| WGH Transportation Engineering | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Statistics | |
|
Location |
Doncaster, England. |
|
Founded |
1989 |
|
Closing year |
2016 |
|
Roller coasters build |
6 |
WGH Transportation Engineering was a Doncaster based manufacturer responsible for making dark water rides, log flumes, roller coasters and more attractions. WGH Transportation even manufactured a few flat rides as well, which operate a family parks in the UK. During the mid-1990’s, there was a demand in the market for family-sized roller coasters to be manufactured as many parks in the United Kingdom were faced with the lack of physical space to build large roller coasters. And out of the bloom, WGH Transportation stepped into the roller coaster manufacturing market of the United Kingdom to assist and provide future attractions.
The company was founded in 1989 by Andrew Howarth, John Martin and Tony Brown. The company originally started as a transporter in the mining industry. Their first project was a hanging monorail for the New Lanark World Heritage Visitors Center.
After that, the company build other attractions such as means of transport for dark rides, small flat rides, log flumes and even coasters.
Coaster Industry[]
In 1995, WGH Transportation designed and manufactured their first roller coaster for Fantasy Island Resort which was called the Rhombus Rocket. Rhombus Rocket remains to be the only powered roller coaster WGH Transportation have manufactured. In 2007, Rhom
Rhombus Rocket at Fantasy Island Resort:Sea Lane Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom.
bus Rocket received a major refurbishment which involved a replacement of the track, station, and an upgrade to the train.
Following the installation and opening of the Rhombus Rocket, another WGH Transportation manufactured roller coaster would open at Fantasy Island. In 1996, the Junior Rhombus Rocket (Now known as Jellikins Coaster). This was added into the resort as a substitute for smaller visitors who were not tall enough to ride the Rhombus Rocket.
The Jellikins Coaster is located indoors and features a vibrant coloured track. Interestingly enough, the Jellikins Coaster features a single train with semi-enclosed cars which accommodate two passengers each. Unfortunately around 2012-2013 a new policy was introduced that adults were no longer allowed to ride.
In 1998, WGH Transportation installed two new coasters, the first was the Dragon Coaster at Legoland Windsor, a family coaster which also contains a dark ride section. The second coaste was build in Joyland Childrens Fun Park under the name of Spook Coaster, a kiddie coaster.
A year later, Legoland Windosr again opened Dragon's Apprentice, another kiddy coaster.
Green dragon at Greenwod Forest Park:Y Felinheli, Gwynedd, Wales, United Kingdom
The last, and quit frankly their most intresting coaster opened in 2004 as Green Dragon at the Greenwood Forest Park. The coaster was build to be completely energy friendly. Riders of the roller coaster go via stairs to the first platform, where they take a seat with the number of people who will later also board the train. By standing on the platform a lift mechanisem is set into motion, the weight of the people causes the train to go up. If the platform is lowered, the riders have to climb up the stairs again in order to finally get to the train.
Other works[]
In 1993 WGH Transportation worked with The American Adventure to help modify and extend their log flume Nightmare Niagara.
Also in 1995 when Fantasy Island opened, many rides from WGH Transportation by where introduced in such as the Magic Seaquarium, the Fantasea Flume, and Rhombus Rocket.
A year later, many more attractions would appear at Fantasy Island which included Barrel Dark Ride (1996-2003), Junior Rhombus Rocket, and the iconic Balloon Ride.
During 2014-2015 WGH Engineering was involved in a restoration project for Dreamland, Margate to work on the ride's mechanical operation. WGH Transportation added permanent magnet brakes to the train, installed a safety system as part of the control system and even increased the height of the train sides to restrict passenger movement during the ride. They added lap bars and seat belts and in keeping with the 1920’s original aesthetic. Even though in this day and age it is very rare to come across a brakeman, a ride-along brakeman was still used in the operation of the ride to truly make it feel like it's from it's time. Although the ride runs without human intervention, the train is capable of slowing automatically as required. The roller coaster reopened to the public on 15 October 2015.
Most notably, the park also build tw logflumes, one at Fantasy Island and the other at Wicksteed Park.
Aftermath[]
In the early 2016, WGH Transportation was acquired by Stage One, an engineering firm from York, United Kingdom. While Stage One does not manufacture amusement devices, they have decided to provide extended service for the existing rides and attractions that were manufactured by WGH Transportation, including the six roller coasters that operate to this day.