MisterP Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 If there is another thread about this, I apologize. But can anyone shed some light on exactly why Mt. Olympus' 3 good coasters (Hades, Cyclops, Zeus) have tracks that end in a brake run above the station and then descend into it? I've been on quite a few American woodies, yet this is the only place I've seen this. Anyone have any info to share?
robbalvey Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 Doesn't Rampage at Visionland do this also? --Robb
MisterP Posted July 11, 2008 Author Posted July 11, 2008 Haven't been there, Robb, but is there a reason for this? I mean 3 at one park seems a little weird...
niiicolaaah Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 Silver Comet does this too. Maybe it's a CCI/Gravity Group thing?
robbalvey Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 Well all wooden coasters have to descend into the station because the only thing powering the trains from brakes to the station is gravity. That's not always the case, though. In an example like Ghostrider where the train often stops on the brake run outside the station (because they seem to stack this ride EVER TIME) they trains are pushed into the station via a pinch wheel system. --Robb
Johnny Upsidedown Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 Another one is Cheetah at Wild Adventure which has a good drop from the brake run to station..
haux Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 The only reason I figure they do this is so the brakes are a little higher than they need to be so the train enters them a little slower. Less force is needed in the brakes, so it costs less in maintenance. A small drop into the station isn't a problem.
ParkTrips Posted July 11, 2008 Posted July 11, 2008 ^ I can't imagine that to be the case, if they were seriously worried about the brakes, they wouldn't have rides like the aforementioned Silver Comet plowing into the brakes as fast as it does The ending on Rampage is actually pretty cool.
Guest Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 I don't know, that sounds like a good explanation to me. A train coming into a lower brakerun means it has that much more speed, which could need a longer braking area and more calipers. I know that the GM at Lake Compounce said Boulder Dash's brakerun is too short and it is placed higher than the station as well. It doesn't really have any room for more calipers, either (it's at seven right now) In Mt Olympus's case, I think that terrain is a major factor, at least with Cyclops and Zeus. Both of those have their brakeruns start up a hill so they're relatively low at the beginning, but pretty high up at the end. Doesn't Rampage end high up on a hill as well? As for Hades, there is quite a bit of speed in that last helix. The brakerun is already pretty short, so if the helix wasn't higher up there would be issues. The station is also pretty high as it's off the side of the hill like Cyclops and Zeus, so I don't see having a higher station being for the better.
haux Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 ^ I can't imagine that to be the case, if they were seriously worried about the brakes, they wouldn't have rides like the aforementioned Silver Comet plowing into the brakes as fast as it does The ending on Rampage is actually pretty cool. I don't think it's really a serious concern, but it would slightly cut back on maintenance compared to brakes at a lower position. And think about if Silver Comet went into the brakes lower. It'd be faster, and the brake run would need to be longer or more force applied. I think that's why they're higher like that.
Hilltopper39 Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 I'm no expert by any means but I think in Mt. Olympus' case it might be a design feature from CCI/Gravity Group for a possible future addition of a second train. If you notice there all 3 woodies @ Olympus have an extra air gate in the station which makes it look like they could add on another car to the trains. Also with 1 train the rides are fairly low capacity but the elevated brake run gives them the ability to add in a transfer track and a second train sometime in the future without have to have a major redesign of the ride itself. They could add the transfer right next to the current brake run or something I guess. When Holiday world put the second train on the Legend if anyone noticed they had to redo the station a little bit (I think) to make room for the transfer track and make the brake run a little bit longer. Raven also had to have a pretty decent amount of construction to add their second train. So my thoughts are the Mt. Olympus had the ride designed this way to make it easy to add a 2nd train in the future if they'd like.
JNoonez Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 If there is another thread about this, I apologize. But can anyone shed some light on exactly why Mt. Olympus' 3 good coasters (Hades, Cyclops, Zeus) have tracks that end in a brake run above the station and then descend into it? I've been on quite a few American woodies, yet this is the only place I've seen this. Anyone have any info to share? Excalibur at Funtown in Maine (another CCI) does the same thing, and they only run one train. --Jarrad
Carnage Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 If you notice there all 3 woodies @ Olympus have an extra air gate in the station which makes it look like they could add on another car to the trains. In the case of Cylcops it's because they actually removed a car from the train.
MisterP Posted July 12, 2008 Author Posted July 12, 2008 No disrespect to anyone who's responded to the thread. But I haven't really heard a good reason for this....I mean, if Voyage or El Toro don't need this type of ending, why would ALL THREE Mt. Olympus coasters need it? I've just not seen anything close to a realistic answer...
robbalvey Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 Well all wooden coasters have to descend into the station because the only thing powering the trains from brakes to the station is gravity. I really think this is your reason. (minus the part that says "all" since some of them use other systems) I had thought that Voyage's break run was elevated a bit higher than the station and El Toro I'm pretty sure uses a pinch wheel system to bring it back into the station. --Robb
timetrial3141592 Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 ^ It took me a moment to decipher that comment. Admittedly, "some sort of wheel system" is pretty ambiguous. In fact, don't all coasters have some sort of wheel system by definition?
MagnumForce Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 Think about every B&M, they all go up to the brakes, never down to the brakes. The reasoning is reduced wear and tear. No different then the aforementioned wooden coasters.
Carnage Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 Admittedly, "some sort of wheel system" is pretty ambiguous. In fact, don't all coasters have some sort of wheel system by definition? If you're talking kicker wheels to move trains, then no. There are plenty of coasters that have no kicker wheel systems, and only rely on gravity to move the trains.
timetrial3141592 Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 Actually, I was talking about the wheels that make the roller coaster ... well, roll. It was somewhat of a joke.
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