GuruGuys

Dropped by The Bullet on the way home and not much change. The problem area is currently covered by blue tarps which appear to be there to protect the workers from the sun, not necessarily the track. I hope they get it testing again this by this weekend. -GG

Huh, won't it be open pretty much all year? It wouldn't shut down for winter, would it? It will be open all year just like the rest of the park. Hours that the coaster will run during winter weekdays have not been determined but I would imagine the coaster will run in afternoons on weekdays only due to lower crowds during the day. -GG

It's a secret Coasterphotos can not identify the true nature of his superpowers! His alter ego is busy enough as it is! I really like: http://www.coasterphotos.com/maingallery/v/Kemah/2006/082007/Boardwalk_Bullet-082007-21.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1 How do they get this thing to wind though so much dense structure! Great job on the pics! Wish the train was still running though! -GG

A bit of bad news reached today. The problem area of the track which has been mentioned before on this thread is measuring barely out of spec. From my understanding there is an area where the back car is reaching over the G limit. All the other cars are in spec and the rest of the track is good. They have been waiting engineering results to see about the fix and knew it would either be a very easy, or hard fix. Well apparently is going to be the harder fix. They are not planning on running any more tests most of the week as they will be working to correct the problem and get the ride totally within spec. Not many other details are known at this point - once we find out more we will pass it along but if I don't respond to questions about this it's not because I'm ignoring its just cause I don't know yet. No need to speculate. Several of the folks at M&V have told me that this is by far the hardest coaster they have ever worked on. Gravity Group is really pushing the limits and I have no doubt this is going to result in a truly unique ride. Good things come to those who wait! Also, Coasterphoto has some very nice pictures to post later today from a perspective which few human eyes, much less camera, have been able to see -GG

Everything looked right to me. I didn't know we got that much coverage, it was time well spent! I won't be editing my video anymore, what you got here pretty much covers it. Once you get the new footage tomorrow it will be even better. -GG

This was taken from the first few runs of the new train being broken in. It was considerably slower than the other train which went over the hills quite a bit faster (but still not super fast). -GG

Nobody will estimate a date at this point. It will open silently apparently. No grand opening etc. One day it will just be open, might even be the middle of the day. If the weather is OK this week, and all the testing goes as planned, I would bet money it is open by next weekend. That is a lot of ifs however. -GG

I have updated my video with about 14 seconds of new footage/better coverage of the train. I still don't have the bit where the train goes through that wicked turn but that is soon to come as I recorded it on Jasons cam. The video is now located at: www.theguruguys.com/BoardwalkBullet/Boa ... t_Runs.wmv This video is twice the size and bitrate of the old one. -GG

To my understanding they are working to get test hours in on the track. There is one part of track that may or may not need adjusting. -GG

NICE pics! You really killed with this round, by far the best pics of the Coaster in action. Why didn't you crop out that fat bald guy though? The turn we spoke about in previous posts. http://www.coasterphotos.com/maingallery/v/Kemah/2006/081807/Kemah-Testing-081807-87.jpg.html

Yeah, it really is sick, and the angles that CoasterPhoto has in his picks really show it. One second the coaster is headed right, the next left, RIGHT out of the first drop. It looks almost impossible from some angles. -GG

Everything is going well. They are currently testing train #2 and getting it broken in, its currently going a bit slower than the first train. Testing should continue to resume throughout the next few days. Here are a few new pictures but be sure to check out www.coasterphotos.com website for even better pictures - he has some real nice ones that will be up later tonight. I am re-editing my video with better footage and will post the finished version later tonight if things go well. Ride Controls Perhaps the cleanest lift station you'll ever see! View From Ride Controls Close up of test car #2. As I understand it, each dummy contains enough water to weigh in at 175lbs. A great view of the bay as the operator enjoys more successful test runs. Another view from train station.

Pretty Amazing that this little parking lot has been replaced by 3300+ feet of track. Oh, and I learned today that the Bullet is built to withstand a Category 5

First of all, I've lived in Houston all my life and never been 'stuck' in a category 4 or 5 storm. Alicia hit us dead on in 1983, it was borderline Cat4. I remember going outside a few minutes while the eye was over us. We lived about 30 miles inland and in a very sturdy building. Secondly, I never said that if this storm comes our way, it would be nothing. As I said I have lived in Houston all my life. I've been through every Hurricane throughout that time with Alicia being one of the strongest. I never said a Hurricane can't hit us. I'm saying its too early to tell everyone to go fill up their gas - it will be empty by the time it hits. Its too early for people to panic. The local radio station heads off with a terrifying news blurb telling people to brace themselves etc, then the meteorologist who at least has some sense corrects them and states "Well, I wouldn't go that far. If you haven't done your annual Hurricane preparedness now is a good time." I don't disagree. but getting people put up in a frenzy this far in advance is ludicrous. There is a balance to be met. Now, come Monday or Tuesday, when we know more then people can decide if they need to evacuate, in fact, the City will tell you. Right now they still have it projected from way deep in Mexico to Louisiana. Its anyones guess. This is way off topic so I'll leave it at this. -GG (Rant Mode=Off)

What, according to the sign I am supposed to keep my gas tank full. The storm won't even hit until next Thursday/Friday if it even hits at all. By then I will run out of gas 2-3 times with normal driving. Am I supposed to stop every time I burn 3/4th a tank and top it off? No thanks. Give me my normal traffic time estimates. When Monday rolls around, then change the signs over. People overreacted during last hurricane. People as far as 60-70 miles inland were evacuating. I lived here during Alicia and lived about 30 miles inland. They loose steam pretty fast when they hit land. On top of that, Houston isn't the bowl that New Orleans is. When Houston flooded bad it was cause of weeks of rain then a tropical depression that stalled. Hurricanes don't stall that soon, they keep on going. Way more people evacuated last time than need be which is why he had the worst gridlock in a major city ever. Its one thing to be aware of the storm and have the right supplies, another thing to cause more fear and anxiety than necessary. I'm willing to bet the local news will spend half the show (yes, it is a show, not news anymore) touting the storm. -GG

Not much rain at Kemah today. We won't really have a good idea of where that hurricane is headed until next Wednesday. Not sure why they want to get Houston all panicky this early.

Friday update. Tests were run last night and the data has been processed. One piece of track needs adjusting then they should be ready to get the 100 or so hours of testing they need to get. Its really close and is getting very near their calculated speeds on the first hill. Expecting more data testing Saturday and the weather should be OK.

Its going to be close I think. We will really know when we are getting close when we see the Coaster test running all day for several days. If its not to that point by this weekend then Dean might put a hamper on it all. -GG

Oh yeah. We plan to get our money worth out of an all day pass Questions that have yet to be answered: will they have to run the trains full all the time. Sometimes it won't be an issue, but other times I can see you having to wait for a full train to ride... -GG

Yes, but they don't always do that apparently. When I was talking to them last night I asked how they managed when the bay was rough. They can't and don't. So the key is to ride it with a rough bay, you get wetter, a wilder ride and no distractions.

Yeah, pretty easy to tell them apart. One is surrounded by tall buildings, the other by water Hope to see you out here on your next trip to Texas.

Yup, they have two Aquarium restaurants now. One in downtown Houston. The downtown location has some midway games, a ferris wheel and some kiddie rides. The Downtown location also has a small zoo and a train ride. The Boardwalk location has grown big time in the past 2 years and from the looks of things they probably won't stop with the Boardwalk Bullet. It would have been really cool if they could have built a coaster at the downtown location!

I should clarify, the Kemah Boardwalk has another boat ride called the Boardwalk Beast which tops out around 55 MPH so I'm speaking of which ride would be the fastest at Kemah. -GG

So It will be the Kemah Boardwalk Speed Challenge. Who will have the fastest ride, the Beast or the Bullet? -GG

The Rain hasn't. It supposed to rain most of the day tommorow. They haven't begun testing, measurements, training, etc. Although there has been no announced opening, had they weather cooperated, we were looking as early as Tuesday next week. With this weather we will be lucky for late next week, at that time another storm will be about to hit likely bringing even more rain or worse... While I would have bet money it was open by labor day weekend, I am now seeing a worst case scenario where that might not happen.