Redesigned trains in the works for X

[kraxleRIDAH]

Quin Checketts of S&S Power (son of company founder, Stan) confirmed that Six Flags has hired S&S to redesign X's vehicles to make them lighter (like the trains in operation on Eejanaika) in hopes to increase operational efficiency.

 

Now, it's a matter of time when we find out when this will happen --- and whether or not Eejanaika's dropping floor system will be integrated in X's loading platform, or if its strictly just a redesign of the trains. And when they say redesign...new trains? Or modifications of the old chasis?

 

The article also talks about X's problematic history, its capacity, and other interesting tidbits...

[Xtreme-me]

Wow, that wasnt expected at all. I hope they dont put in the dropping floor thing because that would make the ride an even bigger hastlet to have to deal with that and then they would have to completely redo the station. What does the retracting floor do anyways?

[kraxleRIDAH]

^ The retracting floor makes the loading/unloading process a bit faster.

 

X's system operates in which every seat on the train first have to be tilted backwards to advance from unload station to load station. To tilt the seats backward, a pneumatic system lifts or lowers the third and fourth rails on the track in the loading platform (the extra set of rails is what's responsible for spinning the seats). This process is time consuming and adds to the unload/load time.

 

Eejanaika trains do not need the seats titled backwards to advance from unload to load station. The floor simply drops a little and the train proceeds into the next station. That simple.

[coasterjunkie91350]

All i can say is its about damn time they looked into the issues x has with the lift killer trains it has the weight has always been a problem so bad they had to reweld the track yearly and the noise the lift made when the trains hit it tells you we are too heavy hope s&s can cook up a really awsome train setup for it and maybe mod way the seats look i hate bucket seats make them more like bike seats and then the riders will start pileing in

[Xtreme-me]

Are the lowering floors connected on Eejanaika? If so, would the train just sit outside the station once its finished its cycle?

[savemagicmountain]

I hope the trains get the same foot rests Tatsu has because my only complaint about X is after I get off my calves hurt really bad

[Xtreme-me]

do you mean ankle Braces? that would just hurt your ankles too!

[Top Thrill Dragster]

This great news that X will get new trains. As for the lowering floors, I don't think Six Flags will put out that much money to modify the station.

[deano]

Wouldnt lighter seats then change the whole ride experience?

 

If the seats arent as heavy, surely the speed of the train will be affected, therefore the turns and drops wont be taken as fast. It could mean a smoother ride already, as long as the train makes it back to the station of course.

[kraxleRIDAH]

^ Actually, with a lighter train, it'll mean slightly faster ride. Take Eejanaika for instance...its trains have less cars than X does, yet it maintains good speed due in part to lighter coaches. You'll also notice in a similar instance on Superman The Escape that if a car is launched with no riders, the car climbs up the tower coming close to the very top, as opposed to a fully loaded car, the car barely goes over 3/4 of the way up.

[deano]

I never thought of it that way, it just seems natural to me that more weight would mean more speed, but your right.

 

Do you think they'll actually drop the amount of cars on X though?

[Noobitizer]

good question. If X does drop down to the 5 Car per train system, we could very well see dropping floors. Though I think SFMM will just have to adjust the queue system to work with 5, as Trains can cost a pretty penny.

[Jive]

I've always wondered just how much trains cost. I'm guessing (and probably right) that X's trains are the most expensive out there.

[Blnkgttrst]

The speed thing shouldnt be an issue but if it was you could always put on different types of wheels

[Xtreme-me]

They tried the whole "replacing the wheels" thing on X already didnt they? As for Five Seat trains, I some how cant really see that happening at all. They would have to still change the station around. I doubt adding two more cars could do anything to the ride in terms of making it smooth.

[downunder]

I really like X, and it would be excellent if this happens. I know some people I was travelling with last year who aren't coaster enthusiasts who were so disappointed when X wasn't running last year. I've been to Magic Mountain 7 times in the last five years since X "opened" and it's only been running two of those days.

 

It deserves the treatment, it is the absolute standout at the mountain as far as I am concerned (puts on flame prooof suit), and I am sure more people would come if it was widely known that X was operating consistently.

[Blazen_AZN]

^ Actually, with a lighter train, it'll mean slightly faster ride. Take Eejanaika for instance...its trains have less cars than X does, yet it maintains good speed due in part to lighter coaches. You'll also notice in a similar instance on Superman The Escape that if a car is launched with no riders, the car climbs up the tower coming close to the very top, as opposed to a fully loaded car, the car barely goes over 3/4 of the way up.

 

 

There is a difference, Superman is launched.

 

Think about Psyclone, they needed a certain number of people on the train to run it to be sure it wouldn't valley.

 

 

Also, how is dropping and rasing a floor any faster then dropping or raising the third and fourth rails?

[coastrfreak2000]

OMG, kraxle! You misspelled "little" in the topic sub-title!

 

You have to go stab yourself now!

[Xtreme-me]

I know this is off topic but do you think any other designer will ever attempt to create a 4-D coaster? (the one that doesnt spin at port adventura doesnt count)

[MagicMountainMan]

I never thought of it that way, it just seems natural to me that more weight would mean more speed, but your right.

 

I just did a science fair project on something like this... Technically, the more weight you add doesn't increase the speed, the angle of descent does. (Maybe Goliath would go faster it it had a steeper first hill)

 

There is a difference, Superman is launched.

 

Think about Psyclone, they needed a certain number of people on the train to run it to be sure it wouldn't valley.

 

That's because weight affects the momentum of the ride, not the speed. When there is no air resistance, everything will fall at the same speed, if dropped at the same angle. On Psyclone, the extra weight was needed because it needs the momentum to get through the ride properly.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

^^There are two coming out this year, but I believe that they are free spinning not controlled.

 

http://www.rcdb.com/installationresult.htm?column=1,2,3,26,4,5&order=1,2&opened=2007&status=9,13

[ebl]

If S&S can make X smoother, then I'll start riding it again. The trains on Eejanaika have padding on the lower part of the car, right where your calves go. That would help greatly, but having an ankle restraint similar to that on the B&M flying coasters would be even better.

 

Getting beaten up on X is why I don't like to ride it.

 

I'm surprised that the dropping floor wasn't incorporated into the original design for X. It's a proven design on inverted coasters and has worked well. It just seems too complicated to have that whole seat rotation thing when trains are moved into and out of load and unload. A very time consuming process indeed---and a capacity-killer to boot.

 

Eric

[Noobitizer]

They tried the whole "replacing the wheels" thing on X already didnt they? As for Five Seat trains, I some how cant really see that happening at all. They would have to still change the station around. I doubt adding two more cars could do anything to the ride in terms of making it smooth.

 

Actually, adding 2 cars can add a great deal of stress on the trains. The extra weight of train, and length can change the dynamics of the whole thing, maybe smoothing some of the bumpyness out. I'm sure theres a reason why japans 4D was modded to have 5 trains. Just an engineers POV. Maybe they will go to five cars, weren't they having problems with stress in the track anyways?

[Tmcdllr]

I doubt the retractable floor will be installed for the simple fact that those sections of track in the station that would be under this floor would have to be replaced with track pieces that kept the seats upright, and maybe a track section or two before and after that would need to be replaced to position them upright before entering the station and tilt them back after leaving it.

[slick]

I doubt the retractable floor will be installed for the simple fact that those sections of track in the station that would be under this floor would have to be replaced with track pieces that kept the seats upright, and maybe a track section or two before and after that would need to be replaced to position them upright before entering the station and tilt them back after leaving it.

 

I'd say if they were replacing trains worth several hundred thousand a piece, fabrication of new track doesn't seem like much in the scheme of things.