We’re sure you’ve heard many-a-time of the origins of Alton Towers’ ‘Secret Weapon’ codename. It all began with SW1, and here you can view the plans which show what the first Secret Weapon would have looked like.
SW1 was the original plan for the site that would eventually be home to Nemesis. The ride type was an Arrow Pipeline Coaster and the intended theme would have been more similar to that of Oblivion (hence the Secret Weapon codename).
The park actually began blasting the ride’s hole before they’d decided what was to be constructed in it and so you’ll notice the pit portrayed in these plans is actually rather different to the one that now contains Nemesis, seeming much larger and flat bottomed. The ride also appears to run underground rather a lot.
The ride didn’t get much further then these plans as it was decided the ride type was unsuitable and not actually that thrilling. However, the ride type was still revisited for SW2 before being scrapped in favour of Nemesis (SW3).
Forbidden Valley would look very different had the plans for SW1 come to fruition, not only due to the shape of the pit, but also because the ride spread much further then Nemesis into the neighbouring sites used for both Galactica and Nemesis Sub-Terra.
