Shavethewhales

Comparing too closely what RMC is doing now to what other companies have attempted in the past is probably a mistake. The technology at play here is vastly different, not to mention the experience. It's not just the fact that they rebuilt NTAG, just the fact that the same designer that designed Powderkeg has designed this should give some pause. Also, this track technology has been tested and proven, and the engineering involved is sound, much unlike some parts of SOB. These guys know they need this coaster to be smooth for it to be a success - it's vital to the business these days.I'm not worried about it at all.

Wow, once again my assumptions are wrong. I don't think I've had a record this bad since the last time I played softball What in particular is amazing about the flight down to the valley? Is there something we aren't seeing, or is it just that the photos don't convey how crazy it is? I actually like the handrails since they give the ride so much mass to make it look more intimidating. I'm glad that's the only thing there is to really critique so far, everything else is just too mindblowing.

Thanks for the photos again chadster! ^^It will go under the lift at one point, but not over unless there's another surprise there. It looks like it's pulling up as the curve ends, so here's a chance for the first major airtime hill. The train will be hauling ASS at this point. I'm surprised how much work they've gotten in during the last few days. They're really hauling again.

I'm on the edge of my seat. I know there's a full 90 degrees left in just the first turn that we haven't seen. At this rate I half expect it to be doing barrel rolls through the rest of it.

I'm comfortable with the name 'Super-Stengel', since it's facing the wrong direction to be a cutback. I don't know if everyone realizes this or not, but the track leading up into this actually comes out of the lower right of the frame when you are looking at it straight on like in the photo posted earlier. I think I mentioned it before, but the track leading into this element is almost as crazy as the element itself. If the track had just switched sides at the apex, it would have been a roll. Which makes me wonder why they didn't go with it... but perhaps in retrospect this will actually be more intense and provide more hangtime. It certainly seems like this ride is designed to simply be the best ride possible rather than going for a gimmick or two.

^LOL, I'll be the first to admit I've been wrong on EVERY SINGLE piece of this coaster. I think I'll just shut up from now on about what I think it will do and see what on earth happens next. Just about anything is possible apparently. I'm trying to think of any other coaster with traditional trains that's as twisted as this one is turning out to be. Anyone know of any?

... and the surprises keep on coming. It wasn't a roll after all, but is it still an inversion? ACE has some new photos on their facebook page: Personally, it looks upside down to me, so I'd call it something like a cut-back. I guess we can argue about it until the next update.

The OzCat is NOT being moved, and at this point it is probably beyond the point where it can reasonably be setup to run again. They have kept it more or less maintained over the years, but it's been four years now of just sitting and they haven't actually been working on the track at all to keep it in shape. There's nothing reasonably salvageable on it at this point as far as the structure goes. The only rides remaining at CC are the flying carpet, an S&S double shot, and the supersplash they brought in for the final season. Both the S&S double shot and the supersplash have been rumored to be headed for SDC for years now. We'll see what happens. I can't wait for more shots. Surely there is more track in place by now.

Ugh, looking at that Mack SuperSplash knock-off makes me cringe. Not only is it another blatant rip-off, it's such a BAD rip-off. I personally think the Mack models themselves are funky and odd with the turntables and the pointless drop in the middle, but this is a step beyond that because it doesn't even have the turn tables or track, it's just a flume with an extraneously long elevated section that has a pointless dip in it. It just annoys me that instead of trying to actually make a good ride, they clearly only care that it looks like something their competitor built.

Very cool, thanks for the photos. I didn't realize that this park is starting off in a very similar fashion to SDC, what with the popular cave tours leading to adding rides and attractions. I'm surprised that the new coaster made the news in the Netherlands. I know it's on a mountain, but it's not like it hangs over the cliff or anything. I hope they are able to save up for a custom coaster that actually takes advantage of the terrain one of these days.

I don't think it has anything to do with dedication at this point. Knoebel's probably isn't in a position where they can simply cut their losses and tear it all down for something new. If they could, I'll bet they would just turn this whole thing into a bonfire at this point. Who knows how much they've sunk into this already. As an engineer myself I know that just the time itself for the workers/engineers involved really eats up the budget. I'm sure much of why it has taken so long is the fact that they simply haven't been working on it continuously. At some point they have to cut the budget and wait for new income before they can move forward again so that they don't bankrupt themselves over this thing. Perhaps now that work has started again they are ready for the final push to sort out all the bugs. I remember the last time they sent a train through the ride they videotaped it and it looked pretty good. Anyone remember what the remaining problems were that needed to be fixed?

I think even if this weren't made out of wood this particular inversion/layout would be intriguing. Besides the crazy drop, the pullout and curve leading up into the roll is very sharp and intense, and even the roll itself is looking oddly-shaped and intense. I think when you are riding this the roll is going to hit you out of no where, a lot of people aren't even going to see it coming. I think the airtime is coming though. After the turn out of the roll I'm betting there is an airtime hill that hops across the base of the drop before heading into a turnaround, and then maybe another airtime hill in the opposite direction to get it headed back toward where it will cross under the lift.

So there's new wood on site? Maybe that's an indication that some serious work is about to start again on it? Do you think they'll try to finish this ride before continuing with other additions, or is it simply on it's own track at this point?

I've heard that the park has been hurting for attendance during the last week due to the heat. I'll bet the next major addition is another water ride - probably the remaining one from CC. Thanks for the photos. I had thought for sure that the track would be inverted by now, but it looks like these bents are two-part, and they've got a lot of the lower stuff in place. They're probably going slower due to the heat as well. The new catwalks look nice. I haven't heard much complaining about Wildfire having rattle before. I didn't really notice any a month ago, but perhaps it gets worse when it's hotter and the wheels are breaking down.

It's not an issue of what they could do so much as will they. I certainly expect a lap-bar only design, but SDC's insurance company is really stupid so I could see there being pressure to add OSTR's just to have "safety theatre". Luckily these days no one is going to spend $15 million on a new star attraction and have it ruined by OSTR's, so I'm sure those details have been worked out. Posters on SDCFans have said the name will actually use the variant "Outlaw Run", though no hard sources have been cited. I have to say I really enjoy the thematics and story line that are shaping up already. As others have noted, the station looks like it is being themed around a stagecoach depot, and the actual ride story line looks like it will center around outlaws hijacking the stagecoach and sherriff's trying to run them down. I know most enthusiasts don't care, but I LOVE the fact that pretty much all of SDC's major rides have immersive and historic backgrounds.

It's not even a plan though, it's just a moronic post that's been cross-posted to a bunch of forums. I think this just shows that Lance is barely even looking at what he's posting these days.

^Why would there be a cutback going the wrong direction? This is on the outside of the curve. Look at the photos and the video chadster posted, it's not terribly hard to see where the footers are going. It would be painful if it were doing anything but a roll at this point. The track is pretty much inverted already, and the bents that are about to be put up seem to have the crossbeams on the other side indicating the track is about to switch over to that side. This whole section of the ride is indeed part of a 270-degree turnaround though, so I'm assuming that the exit from this roll will be a sweeping drop into the valley.

The track goes off to the right from the angle of those photos. It's not going to just be a bank because of the direction it's going. Plus, look at that track: It's already inverted. Don't tell me that's just an overbank, lol

Yes. Zero-G Roll. I kind of doubt it will be a true Zero-G roll, which is why I just call it a roll. With the crazy entrance and the angle that you're going through, there's got to be some forces going on in this thing. I wish there was a way to get a shot from the other side of this thing. It looks like it's going to be pretty wild right after the drop just getting up to this thing.

Meh, maybe I just got lucky. I'm still trying to gauge how much they actually care about the keeping people in suspense about the ride. Anyway big news: The roll is now tracked. It is indeed an inversion. Midwestinfoguide.com will have photos tomorrow apparently. Now I have to ask, what are the chances of there being more? Why just have one inversion on a big coaster? Anyone think there might be a vertical loop as well?

^^Yes, the different conductors all had different things to say it seemed like. Plus, this was before they had the 2013 site up, but they were at least mentioning it before when everyone on here was wondering why the park was being so quite about it. ^Can you post some screens? I can let you know how accurate it is as far as the route goes, since I've actually seen the layout of the footers.

Ha, I never thought about those track pieces being a tease, but they certainly have been sitting out in an oddly noticeable place for awhile now. ^They've been hinting about it for ages, just not to the "enthusiast" community. If you ride the train, they talk about it a lot and they actually make a connection to Wildfire, saying that one of Doc's experiments blew all the trees down and they just decided to go ahead and make something out of it. Anyone going this weekend? By now either the track or the rest of the bents are in place and the question of whether it is going to do a roll can be answered.

Very interesting photo, I never saw the bent on the ground until now. That does seem to confirm the suspicion that this is a roll. I just don't see any way around it now. I've been poring over these photos for awhile now with considerable doubt, but I have not found any other way the track could go but upside down. And yes, in the photos the footers veer off to the right. So it's drop, sharp upward lift to the left that levels off and goes into a roll to the RIGHT and then probably down through a curve to the left back towards where the whole thing began. So it's like an overbanked curve that gets interrupted by a roll... or something. It's VERY funky, I just hope it isn't rough.

The entire ride is topper track. Whether you want to call it steel, wood, or hybrid is up to you. I just call it a hybrid since it's different enough from the traditional wood style to have a different name. Man, the more I stare at the photos the more I can't wrap my head around where the track could go that doesn't involve the seemingly-obvious roll. The bents leading up to it are pretty strange too though. I think as soon as we can get some more photos this puzzle will be solved - they're probably adding track already at the rate they've been going. Won't it be great if the rest of the coaster is like this? Getting to wonder just what in the hell they're going to do next. Literally every part of this coaster has been a huge surprise for me personally so far.

^Yes, and the re-build was leaked as being the Rattler re-build taking place this off-season. I feel like we need to have a known-fact sheet or something for this thread, we keep asking the same things and having to go back and point to the RMC articles and interviews from five months or more ago.