Oblivion was the world's first vertical drop roller coaster! Back in 1997 and early 1998, due to the intense secrecy surrounding the ride, it was near impossible to take construction photos of this project, code named Secret Weapon 4! And so, TowersTimes is proud to provide you with some detailed photographs of the Oblivion under construction

Many Thanks to Daniel McNicol, Altonator and Stokywolf for providing Towerstimes with these photos!

Promotional Material
A couple of adverts which appeared in the run up to the rides unveiling
A Christmas Card sent out by Alton Towers in 1997
Construction
The construction walls surround the site in 1997.	The site which would eventually house the brake run
A look towards where the final bend would be, notice the freshly painted Blackhole.	A closer look, revealing the support for the final bend already in place.
Looking down the Fantasy World hill towards the brake run.
Here we can see the arched supports that will form the shape of the tunnel at the base of the hole, if you look at the white digger you can get an idea how big the hole actually is!	Another shot of the skeleton of the tunnel, the scaffolding to the left of the photograph would allowed workers access to the deep trench
Here we can see the steel supports that support the area above the tunnel and the tunnel from collapsing inwards	The main way of moving things into and out of such an immense hole is using a container and crane
When digging down so deep there is a problem with water, not only does water usually sit just a few metres below ground level, there is the problem of drainage when it rains. You can see the drainage pipes and pumps used to extract this water	Workmen using a boat to traverse the water which had collected inside the pit.
In this photo we can clearly see markings in the concrete to support the track and the access staircase	Men working at the base of the Oblivion pit.
Scaffolding being constructed within the pit.	Working on the sides of the pit.
Diggers at the bottom of the pit.
Some images from mid December 1997: with the station building, tunnel., brake run and lift hill complete, work has begun on the final sections of track and the queue line structures.
A look inside the station while still under construction, complete with train.