Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[CardCraze]

I'll wait until I hear more to make judgement, seeing as it's just rumors at this point. I'd like to believe they are just rumors, but we'll see. Anyways, here comes the GP super experts to the rescue;

 

I heard it crashed and my step moms uncle works on the ride

-BGW FaceBook page.

[Skycoastin Steve]

This is insane, tough to comprehend how the train could have been going fast enough to do that kind of damage. But physics is a crazy beast. Following up on BGWFans, it looks like they still expect the ride to open May 18, even with the support possibly having to be replaced (as well as the yellow train obviously).

[Moose]

I'm confused as to where the winch truck was. Does the winch truck follow the track or does it drive around inside the building? I would think that they would station a winch just behind the peak of the launch hill so that they could pull the train up and over and then slowly tug it backward.

 

To me it sounds like a regular truck that drives on roads etc that was used to winch the train. It was probably located within the ride envelope along a portion of track the coaster train would not have traversed if the strap hadn't broken. It sounds like a very bad placement of the truck. Hopefully everyone recovers and they've learned something about train recovery from this unfortunate accident.

[imawesome1124]

I'm still skeptical about this whole thing. I don't doubt that it might have valleyed, but I doubt that it crashed into any truck. Unless they release photos of the damage I can only assume it's a rumor.

[cfc]

I'm having trouble buying this story, too. The amount of detail is making me suspicious. And "multiple independent sources"? Numerous little birdies, perhaps? I'm waiting for some actual confirmation.

Edited May 2, 2012 by cfc

[Gigalyte]

What I don't understand is how would BGW keep this quite from the local media, If a person was supposed to be thrown from the truck that person should be close to death it would seam. To be ejected from the vehicle would mean the impact was like a high speed car accident, you don't just get thrown from cars/trucks from a bump, this is some serious impacts were talking about. So it seam this person would be seriously hurt and 911 would have had to be called, the local news agency's would only need to hear 911 dispatched to BGW over the scanners to be on the scene hoping to get some sensational story on Rollercoasters Kill!!!

[chickenbowl]

I just want someone to explain to me how easily a block brake can "malfunction." They're designed with so much precision, and how would this malfunction cause the train to valley? If they're so easy to malfunction, why aren't trains crashing everyday? Hmm, I'm just a bit confused about this "accident."

[asimowalk]

I just want someone to explain to me how easily a block brake can "malfunction." They're designed with so much precision, and how would this malfunction cause the train to valley? If they're so easy to malfunction, why aren't trains crashing everyday? Hmm, I'm just a bit confused about this "accident."

In the first testing stages for the coaster, there is probably no automated program to run the ride. It could be that the train (mind you that it's empty so it's lighter) was stopped on the brake run very hard in a way that part of it was still hanging off so it had enough weight to pull the train backwards. That's the best that I could come up with with this story...

[A.J.]

I also don't understand how the block can malfunction. If the trigger for the brake is at the center of the train or further back, there should not be a problem, because more than half of the train would have already crested over the top of the helix.

 

If it's in the front and the train stops hard right at the beginning, it's totally going to roll back and eventually valley.

 

As for the truck, it's completely logical (albeit totally dangerous) to park it right in the center of the helix so the winch can get a straight shot up and over the pulley, and approximately line up with the first hill's track so the train can get up and over. Like I said though, it's totally dangerous to be there, as the train probably weighs more than the truck that's winching it out.

 

Possible lawsuit against the company that made the straps that held up the cable?

[netdvn]

Got back from a long day at the park...

 

- Ramp Jam is in full force. Wanna get a great view of Verbolten? You can get some cool bridge shots from the DF area. Building looks smaller from back there than it does from the Bumper Car house. Oh and the skateboarders/BMX bikers were awesome.

- Park was overrun with bands today.

- Got an interview for Verbolten crew 2012. Hopefully things work out for the best.

- Saw some higher ups around Verbolten. The ride was supposedly testing (BGWFans leaked video footage of the ride running).

[TXman308]

And here is that video (sorry for the annoying music, not mine).

 

Edited April 22, 2012 by robbalvey

[coasterfreak101]

Love how quick it launches into the show building and how fast it looks like it'll be taking that last little airtime hill, judging by the speed it turns into the brakes with! I wish it didn't roll so slow / get braked so much in the bridge, but I'm guessing there might be some noises and stuff (squealing wheels, breaking wooden beams, etc.) so that could still be cool!

[sammmmmy]

^ I wouldn't be so quick to say its going to slow down exactly that much at the bridge. If I recall correctly, tons of coasters with LSMs in the initial testing stages slow down/don't slow down a considerable amount at all blocks, and then the park adjusts the LSMs accordingly. Fingers crossed it'll go a bit faster!

[A.J.]

Hopefully they can get Yellow train back into operation. I really want to see them haul [censored] with five trains on opening day.

[coasterfreak101]

^^Oh, I know that! So yeah, I'm hoping it'll move a little faster, but I know they said they had a few things still up their sleeve (and something about an "effect" for the bridge?) so I'm just waiting to see! Can't wait to ride this thing no matter how fast or slow it goes, for real.

[Skycoastin Steve]

I think BGWFans has sufficiently made asses out of themselves on this one (as if it was possible to do so even more). Thankfully whatever happened wasn't even remotely as serious as they panicked and reported.

[SharkTums]

So the ride was testing yesterday?

 

Yeah, that pretty much puts that rumor out of the question. Shocking.

[cfc]

Video brought to you by someone holding his phone the wrong way.

[SharkTums]

^Somewhere right now, Robb is silently screaming...oh wait, it's not silent!

[Real]

^Somewhere right now, Robb is silently screaming...oh wait, it's not silent!

 

Robb and I scream in unison. I detest that. Though as someone who shoots primarily still photography, I instinctively want to shoot portrait video for better framing but I have to remember how stupid it is.

[Double0Kevin]

Why is it always the people who try to put in "cool" logos and edit to awesome(horribly crappy) music in an attempt to look legit are always the ones who can't figure out how to hold their iPhone sideways? Idiotas!

[evanthecoasterlover]

Verbolten did have an accident of some sort in the event building. Some part of the accident were over-exaggerated. There is a picture over at BGWfans showing that there was firetruck and an ambulance carrying someone on a gurney. Whether or not the support was damaged; the yellow train did accumulate some type of damage to the body of the train. It seems that the chassis of the ride is fine considering that the yellow train was pulled back to the maintenance bay overnight. With full circuit testing going on; it seems that the support and track piece weren't damaged to an extreme point.

[robbalvey]

^ I don't understand why everyone is making a huge deal out of this. The park is going through tweak and adjust with the ride. It's not uncommon for incidents like this to happen. Even if the ride did have a minor accident, and one of the construction crew went to the hospital, so what? It wasn't a major accident, there wasn't a fatality, the ride isn't wasn't open to the public, and there doesn't seem to be any additional risk.

 

How many construction workers flat out died during projects like City Center in Las Vegas? It's not like this is Ring Racer where the ride exploded, sent many people to the hospital and did structural damage to the ride and surrounding buildings.

 

Seriously, the fact that BGW Fans is making this out like it's some major, OMFG headline, like the ride killed a train load of people or something, just shows a lack of professionalism or understanding of how the amusement industry works from that group. They are grasping at straws to get a headline. It's stupid.

 

Let's move on from this unless a *REAL* story breaks with some kind of actual information about this being serious. Until then, all further posts about this will be deleted and the member banned.

 

Understood?

 

Thank you.

 

If you have any issue with this you can email me privately.

Edited April 22, 2012 by robbalvey

[Erik Johnson]

What was that, 8-bit German music?

[cfc]

^I kept looking for Mario and Luigi. But it was nice to see a bit of video of Verbolten in action.