peteb

I think there are people that believe Intamin makes every part that goes into their rides. The're just like all engineering firms that outsource lots of parts and systems because you can't fabricate everything. Like making cables. I'm sure their engineers figured out what kind of cable they needed for the load requirements etc. and were even given some basic guidelines for wear and fatigue by a vendor. But you have to rememeber they're not like an automobile company that will build 100 of everything and test them to death before selling 1 to the public, they just can't. So they put in safety systems just in case failure occurs, you figure out the problems when they happen, make improvements and move on. It's the reason the coasters you ride today are better than the ones built 20 years ago. Smart people learn from problems because things are imperfect, make improvements and keep moving forward. No doubt there are good engineers at Intamin and I'm sure they don't take safety lightly. And I guarantee they put lots of enginneering time into that cable system. Remember, they're doing all the hard work. We're just along for the ride.

There is a lot of energy in that cable during launch. And what happens to cables that suddenly fail under tremendous forces is not pretty or very predictable. The cable is definitely the weak link in these systems, LSM and LIM launches definitely are the safer way to go. Let's just hope they can figure out the failure mechanism, maybe it's number of cycles, and come up with a solution. I'm thankful the riders did not get seriously injured.

Posting rule #4 4. Do NOT use "text message shorthand" - Use the proper English and complete spelling of words. Do not shorten "you" to "u", etc. You're not messaging on a cell phone, you're typing on a computer. You have a full sized keyboard in front of you - USE IT! (The most common uses like LOL, WTF, are ok....but none of this "l33tOMG111" whatever speak!)

Good to hear that the audio is set up well on the trains. My home park, SFGADV recently upgraded Medusa to Bizarro and the sound system just kills the ride; annoying music and so loud and shrill it makes your ears hurt. I'm still somewhat undecided whether I like music on coasters since I enjoy the roar of the coaster and the wind above any soundtrack, but I think if done well it could be okay. Is there a no music option you can select?

I keep hearing comments about how BBW was a maintenance nightmare, however either BGE has an excellent maintenance staff(which I believe it does), the ride was not as un-reliable as people say, or the park understood what a draw this this attraction was and decided it was worth the expense to keep it running for 25 years. I personally have been to BGE many times starting in 1984 when the ride opened and have never seen BBW down, or had a bad ride on it Typically real maintenance nightmares get torn down pretty early in their life. I would love to see a similar replacement. My local park, SFGADV, has suffered badly due to the removal of most of it's flat rides and fun family rides with no replacement except 3 coasters to the tune of 42+ million (Kingda Ka and El Toro, Dark Knight), two which were a waste of money IMO. I think BGE is smarter than that and is probably taking it's time to make some good decisions (we hope) to improve the entire park.

I agree completely. You would think we'd be getting smarter as a society, but as we become more advanced we seem to need more technology to keep us from doing stupid things.

Looks like a good addition to the park, but it's too bad it doesn't have traditional flume like vehicles with no restraints; the ride isn't that big.

I still can't believe they're taking out BBW. It's still running great after all these years and it's such a good ride I can't imagine any replacement would be better. This ride is so unique and works so perfectly with the terrain I just don't know how you can do better than maybe a modern replacement of the same ride (not a flyer, please !)

Is this using a new style track? It looks different than the typical Intamin lattice box type track. Looks like a simpler design with a backbone and track tie configuration.

I rode Hercules in it's second season; the first drop was incredible at the time. The train was really moving before it hit the drop and the speed was just incredible down the hill (no trims). The first drop of El Toro reminds me a lot of the first drop of Hercules. (only speed and acceleration, we won't talk about smoothness) Then came the banked turnaround and to this day I have no idea how such a large radius, banked turn can be so horribly rough. The train shuffled and banged it's way through so badly that your brain hurt. After that I remember not caring much about the rest of the layout since all you could think about is your head and back hurting from the shaking. It's the only coaster I've ever ridden that consistently gave me a headache every time I rode it. It was a huge ride for it's day but obviously the designers and no clue about how to build track properly. And it had nothing to do with the PTC trains; even the slow sections were rough and I've been on very smooth PTC equipped coasters.

I just love BBW; I can't believe they're removing it but I can only hope they might consider replacing it with a modern equivalent. The Arrow suspended coasters are just too unique to have them all disappear. Nothing compares to the final dive into the Rhine River at the end, especially at night.

This is a great smooth ride, but the pretzel loop just gives me a headache. I thought the same of Superman at SFGADV, a good ride but the pretzel loop makes me not want to ride it again, especially in the back where it can just be painful through the pretzel.

My first impression is that these things look light, not a lot of structure. But maybe they're onto something since GG is touting the lightweight balanced nature of the trains. The train appears to be flying over the tracks, so I think we're in for a completely new ride experience from existing coasters.

Here's a video of the prototype running at the S&S plant; they call the coaster Freefly. Looks like a great new concept, and it works ! Here is the link: http://www.thinkercreative.com/finalsite/coasters/freefly/freefly.php

If you view these rides as a system it makes sense for GG to have their own trains instead of being limited by an old outside design. GCI and Intamin really changed woodies by combining quality track fabrication with good train design. Wjat we really need to see is a new GG coaster designed around the new trains. I think PTC will survive for a while on refurb and parts sales, but I think it's pretty clear that the major woodie manufacturers don't think they have anything to offer for the future.

Wildcat is much less jarring with the MF trains and negotiates the course much smoohter, however the lap bars have a nasty tendency to ratchet down during the ride to the point where it can be painful for many. I wish GCI would address this, it's really hard to even think about enjoying the ride when all you want is for it to be over so the lapbar can be unwedged from your gut.

Arrow suspended coasters just work really well as terrain coasters and Eagle Fortress is one of the rare combinations of the right ride and good design in the perfect location.

It would make sense for the new train design to be a collaboration. SFMM has all kinds of field experience and knowledge about the X ride system that designers can't get. On the other hand the designers have engineering expertise and resources that go beyond what an end user is capable of. You would expect if you put the two together you could wind up with a good second generation product; it happens all the time in industry.

Looks like Boardwalk Bullet could be GG's Drachen Fire. Maybe this ride just shows the limits of the company's abilities. Sure early GCI coasters had some rough spots, but they apparently went to work, designed they're own trains and figured out how to track a ride that's smooth and doesn't fall apart after a few years. And then there's Intamin who's probably using this as advertising for their wooden coasters.

I wonder if Eejanaika will be getting their trains upgraded as well since those apparently are some version in between X's and these, especially if the new versions improve things on X.

Looking at the difference in the way many of the pieces are fabricated compared to the old trains (lots of cutouts, even on the wheel carriers) looks if light weight was the goal.

Wow ! These are not like Eejanaika's trains at all; look redesigned from ground up. Looks like they ditched the solid pickle fork type seat supports for a unibody type structure. Should be stronger and lighter. So maybe X2 won't dissappoint.

I'm really impressed with the reverse POV; looks like the train is dancing all over the track by the looks of the wheel marks on the track, yet the video makes it look fairly smooth. I think the reverse POV is an awesome idea; loved it in the Renegade video as well which really gives you an idea how fast the ride is. Also gives you a good look at the quality of the trackwork and how well the chassis negotiate the course.

I think it's safe to assume that whatever the specifics are of the track system it will be made from precision milled laminated lumber (that's what Holzbau Cordes specializes in) and not boards and nails. I think using prefab track on wooden coasters is such a good idea that there's no reason other manufacturers won't start using this technology.

I've been on GASM at SFGADV on a train that just had a major refurb and couldn't believe how fast and relatively smooth the ride was. I think unfortunately most Arrow rides out there are getting pretty well neglected ; most of them in their day were truly spectacular but they tend to get bashed because they're compared with newer rides built with modern technology.