page_title: Scorpion Express
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Scorpion Express / History
caption_attribution_description: Chessington World of Adventures Runaway Train roller coaster
context_page_description: Scorpion Express is a mine train themed roller coaster at Chessington World of Adventures in Greater London, England. It opened with the theme park in 1987 as the Runaway Train. The original ride was closed in 2012 for refurbishment and reopened on 14 March 2014, with the same track layout but new name and theming. Scorpion Express is set in a small mining village, featuring an animated metalwork scorpion.
context_section_description: This Mack Blauer Enzian family coaster opened as the Runaway Train in 1987 and operated for over twenty five years. It had an Old Western theme, and featured an extensively themed area and queue, primarily designed by John Wardley, taking guests above buildings, around a lake and down into a small mine.
  The coaster was originally designed to travel in and out of a cave feature, which enclosed half the track and hid much of the structure, creating an interacting rocky landscape. However, due to its semi-temporary construction and prolonged lack of maintenance over the years, the cave feature was removed in late 2012 and the ride closed.
  In 2013, the area surrounding the Runaway Train was boarded off with notices up saying that the ride would be "Re-launching in 2014". Over the closed season, the animatronic scorpion was installed after 208 hours of off site construction. During this downtime, the ride had all its original cave design, landscaping and theming features removed, now placing the track completely in the open and the queue on flat ground.
  The ride was complete on time to open for the park's Annual Passholder Preview Days when it soft-opened. The ride officially launched on Wednesday 19 March after having slight alterations and theming adjustments.
caption: The Runaway Train in 2010
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