Knightmare (Camelot)
Knightmare is a Schwarzkopf/Zierer custom roller coaster that is SBNO (standing but not operating) at the now defunct Camelot Theme Park in Chorley, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
It was originally built in 1987 for a theme park in Kobe, Japan called Portopialand (now defunct) under the name BMRX'/'Bavarian Mountain Railroad, and was originally a dark indoor ride with a huge mountain themed structure surrounding it.
After Portopialand closed in 2005, the roller coaster was acquired by Camelot theme park, and was dismantled and shipped to the United Kingdom. It cost the park £3 million to build the roller coaster. The track and trains arrived at Camelot in the end of 2006, without the mountain structure that originally enclosed it. In the beginning of 2007, the reconstruction began, with the ride finally opening to the public in the summer of 2007 as 'Knightmare'.
The coaster originally featured five different coloured trains. When relaunched at Camelot, the park refurbished three of the five trains. Some of the steam train theming was removed (such as the funnel and headlights) from the front of the train. The three trains were painted differently with one being partly maroon, one partly purple and the other partly green. The other two trains were placed in storage at the park. Each train had a capacity of 14 persons, and the ride had a minimum height restriction of 1.3 metres.
The ride takes the train up a semi spiral chain lift to its tallest point at 80 feet, then drops the train into an overbanked turn. The ride then takes you through various sharp turns, multiple helixes and a near vertical bend (nicknamed "the psycho drop") halfway through the ride where you experience almost 5G, reaching speeds of about 40 mph. Knightmare was arguably one of the most intense rollercoasters in the United Kingdom.
It was located and still stands in the 'Land of the Brave' area of the park, situated on the former sites of Camelot's long defunct flagship roller coasters (The Tower of Terror and The Gauntlet); it was also next to the site of the Excalibur 2 ride. Knightmare is one of only three of its kind in the world, Jetline at Gröna Lund (clone) and Lisebergbanan at Liseberg (custom layout).
After having trouble with low visitor numbers, The Story Group and Knights Leisure Limited announced that they were permanently closing Camelot Theme Park in November 2012, after twenty nine years. The rollercoaster remains standing within the abandoned park, but is now protected by security to keep trespassers out.
Coordinates: 53°38′10″N 2°42′02″W / 53.6362°N 2.7006°W
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