RideZone's Talon
January 15, 2001 Construction Photo Gallery - 29 photos

A New Inverted Roller Coaster at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, PA

by Joel Styer

Note: Due to the large number of photos on these pages, they may take a long time to load

These January 15, 2001 photos were taken just after a rain storm, which was a couple of days after a snow storm. As you can imagine, it was pretty much a muddy mess, but construction continued and so did the photos. It was also quite foggy as you will see in some of the photos. Therefore the picture quality is not all that great. Hopefully next time will be better.

This view is from in front of the Wild Mouse looking toward Talon. The size of the huge crane is evident.

Another view from the upper midway showing the games with Talon behind them. Even the park has to "cinder" their roads in the winter.

Walking past the games, we find more Talon construction. Hang Time is to the immediate left. Wildwater Kingdom is off in the distance.

These are supports for the Inclined Spiral.

They have already started station construction.

Closer view of the block work for the station.

The next new element is the Zero G Roll which is partially hidden in the upper left of this photo.

The Zero G Roll.

Another view as the track dives into the Immelmann.

Same idea, different angle

Close up of Zero G Roll.

Depending where it is viewed from, it tends to look totally different.

The next element after the Roll is the Immelmann.

View from the other side. The track is just starting the swing upward.

Surprise! The entrance to the Immelmann goes below grade.

This looks just too cool. This is the site of the massive footers seen in earlier photos.

Have to take just one more look at it.

More Construction

As with most days, The day of the photo session was filled with construction, despite the poor weather. The following photos show some of the actual construction work.

The big crane lowers a portion of Immelmann track into position.

Close-up view from above showing the new section of track being bolted in place.

Another angle

Lifting a support for the Immelmann.

Positioning the support.

Getting it lined up just right.

As in most construction of this type, the nuts are not tightened fully until all the pieces of one section are together. Then they are correctly tightened to ensure everything fits together properly.

Picking up the next piece of track for the Immelmann.

Remember that big tree that once sat in the middle of the field where Talon was built - the one that had the little house under it the past two years?

One of several boxes of coaster parts.

Looking from the center of the Inclined Loop toward the transfer track.

One last look at the station area.

Article and pictures are ©2001 by Joel Styer. All photos this page taken January 15, 2001

RideZone wishes to thank Mark Sosnowsky of Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom,
Carl Hittner and Cliff Herring for all they have done to make these pages possible.
Talon and Hang Time are Trademarks of Cedar Fair L.P.

© 2001 Joel W Styer. All rights reserved. Updated Tuesday, January 13, 2004
RideZone is not affiliated in any way with the above Amusement Park