ZeroGravity55

I heard that American Thunder wasn't even supposed to go to SFSTL either. Corporate was forced to move it there because of construction restrictions at SFNE. Don't know if that's true or not, it's just what I heard.

^ They don't duel at Holiday World! It's a family-friendly environment lol

I'd love to see a Dragon or Shark themed Timberliner. I really like Iron Rattler's train! You can't forget the tail!

So James Franklin and Chris Peterson have emerged as the favorites for the USC job. Thoughts? http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/college-football/story/_/id/10065898/usc-trojans-top-candidates-james-franklin-chris-petersen-sources-say

Man that game was unbelievable. It was very entertaining, but I've never seen a Nick Saban coached team make so many stupid mental mistakes. They were consistently shooting themselves in the foot. It wasn't only player errors, but coaching errors too. They did not look like a team that had won two straight national championships.

I'll say this, if corporate decides to make a major investment in the park, the attraction better be a show-stopper. It needs to be something that will make people wanna drive 3+ hours to come to the park. The competition that surrounds SFSTL is too great for it not to be that kind of an attraction. I don't think a standard B&M hyper is going to cut it. It has to be something close to Outlaw Run or Goliath, but it doesn't have to be a wooden roller coaster. It just needs to be something that'll makes your jaw drop every time you look at it.

^ RMC offers the thrills of a steel coaster at a relatively cheap price compared to steel coasters. I also think it's very likely that there will be a RMC in most Six Flags parks in the next 5-10 years. Hopefully corporate doesn't leave SFSTL off the list.

I've only rode The Voyage and I love it. Is it better than previous years? Yes. Voyage in 2010 vs Voyage in 2013 was night and day for me. Is is still rough? Yes. HW will never be able to get that ride to stay smooth over the course of the season with the way they run it. No trims + daily operation from May to August kill every bit of track work they put into it over the season. As for the other TGG rides, while I've never rode any of them, I have to say that the best looking designs are over in China. They sure do know how to pack their rides full of airtime.

I'm all for anything that has to do with RMC and I don't care if it's a Boss renovation or a brand new coaster.

Yeah I was thinking from a maintenance perspective. Thought it would be easier to get it up to the break run than take it completely off the tracks. I forgot about the guest aspect. I know that the break-run allows them to run three trains, but I have a hard time understanding why it was placed right after the second drop. I wouldn't complain one bit if it got removed in an RMC I-Box conversion.

Werid that CCI didn't think there could be a chance of a valley there. If I'm correct, I don't I don't think there are any anti-rollback devices going up the hill to the break run.

^ Just curious, do you know where the train valleys at?

^ I read something about that before. I always just assumed that it was to cold for the trains to make it around the track. Which that could be the case since cold weather makes the grease thick. I've heard The Boss has had trouble running in cooler temperatures anyway. Anybody know if this is true?

From what I've read and heard, people who road the Legend at HW with the G-Trains and PTC's have said that difference was quite noticeable and the ride was a lot better. Of course, that was after two years of operation, not 13. I still think PTC's will help take a lot of the shake of the ride and make it better.

When you're talking about replacing that much feet of track and consider how much wood is actually used to replace that track, it can get a little on the pricey side. If it were cheap to replace the wood, nobody would be talking about how rough the Voyage can be. There is a reason why Six Flags is converting all these woodies with the RMC I-Box. Wooden Coasters (especially CCI's/ TGG's) are expensive to maintain and SF will probably end up making their money back in 10-20 years on these conversions.

I've rode two HydroMagnetics, both at Holiday World. Wildebeast definitely is the ultimate thrill. Depending on how much weight you have and where you have it distributed, you can get some OMFG airtime, especially in the back. Mammoth is completely different. This ride is just pure fun and you will get absolutely SOAKED. One of my favorite things about the ride is being able to face all your friends and going backwards down the 45 degree drops. I've unfortunately never been able to ride the other two and hope I get to someday.

^ That's a good point there on capacity. Six Flags could send them back to PTC and have them refurbished. HW does that every off-season with all six of their trains. The main problem with that is it cost some money. From SF perspective, I can see why they don't do it. 1.) As you mentioned, those trains would lower capacity. ( Two Six car trains with ratchet bars and seat belts). 2.) Why spend the money when you have plenty of replacement parts for the current trains? I wouldn't be surprised if SFStL had the old Rattler trains to use for parts on Screamin' Eagle. ^^ Depends on what type of shape they were in. As I said, a refurb could be done, but it would probably be cheaper to scrap them for parts.

Doesn't Six Flags have an extra pair of PTC's trains from old Rattler at Fiesta Texas?

I wouldn't call The Boss bone jaring rough, but it shakes a lot more than a woodie is supposed to. It gives me a headache more than anything. I do think that the G-Trains are half of The Boss's problem. I honestly think PTC's would improve the ride. To bad The Boss will never get new trains, because SFStL seems to have every set of G-Trains from every SF park that is now closed. They'll probably get the ones that ran on Medusa at SFM. They should have plenty of parts to fix anything wrong with the current trains!

^ "The Plague" Now that's funny.

I'll give that to HW. They paid for the ride and aren't afraid of the re-tracking it might require to keep it running at full speed. With that said, I do think that the re-tracking needs of The Voyage become to much for them to handle/afford, especially with two other woodies that need attention in the park. IMO, I think that they should purchase RMC topper track for the problem areas of the ride (mainly the turn-around and couple of spots after the break-run). Then they can focus on the rest of the ride and hopefully keep it running in top form.

^ Good point!

TGG posted a Offride video and POV of their Story Land coaster on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzLT8X_bNfY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhW8kF99DWs They also said that the coasters in China will range from "ground hugging terrain coasters to cutting edge wooden coasters that go upside-down." http://thegravitygroup.com/gravitycast/

HW just posted a photo on their Instagram showing brand new wood on The Voyage's first 90 degree turn!

I found what Alan Schilke said about longer rides to be interesting. I couldn't tell if he was talking about getting his hands on a current ride that was long or a brand new ride being longer. Maybe he wants to get his hands on both? Either way, I'm all for longer/bigger RMC coasters!