QueerRudie

YUUUP: Bush Beast from RCDB.com Australia's Wonderland was a co-op between KECO and local developers- which explains the lineage of Bush Beast to Grizzly (GA).

Couldn't agree more,CGA's version is mirrored as well. When Grizzly was built, the original Wildcat profile from Coney Island, (Cincinatti, OH) was 'tamed down' quite a bit off of the two that were nearly identical (Wilde Beast/Grizzly KD) as it had fewer hills, as well as a more drawn-out course. Length wise, the rides are nearly identical- but with some minor 'tweaking' of the profile of the ride itself. The Bush Beast at Austrailia's Wonderland was a clone of the Grizzly at Great America- and featured a nearly identical layout- but with PTC trains similar to the Wilde Beast/ Grizzly.

4-2. Like a Boss. Not bad all things considered....

Legoland seems to have the right recipe to revitalize the park: Making it family friendly, showing some TLC to the different rides/attractions, and generally showing care is a good thing. Very often, parks will move in and 'try' to revitalize a park and fail. This I think will be the exception to the rule- and not the norm. Seeing so many changes is a good thing, as my last trip to CG was, well, bland.

Hmmm... I think I figured out what I'm doing for my 40th Birthday... ERT on Loch Ness Monster for three hours.

Thanks! I'd like to say that I'm an expert on Schwarzkopf's coasters- but that wouldn't be accurate: I happen to have followed His rides since my very first one back in (CLASSIFIED) at Busch Gardens: The Old Country... which just dated me quite a bit. With the renovation of the other Loopingracer coaster (sooperdooperLooper) and the new trains, I suspect SFMM will be pushed towards this sooner rather than later: The magnetic brakes are rapidly becoming standard on coasters, and the current Revolution trains are aging a bit- thus making replacement almost urgent. Now that people realize that the OTSRs were a huge mistake, perhaps we'll see the advent of seatbelts in the future on new vehicles. Re: Composite photo of Revolution from 1977: Schwarzkopf blocked the ride for up to six train operations, Revolution was delivered with five trains, and operated all five during it's initial few years. With one on the lift, one in the platform, one in the first 1/4 course, one in the Loop block, and one on the brakes, it could get dicey if you slowed down for even 1/10th of a second... I can imagine the ops back then having to hustle constantly to keep things from stacking up. Re: Trims: Schwarzkopf coasters were -never- delivered with trims. Not once. It is a misnomer to think of the blocks as trims, as they are not. All trimming of speed is an aftermarket feature that parks would build into a ride- SFMM was no exception. Most American parks adjusted the blocking stations on their Schwarzkopf coasters to trim speed as per their own needs. While some parks used the blocks as trim stations, some (SFMM!) were a bit heavy- handed when it came to it. With Revolution, additional trims were added throughout the cousrse, which if removed would deliver a world-class thrill again. R.D. Praise be to Anton

WOW, Aj... I've got 58, and I feel like I've climbed Everest- Way to go! Here's my 'final and corrected' sheet- it's the same callsign as the last one, but there are 18 or so more questions. coaster_trivia_general_RD IIb.xlsx

Revolution opened with- and operated- FIVE TRAINS. FIVE. FIVE TRAINS!!!!! (Nowadays, that would require a miracle from Schwarzkopf.)

1.) The capacity issues were in 1991 before the conversion took place- which was not too much longer in the future for Revolution. 2.) Revolution still draws enough of a crowd for capacity to matter: She might be old, she might be rusted, but she still packs quite a whollop for a ride of it's age. Mind you, she might not be as popular as in 75, but I know that's the first ride I'll head to at MM to this day... 3.) Gerstlauers new trains are still prototypes- and only two have been built for HersheyPark. If they are successful, I could see them selling well. The average lifespan of a Schwarzkopf MK2a or Mk2B train is about 30-35 years... and even with overhauls, the ride itself will need new trains in the future. Getting new trains is a good start, I think- but if they DO go to the new Gerstlauer trains, I can only hope they will opt for eliminating those nasty OTSRs. Well, 30 - 35 years is pretty long. Most coasters built 30 years ago don't have the original trains.(e.g. Colossus, SFMM) Agreed- but Schwarzkopf coasters tend to have some very good longevity with regards to trains- especially the Mk2 series coasters. HP's operated with theirs since 1977 without fail, and Mindbender got theirs second-hand from other parks. They are durable beasts, and can last- but as repairs get more expensive, you will find a need for new trains- especially the Mk2a and Mk2b series. Since they were built to handle heavier loads (Once again, fine German design!) they've lasted quite a bit longer than most coaster trains. I could see SFMM investing in overhauling Revolution with the Gerstlauer treatment- and using three five car trains.

It's not a law. There is no such law for OTSRs. It was an insurance company directive to raise rates. SFMM installed the restraints to keep costs low. If they DO get the new Gerstlauer trains, I suspect we'd see a feature such as seatbelts in place of the OTSRs, along with a refit along the same lines as HP's refit: New lift assemblies, magnetic braking, and other feature upgrades.

1.) The capacity issues were in 1991 before the conversion took place- which was not too much longer in the future for Revolution. 2.) Revolution still draws enough of a crowd for capacity to matter: She might be old, she might be rusted, but she still packs quite a whollop for a ride of it's age. Mind you, she might not be as popular as in 75, but I know that's the first ride I'll head to at MM to this day... 3.) Gerstlauers new trains are still prototypes- and only two have been built for HersheyPark. If they are successful, I could see them selling well. The average lifespan of a Schwarzkopf MK2a or Mk2B train is about 30-35 years... and even with overhauls, the ride itself will need new trains in the future. Getting new trains is a good start, I think- but if they DO go to the new Gerstlauer trains, I can only hope they will opt for eliminating those nasty OTSRs.

Due to the angle of the webcams/items around, X-flight isn't really showing off its true size compared to what's being built- which is a shame. In the end these pics (although great to look at!) are showing very little of the scale of the ride.

MOD NOTE: I honestly couldn't figure out what this thread was all about- or it's point therein. If anybody else can, let me know. R.D.

Awesome update, Adam. I'm curious though- it looked like they're doing a hefty amount of reconstruction on BTMR- normally they don't overscaffold track like that unless they're planning on replacing steel along the course. And the MK game looks -amazing- to me. I can only hope we get it here in the west ASAP, as I'd probably blow a lot of time playing the f'ing game myself!

Probably something along the lines of "Sue-happy idiots would run us into the ground if we kept the lap bars, so there ya go." -Aaron "Never got to ride a Schwarzkopf in its full glory because Revolution got castrated" H The reasons behind the OTSR 'debate' are far reaching, and in most cases not quite accurate. From my research into all things in His glory, the best information I can find is this: When insurance companies meet up with a park in an effort to raise their rates, the park panics. At the time the restraints were imposed onto Revolution, there was a need for capacity. The par and the insurance companies had their sides to the arguments, but in the end the issue came down to capacity. Whereas a seatbelt (Montezooma's Revenge) is more comfortable, and closer to what He would have wanted in this situation, OTSRs are faster... and more painful in this case. The restraint system itself came from Intaride- as they are the same OTSRs that were used on the first-gen Flashback (Intamin Z-Force) due to the size and position. (The Z-Force/Flashback vehicles had similar clearances seat-wise to those found on the Schwarzkopf Mk2A trains, and thus the OTSRs would have fit.) Now in the end, we could attribute some of this atrocity against His ride to being dreadfully cheap. While the OTSRs on a Mk3A train ("Pop Up" restraints and a Lap Bar) from Schwarzkopf would have been far more comfortable, the costs were too high. Ultimately, this is case of 'Penny Wise, Pound foolish' in its finest form. (And Revolution didn't get Castrated at all- the ride still has all sorts of goodness in it- but the OTSRS make that 'goodness' hard to find...) Praise be to Anton. R.D.

When I CAN see BBC4, it's usually what I watch anyway- so it's a good fit for your program, I think.

I gotta admit: Even I'd go on a water ride with a double-dip drop like that. New winner for the "Badass" log flume category...

I think overall this is a MAJOR step forward for the Cyclone, and one that is well due. Mike Boodley is also one of the record-holders for the Cyclone, as he marathon'd the coaster back in the late 70s. If there is anyone qualified to work with this, it would be him. GCI's track history has been impressive, and knowing that they will return some of the smoothness of Cyclones 'yout' to it will be a good thing. As for the new trains, I'm concerned there. While a set of MilF trains on it would be nice, for me the old four-bench overpadded monsters are something I grew up with (having been born and raised in Brooklyn!) so seeing new trains on it would be a major disappointment to me overall. Kudos though for the love for the Cyclone.

I'm 1 and 1 so far- but the keyboard/timing issues are a bit un-nerving... I guess it's up to learning curves there. However, after beating up something, I feel SO much better!!!

Simply stunning. Your work is always a treat to follow, and this is no exception to the rule. Finding such fine details and clear, concise arrangements requires a skill well beyond the norm- and it's a genuine pleasure to see your works here on TPR. R.D. GFMT

It's an unofficial TPR takeover right now. Now if they could relieve the fluid buildup...

Any advice with this is helpful; where coming up with questions can be tricky, I wanted to have a few 'ballbuster' questions in there as well- thus why a few of the names may be 'obscure' or 'hidden' in some terms. I've been going through my rusty brain trying to figure out some things such as 'taglines' for coasters- I.E. "Coiled and Ready to Strike" etc. but I'm sort of out of juice on that one for the time being- if there's a later update, that would be a totally different beast. Also: If there are questions that might not be of use, let me know those as well. I'm 'home' for the next four days due to an ear infection that's grounded me, so I'll have more time to work on some of these things in the background.

Robb & AJ: Here's version 2A of my spreadsheet: Hit a bit of writer's block today, but will try to crank out additional stuff tommorow. Also- I corrected the 'wrong' wrong answers and put 'right' answers where the wrong ones were. It should be right now. Right? R.D. coaster_trivia_general_RD IIa.xlsx

You know that's quite a statement when the home country of some of the most INSANE coasters on Earth has people asking for SkyRush... (And that's coming from a devout Schwarzkopf Believer...)

So long as you upload it to TPR, Coupon- after the requisite seven days at NE. (Hint, Hint.)