Ccron10

I'm keeping the project mostly a secret for now because I want to have some fun releasing the details of it. Here's what I can say about the coaster right now: -This coaster might be displayed at a different place than where Sandstorm was. -It will be taller. -More realistic. I will post some clues often as well as photos of the prototype. More soon... Here are two photos that are "classified" and a third that some enthusiest took.

The ride is one continuous cable. If one side wasn't operating, the other wasn't. Walking on a 2 inch cable 90 feet above the midway is really extreme. Take notice that he did have guide-wires to keep the cable steady.

Well, it's probably incredibly difficult to get parts for and keep in repair because arrow doesn't exist anymore and there are only a handful of their suspended's around. It's probably a huge toll on the park to keep it running after 25 years. Remember 25 years for an arrow is alot. The ride type itself takes alot more stress than other types. 25 years is a good lifespan for this type and I think it's time is just about up. Not really. Some parks have their own metal and welding shops to make some of the parts in-house. Now I don't know if BGE has this, but when most parks need parts for rides like this, they could search online or do what I mentioned above. Agreed; suspended coasters do put a lot of stress on the track especially in the banked turns. Just look at Eagle's Fortress now. EDIT: Thanks Wes for clearing that up.

Black Diamond is not under construction. In fact they haven't did anything yet to where they are going to build it. The location looks very cramp though because it is behind the International Food Court and next to the Mining Museum. The trains and equipment sitting back there isn't helping either.

So let me get this straight and correct me if I'm wrong here, but they are getting rid of BBW not because of maintenance issues, but because it has reached the end of it's "operating life"? In other words they are just scapping it for no reason right? I hardly doubt that BBW is not popular because I remember hearing discussions going on about it being a decent family coaster. More than likely my bet is a B&M flyer since Seaworld has got one and usually when one major Busch-owned park gets one, the other one does over time.

Aww, but I want to open the presents now!! lol But seriously, if the park just came out and told us what it was it wouldn't be as fun. Patience, people.

Maybe with reduced friction or the cars being heavier. So what if it's 100 feet shorter, it's still a decent-sized coaster.

Right now I don't know what to think as far as vertical lift. I would think it's possible for a 300ft cable lift to go 90 degrees. Don't forget technology has come a long way in the last 10 years since Millenium Force. Back then if we said that Intamin could built a vertical lift, it would be laughed at. Also don't forget tht Fahrenheit's lift is 121 feet and the supports holding it up are nothing fancy with just single supports. By doubling the height, beefing up the support structure with using 4 instead of 1 it could be possible. I'm not saying that it's going to happen, but I don't think it should just be singled out because it never has been done at such a height.

I just noticed this and it reminded me that I still have some game credits for there. Hopefully I can use them here even though I got them in Philadelphia. I remember that their prizes looked awesome. Hopefully it's not in downtown (my dad doesn't feel like going in there). By the way, if anyone is interested in meeting up for Kennywood feel free to PM me.

The first drop angle looks like it's going to be in the 70 to 80 degree angle range. I found this out by looking at the main support (which I'm guessing is vertical) and comparing it to the track.

Ghostwood Estate, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a shooting dark ride? As for Exterminator I have never ridden a spinning wild mouse. To sum it up, the only rides that Kennywood has that I've ridden at another park is the SS Kenny, Log Jammer, but doesn't that have a drop that has a hill immediately right after it? Also Raging Rapids, but that has Hershey's CRR boats on it so I should be used to riding them, Musik Express, Pirate, Bumper Cars, Wave Swinger, and possible a few more. The rest of the rides I've never been on or experenced. As for Garfield's Nightmare, I am somewhat of a Garfield fan so it might be interested to looking into that. Oh, is it possible to do a little credit whoring on Lil' Phantom? lol For Kenny's Parkway would I need to pay to park to use it? My family are big ski lift fans.

That looks like it's going to be one steep lift hill. I am kind of hesintent to say vertical lift hill, but that base piece does seem a tad close to it. The way the track looks, the curves will be big, but I don't see any curves except for the pre station and transfer track pieces.

Finally! I am now traveling to a place that's farther west than Harrisburg! This trip is mainly a college visit trip where my family and me plan on leaving on Sunday August 2nd and arriving there later in the day. The next day I plan on visiting Robert Morris University for a visit and it might take approximately until mid afternoon. From thereI have no idea what to do since we will leave on Thursday August 6th to come home. This gives us around 2 1/2 days of pure nothing-ness. One of the days (possibly Tuesday August 4th) we will hopefully go to Kennywood. Kennywood is new territory for me because I have never been there and don't know what to expect as far as crowds, parking, prices, admission, and must-sees besides the coasters. If any TPR members are going that day I'm sure I could meet up with you guys. This would give us a day of nothing to do so what should we do as far as sightseeing? This goes as far as museums, mountain biking trails, cool places of interest, etc. Your advice is greatly appreciated!

I've been to Go Karts Plus once...... back in 1995 when I was 3! I don't remember much, but I do have so photos of me and my dad on one of the tracks and of me on a rocket ship ride similar to the train which is there now. Looks like a great place.

Twister at Knoebels is rough even though they retracked it two years ago. It wasn't bad last year, but the back and middle were terrible this year. The front seems to be better even though you are still bashed around. At the Ride Photo Booth there were two photos where someone played checkers and built a card tower while riding it. It had to be a very old photo from when it first opened or photoshopped.

I went to Sea Isle City back in 2000 and I remembered another park being there. It had bumper cars and a few others, but I forgot the name of it. I think it closed up not long after that. It's good to see Sea Isle get a park because it had to be one of the nicest looking beaches I've visited.

I hate to break it to you, but none of this is new. That gray car has been around for a year or so, not always on the track though. Merchandise appeared in 2007 or maybe even 2006. The footers between the helix and the road, next to the Flyers, are left over from the first attempt at a storage track (I'm not sure why anyone thought this was a good idea); the set by the brake run are the new location for the storage track. (I'm not going to get worried by the lack of one unless they hold up the opening for it, since the original plan was to open with one train til the other two could be made.) Was any track on-site yet for Kosmo's Kurves? The footers all appeared to be done three weeks ago, so I'm hoping they get it up soon. Really? I never saw that car sitting around and from when I saw it, the design of the car and the padding looked kind of official to me. As for merchandise, I never saw anything for Flying Turns last year or in 2007 for Flying Turns. I did see people working on it though and it seems like the brake run is the only thing to finish up (and the transfer). That's why I think that it could possibly open in the Fall.

Back when Twister was being built, Knoebels did try to get Mike Boodley and Clair Hain from GCI to help, but they were too busy. I have been used to Flying Turns to be under construction and for some reason I like it like that because it is always interesting walking by it and seeing what they are working on each day I visit.

I visited the park yesterday and look at what I have found! This is the only car I found like this, but it was also hooked up to 2 other prototype trains with several others sitting inside the station. The welding cage around the seats are different than the others and this one has padded seats. I do think that they are going to try to get it open for the Halloween events. They still need to add the transfer track back in which is sitting in sections behind the ride. There are still many unused footers, but a couple have the metal ancher on the top bent over. Maybe those are extra? Knoebels also has some merchandise for sale for the ride such as water bottles and t-shirts. I will have more photos included in my Trip Report which I will post very soon.

Typically launched coasters aren't launched on an incline (except for Maverick, but that uses LSM). Doing so probably wouldn't be good on the crest of the hill and it would produce insane airtime and speed at the base....unless.... lol.

Why is everyone saying it's going to be launched? Didn't we say a few pages ago that it will use a cable lift hill? There weren't any slots for brake fins on the lift pieces. The double spine track is probably going to be used at a high stress area such as the bottom of the drops.

Holy crap! Freestyle Music Park with an actual crowd? http://www.screamscape.com/html/fmp_-_general_0.htm Maybe things are starting to look up for the park. There are also some rumors about new rides and possibly a waterslide for 2010.

The End... It was fun while it lasted, but the carnival only allowed me to display Sandstorm untill Thursday. This ment that everything had to come down last night. What took 8 months worth of weekends to assemble was taken down in 1 hour and tossed into a trash barrel where I'll organize the pieces later. At 9PM the coaster train made it's last trip around the course with the same speed and aditude it did on Monday and was deconstructed not long after. To sum up everything, here are the key points of the week: -Hundreds to possibly a little over a thousand people stopped by to look at the two coasters and exhibits. -The most common questions were, "how long did it take to build?", "who built it?", and "is it a world record?". -Two of the lift hills used a new type of lift system that are almost like Intamin elevator lifts. The systems are new for a k'nex coaster and I found them to be efficient when you don't have many knots on the rope. -I have learned a lot about building k'nex roller coasters over the last few months while building Sandstorm and to confess, this was my first custom-built coaster I have done. Finally, I have been asked many times if I want to go for a record-breaking coaster next year? As of right now, I don't want to go that far... yet. I do have the pieces, but it would take a lot of time which is something I don't have a lot in the time for as of now. If I do go for a record, don't expect anything until 2011. Next year we want to do a recreation if a park nearby builds a new coaster or celebrates an anniversery for one. For right now I just want to practice my building skills. Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread and who gave me help and advice throughout the year. As a reward, here are the last batch of photos. I will post a video of the coaster sometime in the next few days! -Ccron10 (Chris) The second coaster called Over-The-Edge seemed just as popular as Sandstorm despite it's size. I was able to use a tutorial to create a chain dog for a Rippin' Rocket car. While Over-The-Edge wasn't as reliable as Sandstorm, there were a few times where it could run as long as 20 minutes before it would need some fixing. Then came the time I was dreading... 9PM. We ran the cars around one last time... Then parked them in the station and began the clean-up. Over-The-Edge took less than 15 minutes to take apart. Then it was Sandstorm's turn... It is now finished... Just like the saying goes... "Ashes to ashes... Dust to Dust." Thanks for everyone's help! It was a fun and enjoying experience. I should start work on another K'nex project sometime soon!

I remember riding my first "real coaster" Lightning Racer and I was pretty nervous. 2 days ago I got to ride a Tivoli Re-Mix at the carnival near my house and I think that was scarier and more intense than the Chance Zipper.

Day 1 went really well. Sandstorm was completely put up and by 6:30 we sent the train around the track for the first time. We also installed a spine running through the center of the track to make it stronger. The first run was very slow with the cars barely making it to the second lift hill and onto the 3rd lift. One of the biggest things I learned was never underestimate the power of WD-40! The next run sent the train ripping around the track to the point where we now have to worry about slowing the trains down to not damage the chain dog. A lot of people liked it yesterday and were very interested. Today so far has started out a little low. I took off the motors to protect them from a storm we had this afternoon. It was very windy and I am happy to say that the coaster survived intact. The only problem is that it's wet and it moved 2 feet and nothing fell off.... weird. More soon. It got crushed while geting it through the door in one piece. It will be fixed tonight.