Places where emotions are manufactured.

In this series, we will take a look at geographical locations where emotions are constructed or manufactured in the form of attractions, roller coasters, etc.

This is a translation of the original post: https://0xrand.com/lugares-donde-se-fabrican-emociones/

Our first stop will be at the headquarters of the manufacturer Vekoma. Who is Vekoma?

Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch manufacturer of amusement rides. Vekoma is a syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory), which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. The company originally manufactured agricultural equipment and later steel constructions for the coal mining industry in the 1950s. As the business shifted from agricultural equipment to steel construction, Veld Koning Machinefabriek was shortened to Vekoma.

After the closure of Dutch mines in 1965, Vekoma manufactured steel pipes for the petrochemical industry. In the 1970s, Vekoma was contracted by the American amusement ride manufacturer Arrow Development to build the steel structure for its roller coasters in Europe. As demand increased, Arrow instructed Vekoma in track building techniques and eventually licensed its coaster-building technology.

In 1979, Vekoma entered the market on its own, opening three roller coasters in Europe under the name Vekoma Rides Manufacturing BV. On August 23, 2001, Vekoma filed for bankruptcy.

In 2006, Vekoma formed an alliance with the American manufacturer Chance Morgan. Chance Rides represented Vekoma in North America, and Chance Morgan manufactured steel tracks for selected projects. During this agreement, Chance built four family roller coasters designed by Vekoma.

In 2008, Vekoma Rides Manufacturing acquired the Wheels of Excellence range of Ferris wheels from Ronald Bussink. Under the agreement, Bussink would continue to supply wheels 100 meters or taller. Smaller wheels in the 40 to 80-meter range would be manufactured by a new division of Vekoma, Dutch Wheels BV.

On October 17, 2012, Chance Rides and Vekoma discontinued their agreement to produce attractions together for the North American market. However, shortly after terminating that agreement, Chance Rides received an exclusive license from Dutch Wheels BV to manufacture and sell R60 wheels in the North American market under a new affiliate, Chance American Wheels.

On March 30, 2018, Vekoma was acquired by Sansei Technologies, the parent company of the American amusement ride manufacturer S&S Sansei. The conditions stipulated that Vekoma’s business model remain unchanged after the acquisition. Vekoma continues to manufacture and market attractions as a separate entity.

From wikipedia.

After this brief review of its history and based on a post on Twitter, I arrived at some interesting coordinates.

Found this on google earth on the vekoma headquarters! pic.twitter.com/W6QL7odT2i

- whylifeis4 (@whylifeis4) February 21, 2024

The exact location is:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6a3piBpRxsXBhRR9

The view looks like this:

We can see that it is a typical industrial field where what appear to be metal beams are stored, probably for building the tracks of the attractions. We can also see a Ferris wheel and some attraction or experiment halfway assembled.

From the bottom corner, we can see the Ferris wheel I mentioned earlier peeking out.

If we continue, we’ll reach the parking lot and the first roller coaster appears, or part of it. This photo is from 2019; I’m not sure if it’s a model that was later installed somewhere.

As we continue down the street, Google Maps shows us images from 2023, and where the previous roller coaster was, we can now see two different prototypes.

This same place in 2016 looked like this:

Those seem to be the pillars of the roller coaster from the 2019 image. To me, it’s clear that it’s a place for testing and experimentation. And behind us is this beautiful entrance:

And now, an image of the office area to wrap up this location:

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Originally published at https://0xrand.com on February 23, 2024.