robbalvey Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 ^ I'm pretty sure the construction of X was a LOT longer than 6 months. In fact, it opened probably about 6 months late. That's always the problem with visiting parks in So Cal during our off-season. You pretty much will find one or two major rides closed. --Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 ^Touche. I kind of forgot about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfmmfreak101 Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Luckily, SFMM has enough other rides to keep any rider content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Freeman Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Regarding the whole "weight to speed" issue; the less weight, the slower it will go. Now that may have you wondering if it'll valley, but there is one thing that they can (and probably will) do. When the ride was built and started it's first cycles, the lift was too fast, and the trains were too heavy so it caused too much stress. So to solve this, they slowed it down. Now that the trains are lighter, they can speed up the lift to keep it at the same speed throughout the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackAdam Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 When this entire project was announced, I thought we were getting those same Eejanaika trains, which proved to be a bit of an improvement over X's in terms of weight, but delivered nothing but a rough ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRACHEN_FIRE_FAN-BOY Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 I just want to make one thing clear, Im not saying the covering of the train, all Im talking about is the elephant ears.... and I hope these trains are gonna be way better than Eejanaika, I mean after all they finally got rid of the "pickle fork". I wonder if all the trains are gonna be different colors? (Im sorry if it's an obvious question, my internet is slow at downloading things ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkMeasures Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 After seeing these new trains. I think S&S should focus on re-engineering their suspended coaster trains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxegon Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 That's always the problem with visiting parks in So Cal during our off-season. You pretty much will find one or two major rides closed. Shrug. Third time lucky for Superman I hope... it's been shut on me twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIP Psyclone Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Eejanaika's trains have many holes cut out as well, but they're BLACK! Just picture this train without the fiberglass rack covers, and doesn't it look SWEET? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 ^ Tim discussed the differences between Eejanaika's trains and the new X2 trains. He said that while some of the design ideas were implemented for the Eejanaika trains, they have more in common with the older X trains. --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcrider Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 The new trains do have a cool sexy look to them. They should hold up a lot better, too. The new chair support looks like it can hold up a small bridge, definitely stronger and more lightweight than the older set of prongs (sorry, "pickle forks"). But long term smoothness? I don't know, the nature of this ride and the cars hanging off either side of the track like diving boards, there's going to be a lot more wear than a traditional coaster car sitting directly on the track, as we've already seen. I really want to see this new type of coaster escape its prototype status (can you imagine the possibilities now with S&S-type launches?) but am just not sure. I guess time will tell for this next batch of trains. Do you know if there's polyurethane on those big wheels? It's kind of hard to tell even with the great closeups, unless maybe it's gray to blend in with the cast wheels. Somehow metal on metal would not seem like the best choice to keep a smooth ride, either. I see the wheels are contoured to the track, so that should at least make stronger contact with the track and keep things B&M-smooth, at least from the main chassis. Ok, end pseudo-engineering geek rant / analysis. But I really hope this new design does improve the ride experience. I remember riding it the year it opened (also waiting in the loooong lines) and thinking that it was the best thing ever, then a couple years ago experiencing one of the most violent, unholy rides ever. I think I could actually feel my brain bouncing around in my head, it was awful. I wouldn't mind giving the ride another try if iI know it's going to be more stable, and this new design is showing promise. Any mention too on the even sexier special effects tunnels? I mean, wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downunder Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Awesome report, I really liked X before the X-change in spite of all it's shortcomings - so all these changes might even bump it further up my rankings. Shame I probably won't be in LA this year to ride it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfilkins Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 In the pics showing the differences in the wheel trolleys, I can't help but wonder how the new wheels will articulate with the curvature in the tracks. On the original X trains, you can see that the guide wheels have pivots on all 4 wheels. The new trains use a rigid frame which looks like it keeps all 4 wheels in the same positions relative to each other. I couldn't tell from looking of the whole assembly will then pivot to keep all 4 wheels engaged with the track or not... Sorry if I'm overthinking it, but I think we all know that historically, Arrow designs aren't know for their abilities to handle curves... Ok, looking back at the pic, I can see the pivot point well above the trolley. I wonder if this will make the rack much more sensitive to the track position now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borisdag Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Nice update. Looks cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Freeman Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Do you know if there's polyurethane on those big wheels? It's kind of hard to tell even with the great closeups, unless maybe it's gray to blend in with the cast wheels. Somehow metal on metal would not seem like the best choice to keep a smooth ride, either. I see the wheels are contoured to the track, so that should at least make stronger contact with the track and keep things B&M-smooth, at least from the main chassis. Yes, it is a urethane wheel. It looks more built into the core of the wheel, probably so the train doesn't rip through them as easily. Also, these wheels will be faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdelhomez Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 It might be awesome to ride a coaster like this one, in France the greatest is...... no greatest coaster, no I'm joking, thanks to Disney for the Rock 'n rollercoaster, Happy to be a Castmember, Entrance is free for me in the afternoon! hohhoho.... but no X or X2 for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PortugePunk Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Looks like they've really taken the time to look into the troubles with the original design. That's really exciting. I can't wait to see how 2.0 works. Sure looks like it'll be a smoother ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Everyone keeps talking about Arrow/S&S Redesigning these trains...I was under the impression that SFMM was working with a different company to get these new trains the way they wanted. Is that what everyone else at the DVD Premier Party event heard? Or did I misinterpret something while I was chasing KT around that theater! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slyfoxx Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 That was an Xcellent narration & luved the photo captions. Can't wait to try it out. I guess I won't be missing anything since I didn't get to ride it before?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucket Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Not sure if this has been posted already but concept art of the new tunnels on X2 can be found on the official LA Times website. The new tunnels are being described as "breathable canvas tarp designed to withstand sun, rain and wind, the spider web-like canopies with lighted beacon tips are evocative of the iconic Denver International Airport terminal." Looks rather cool I think! Very modern and suiting with the new X2 trains. I just hope the tunnel isn't white like the concept art shows.... anyways, I was hesitant at first about this new $10 million dollar makeover but it looks like the money might actually be put to good use! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotdane Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Everyone keeps talking about Arrow/S&S Redesigning these trains...I was under the impression that SFMM was working with a different company to get these new trains the way they wanted. Is that what everyone else at the DVD Premier Party event heard? Or did I misinterpret something while I was chasing KT around that theater! I thought it was S&S cause Tim B said S&S longs for the day he stops showing up at their door checking up on the X trains. Or something like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Everyone keeps talking about Arrow/S&S Redesigning these trains...I was under the impression that SFMM was working with a different company to get these new trains the way they wanted. Is that what everyone else at the DVD Premier Party event heard? Or did I misinterpret something while I was chasing KT around that theater! One of the exact cars for X2 was being shown off at S&S's booth at IAAPA in November, so I imagine it's probably their design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djrappa Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Far be it for me to know what is going on all the way down here but from the video Robb posted it sounded like SFMM had DESIGNED the trains and then made S&S build them. That's just the impression I got when he said about S&S wanting to modify things and he not letting them. Anyone else get that impression? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I interpreted it as a combination of SF's corporate engineers/SFMM people/S&S Arrow. I think he might of mentioned that it was another company that made the lightworks model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PURE Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 From the video Tim Burkhart mentions S&S. "And S&S will tell you that's given them a fair degree of heartburn as we've gone through the process because we would not allow any deviations from the design." Sounds like S&S helped design the cars to the specifications of the park/company. They had ideas to improve the design, and S&S made them reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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