RMC Hurler construction update! After spending the 2016 season standing but not operating, Rocky Mountain Construction began to transform Hurler from a wooden coaster into a wood/steel hybrid coaster earlier this year. Today, there has been a significant amount of progress on the ride’s transformation, so let’s take a look at what has been done so far!
To start, let’s take a quick look at the most exciting development on the project so far, which is the addition of the first pieces of track. So far, it appears track has been placed around the first curve of the ride between the station and the lift hill:
Looking around the side of the station from where track has been installed, a new crane has appeared:
Sitting in front of the crane is what appears to be a piece of the ride’s track. Based on this picture, I am not sure where exactly the piece will be used, but since it appears to be a straight piece I think it may end up on the ride’s lift hill:
Behind the new crane, Hurler’s first drop has been partially demolished. Rocky Mountain Construction will likely make the drop steeper in the future, which would mean that more of the current structure is demolished:
On the far side of Hurler, work has begun on the transformation of the ride’s lift hill. New supports have been added on top of the old ones and it is possible that track is added to these supports in the near future (possibly the piece of track that was sitting in front of the crane). Based on the height of these supports, it appears that the overall height of Hurler will be increased:
In this picture, it is possible to see inside of the station. It appears that the back wall of the station is gone (although I think it was a tarp wall and not an actual wall).
Moving to the other side of Hurler, the old track has been removed on most of the ride’s old hills and turns:
Looking down at the ride from the Eiffel Tower, there is a view of new wooden supports going up on the first turn after Hurler’s drop:
From the Eiffel Tower, there is a view of the area behind Hurler. Behind the lift hill, it appears that there is some wood for new supports, which look in this image as if they are pre-fabricated, waiting to be used on the ride. Additionally, there are a few dumpsters being used for the disposal of old materials:
Finally, here is one last look at some of the new supports added to Hurler’s hills. At the moment, it looks like these hills will be airtime hills on the RMC version of the ride, but they do not appear ready for the addition of track. RMC coasters have a final steel beam installed where track will be placed, as can be seen in the image above on the lift hill. These hills could either remain airtime hills or become some type of a unique RMC element (such as an inversion):
That’s all for our first RMC Hurler construction update. I am planning to bring more Hurler construction updates in the future, hopefully once a month until the 2017 season is over at Kings Dominion, although I cannot make any guarantees because of a busy schedule.
Are you excited for the RMC version of Hurler? Do you have any ideas about what the ride will look like? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to follow Theme Parks and Travels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more coverage of theme park news! You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel! Finally, you can also subscribe to us on Apple News by searching “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app!
