PKI Jizzman Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 (edited) Hey TPR! So, Gravity Group is based about 20 minutes north of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm apart of a Kings Island fansite, and someone had a connection to GG and got us a tour. They welcomed us in, let us test ride the prototype, and gave us a folder-o-crap! Sorry if this isn't a big report, as you'd assume, there are many things I can't talk about. Thanks very much to everyone at Gravity Group for talking, being very friendly, and letting us take some photos! Comments and questions are welcome! -Zach Awesome, I have physical proof of quality. Some more postcard things...they're neat! Timberjiner no longer! Coooooool, free stuff OMG Apollo is right across the street! Fantastic work guys, I can't wait to see what's going to come out next! See you in the same spot during the summer, TPR! I *LOVE* Voyage! And Boardwalk Bullet wasn't that bad! It would be awesome with these trains on it. It's like someone just dropped a front car off in an office space! The future of wooden coaster trains! The guys behind the best wooden coasters in the world are in Ohio?! My coaster senses are tingling... Edited January 12, 2011 by PKI Jizzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Those new trains look good, just one thing though, how will that little "hump" in the front of the seat feel to your inner thighs when bouncing around on a wooden coaster? I know on the older PTC divided bench seats the divider can be killer on a somewhat rough coaster. These trains look to be somewhat form fitting so I can only imagine there being some kind of discomfort to come out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Woooo postcards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atem122 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 That was an awesome mini PTR of the greatest office in history! ...but it wasn't nearly IN-DEPTH enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CD Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Very cool PTR! It's always awesome to see behind the scenes things like this. I'm glad you had a good time and got to see what they're up to over there. Maybe one day we'll actually get a decent wooden coaster in Florida... (I'm looking at you Gravity Group). Once again great PTR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneyfan1313 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 ^ We do - its called the Dania Beach Hurricane and its surprisingly decent! I am curious about the hump in the seat as well - put those trains on something like Gwazi and I can imagine it would be horribly painful! Just out of curiosity, what is the silver bar behind the seat for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emiroo Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 It appears that the silver bar is the "handle" the people in the car behind can hold onto during the ride. It looks like the front car won't have one making it even more scary/intense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 ^I am guessing its for the people in the row behnd to hold onto when getting in or during the ride. The seats appear to have a lot less shoulder room than I expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterville Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I was also a part of said tour, the photos already above mostly cover it, but here are a couple of my own to add to it. First, my official"on-ride photo" At first we just sat in the car, and they were like "Now, is that how you would look if you were riding a oaster?" Then, the only other thing we were allowed to take photos of, the front door: Yeah I know only coaster geeks would get excited about that front door. As I alluded to, there were photo restrictions in place except for those two items. The Gravity Grojup crew was very hospitable and it seemed as if almost nothing was off limits for discussion. The room that also had the Test Car, also had the train that ran on Raven, and you could notice subtle differences in some of the cars. Or at least I did. Towards the end of our tour, they gave us a close look at the bogies of one of the cars so we can see how the wheel assemlies are spring loaded and have some kind of shock on them. The ideais the train will hug the track, while still being able to flex, as opposed to the hunting and shuffling experienced on most wood coaster trains. Another advanage will be how open the bogie will be when its on the transfer track, they will be able to do a lot of maintenance without needlessly taking stuff apart. They also had a bunch of different seat molds, lap bar molds scattered about the room. They mentioned the finished product will probably be slightly different than the car we tested out. For one there will be some kind of front railing ahead of the front seat. The other is the lap bar will have a grab handle on it. The test seat had hard seats but they said the real cars will have a plusher softer material. They also mentions there will be some tweaks to the seat mold in terms of the "wings" onthe sides of the cars will be reduced to create an even more open feeling car, as well as changes on the seat dividers. It was mentioned that these will be "standard" on all future Gravity Group coasters, and they will then seek to target existing coasters to retrofit with their new trains. The trains use the standard track guage so should be able to be adapted to any ride out there. They said they could not speak for Holiday World but they said it will require just minor changes to the Voyage station floor. When asked about the queue gates, thats when he said thats up to the park. Look at Beast, its been using gates for 4 bench cars for a long time with the three benchers. They can solve the problem with painted arrows on the floor, or they could totally redo the station, its up to them. Fun Fact: They said this will be the first time since 1942 that nobody is opening a new wood coaster in the United States. The tour also included a cursory tour of the office suite, a look at the model for the Splinter. They mentioned it takes conventional coaster cars about 24' to turn, and their cars can turn in 6'. They said just imagine a 90 degree turn with a 6' turning radius. Everybody got a Gravity Group folder, and they had a multitude of collector "postcards" think baseball cards for coasters and you get the idea. Also while supplies lasted they had the Golden Ticket awards issues from the last three years of Amusement Today, and one IAAPA convention issue. It was fun way to spend the afternoon during the off season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 Those new trains look good, just one thing though, how will that little "hump" in the front of the seat feel to your inner thighs when bouncing around on a wooden coaster? I know on the older PTC divided bench seats the divider can be killer on a somewhat rough coaster. These trains look to be somewhat form fitting so I can only imagine there being some kind of discomfort to come out of them. Just remember, this car is a PROTOTYPE...I won't say what we talked about there because I'm not sure how sensative is, but it's a prototype, and the Voyage trains aren't going to be exactly the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirouettes907 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Awesome, just awesome. That was really nice of the Gravity Group to offer you guys a tour and that they trust that everyone won't spill the beans on whatever projects they're cooking up. I wish I had a chance to do a tour like that! I'm hoping to make it to Holiwood Nights to ride the Voyage with those new Timberliner trains this year, and your photo TR just made me that much more excited about it! Thanks for sharing what you could. ~Megan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElToroExtreme Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Thats awesome... Now Intamin and B&M need to do tours ***1,000th Post*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Out of curiousity, what's the blue fabric hanging behind the Timberliner car? It looks like it has medals or little country flags hanging on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelinwood Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Great Report, I would have wet my pants just being in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Out of curiousity, what's the blue fabric hanging behind the Timberliner car? It looks like it has medals or little country flags hanging on it. You're right! They were little medal shaped patches for a bunch of their CCI and GG works. I think they were kind of grouped in areas where they were built around the world/US. Hats were hanging above them. I don't think I mentioned it before, but the new trains highlight three things: -Increased Capacity -Increased Comfort (They were comfy!) -Decrease maintenance (50% less vertical track wear, 66% less horizontal track wear) Um, those qualities are amazing! One thing I'd like to note is how sitting in the front seat, the view it will give.. You could lean over and EASILY be able to see the track, it's a very open feeling. I can't wait to ride the front seat of Voyage...WOW! -Zach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFOGdude25 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Very nice. I definitely would have wanted to be there if it wasn't for the fact that I live 5 hours away. Being a really large fan of the Gravity Group, I thank you very much for posting this. I'm always trying to find as much info as I can about timberliners. I'm really excited for this year's Holiwood Nights as (1) it's my first time going, and (2) I'll be riding Voyage with these great new trains. One thing does concern me, though: the restraint system. I know I'll fit fine (I'm a slim guy), but I'm concerned for larger people after seeing that one photo of coasterville sitting in the train. The lapbar looks like it doesn't cover enough of the lap. However, I am aware this is not the finished product. GG is still working on a few things with the train as said before in this thread. Ironically, I was originally not too concerned about the lapbars, but that one picture made me a little scared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidcoaster 2 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 One thing does concern me, though: the restraint system. I know I'll fit fine (I'm a slim guy), but I'm concerned for larger people after seeing that one photo of coasterville sitting in the train. The lapbar looks like it doesn't cover enough of the lap. However, I am aware this is not the finished product. GG is still working on a few things with the train as said before in this thread. Ironically, I was originally not too concerned about the lapbars, but that one picture made me a little scared. I am sure the restraint was lose because that was the show model. I am sure when it debuts on the Voyage the restraints will be secure for anysize. And knowing Holiday World they wouldn't have it any other way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I was also going to comment on how the bar seems like it should be longer to cover more of the rider's body, but being a prototype, they can always make adjustments to it. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emiroo Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Thats awesome... Now Intamin and B&M need to do tours This article may be as close as you get to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I am sure the restraint was lose because that was the show model. CLICK HERE NOW!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 About the restraint, they said something about it more covering the thighs, not really the midsection, if I can remember correctly. If you look at B&M's clamshell, it really mainly covers the thighs, then a bit of the hips. I think this bar will rest a bit lower, and it will have a handle to hold onto. Most of us had the lap bars down like they would normally be, but the finished product will be different, so you will all just have to wait and see at Holiday World! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFOGdude25 Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 (edited) ^That's what I figured. You know I've been wondering for a while how a general coaster ride would feel on these trains. According to Mike Graham as said on Gravitycast, "there is next to no shuffling" with the wheel chasses being able to steer, and the shock absorbers will also contribute to the overall smoothness of the ride. I have a feeling these trains will offer a completely new and unique ride experience ever made for woodies. I also have a feeling that there will be mixed opinions on these trains after people ride them. On one hand, the timberliners will be an overall improvement to the rider's comfort, and many will love that. On the other, The "purists" might not like that and prefer the classic feeling of being knocked around. I will say the Voyage, being a modern woodie, should be a great choice for these trains. The timberliners will officially make Voyage a wooden coaster of the 21st century. Wow, I feel like a Gravity Group spokesperson. Edited February 12, 2010 by SFOGdude25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PriestofSyrinx Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Thanks a lot for an inside look! I think these Timberliner trains will be the perfect competitor to the Millennium Flier trains. I hope that retrofits around the country could salvage some of the more rickety behemoths (Ghostrider, Shivering Timbers, The Legend, Cheetah, heck even Mean Streak!) But I could see where some purists could make the argument about taking away that "wooden feel". Especially now that these trains can actually take turns better than PTC... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I am not going to say these trains are awesome till they have actually taken a few spins around a coaster with riders in them. They look great, I just hope they ride as well as has been promised. I'm also glad the restraint is getting and Oh Shizza! handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterville Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I have no doubt that the real lap bars will be different than those on the show car. That tour they had roughly 75-80 local area coaster enthusiasts get into that seat. People off all different shapes and sizes, that's a lot of research they were able to perform in the name of giving a tour. About the blue fabric - yes those state flag patches are labeled with the names of the GG or even CCI coasters from that state, and the patches are even mostly in the correct position in relationship to each other. Look to the right on the fabric and you will even see patches for France and Spain, etc. for the international installations. The map next to the fabric is China, so that all fits the theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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