vdejarnette

I'm curious as to what the maintenance reasons would be for not interlocking trains? Doesn't seem like any extra stress on the trains or the ride, just some on the operators to get a consistent dispatch interval. But what do I know! Two multi-ton trains = double the stress on the foundation. Due to the location/spacing of the concrete support pedestals at the water surface, it is likely that both loops are founded on a single mat footing that is now almost 40 years old.

Jeff, I saved that video to my HD a few years ago so that I could relive those memories a little more easily... She's still a great ride, but she's not quite what she used to be.

I remember riding Alpengeist back in '97 when it opened and a few years consecutively after that when the MCBR was not applied. It flew through the zero-g roll and corkscrew, and gave a nice pop of air time on the dive off the MCBR into the photo shack. Having ridden all the major B&M inverts of that era save the ones outside the US (Nemesis, Pyrenees or whatever it's called now) and Top Gun at CGA, I can safely say those were the most intense rides I've ever had on a B&M invert. Take that for what you will.

The cable above will be in tension supporting/bracing the cantilevered overhang of the yellow I-beam truss overhang. The same way many long span bridges are constructed. The yellow overhang can support itself without the cantilever cable (since it clearly isn't attached in the photo), so it is most likely being used primarily to brace the end against movement while it is discontinuous and to relieve some of the negative moment stress at the support for additional construction loads. http://www.bbr.com.sg/BC-cantilever.html

It looks like the only difference between the lift support structure of SkyRush and I305 is that it uses 2 plate girders for the arch instead of a arch truss-span between the 2 big support frames that Intimidator 305 used. I'd imagine this means the SkyRush arch beam was significantly cheaper to produce.

With all due respect you were 4 or 5 when Drachen Fire was closed, how could you possibly miss it? It was a beautiful looking coaster but it never rode nearly as well as it looked and the GP hated it for being physically abusive if you didn't know how to ride it right.