simaticable Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 ^We've known about that since Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aceattack52 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 ^^ Uh oh. Ninja is costing them money to fix and it's suffering from low ridership..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linearinduction Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 ^ Yes. PTC doesn't make those type of cars anymore.Now which type of Cars are PTC not Manufacturing? http://www.philadelphiatoboggancoastersinc.com/cars.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simaticable Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 GASM's. I mean, unless a park specifically asks for those cars, PTC doesn't make those trains since most wooden coaster manufacturers have their own cars for their own tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgtgwazi Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 GASM's. I mean, unless a park specifically asks for those cars, PTC doesn't make those trains since most wooden coaster manufacturers have their own cars for their own tracks. GASM runs PTC trains with 3 rows per car. PTC still makes those. While it's true that the two most popular (currently) wooden coaster designers in the U.S. do make their own trains (Gravity Group and GCII), PTC still manufactures its own trains for other customers, presumably, including those still on GASM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lareson Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 PTC is still making new trains, at least 2-4 train sets each year. Not many coaster manufacturers will pick the 3-bench models anymore due to maneuverability, but they're still available for manufacturers or parks to pick for an option for upgrades. PTC still offers the single-position lap bars, but they're out of favor now due to past incidents with them and many parks would rather have the individual ratcheting lap bars, more for the safety side. They can still make a brand new train for GASM from the ground up if PTC really wanted to. I can see PTC staying for quite some time, mainly because of the refurbishing they do to trains during the off-season. The process they go through to check and inspect every single aspect of the trains is absolutely amazing. Mainly the chassis, they sandblast the paint off of them, inspect every single part for deformities and cracks, then repaint the chassis again to the classic black. Even though there are parks that do this on-site, the PTC workers know those trains inside and out and having worked with over 100 cars over 1 off season, they know how parts are suppose to be and know when to replace them. Parks can then have their workers work on other rides during the off season and frees up that time to do other projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce1994 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Looks like Ninja's late opening is caused by a lift problem. ^ Last time I was at the park in early September I noticed a distinct and very jarring bump about there on the lift hill on two consecutive rides. It felt as though the train had just run over a small animal or something and the lift actually slowed to a near stop for a second, but then resumed. At the time I dismissed it as nothing, but looking at that photo, I guess there was some kind of issue. Yeah, looks like the chain trough is completely damaged there. There must of been a bend or something already wrong there and must of gotten worse over the off season and probably ended up like that when they were doing the initial testing. First time I've seen that happen on a chain lift. Probably waiting on a new one to get made. Is this common on Arrow/Vekoma Multi inversion rides? I remember this occuring to Vortex two years ago at KI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lareson Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Is this common on Arrow/Vekoma Multi inversion rides? I remember this occuring to Vortex two years ago at KI. No, the chain actually snapped on Vortex at Kings Island in 2011. On Ninja, the trough that the chain sits in looks like it somehow got deformed, as someone said a few posts back, that near the end of last year there was a weird bump when the train went over that part. It must of gave out during testing this year and the chain basically fell out. Should of been no physical damage to the chain, but they could replace it to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with it. I'm sure a new trough and possibly a new chain have been on order from Vekoma, just either waiting for it to arrive or to install it. Chain lifts breaking are quite uncommon. The only other one I can think of is when Ride of Steel at Darien Lake, the chain also snapped on that in 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simaticable Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Too bad the chain couldn't have caused significant damage to Ninja. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Just a random interesting fact (since people were talking about the 3 bench PTC trains on GASM): those trains ran on Colossus from 1979-1987 I assume they had 6 of those for Colossus, so there are plenty of parts to keep 2 up and running for GASM. I don't think there were many PTC trains fitted with locking mechanisms on either side of the buzzbars... but I think Rolling Thunder at Great Adventure is the same. Must have been a 1979/Six Flags thing On a related note, a couple years ago I asked a GASM ride op "will the 2nd train be on today?" to which he replied "there is no 2nd train." Not the end of the world or anything, just funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josephcissell Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Too bad the chain couldn't have caused significant damage to Ninja. That really is unfortunate isn't it... I wish that the money/hassle of fixing whatever they're fixing would finally put this ride on the chopping block. How many seasons of walk-on-anytime-all-day ridership is it going to take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArizonaGuy Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 ^^ Is Ninja even a walk on even with one train operation??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josephcissell Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 ^ In my experience of four trips last summer, yes. All four trips Ninja was walk-on or at the worst maybe a 10 minute station wait, even with single train operation. In Ninja's defense, I did hit up some fairly light days at the park, but even then most of the other rides had 25-30+ minute waits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I get poked fun of saying it all the time, but all those old Arrow/Vekoma coasters might be a LOT of fun with just lap bars. Even Ninja - heck, even the Ninja in St. Louis! There have been rumors about several companies (including one that builds woodies) looking into supplying those old steel coasters with new lap bar trains. I'd like to see it happen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josephcissell Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 ^ I think in the case of Ninja, that probably wouldn't be enough to magically make it into a comfortable ride, but I could definitely see that as an improvement. It's an interesting idea and I would like to at least see someone try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simaticable Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I think it's funny how SFOG has among the best coasters of their type, besides Superman, kiddie, and Dahlonega Mine Train, then we have Ninja, one of the worst ranked coasters in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aceattack52 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 PTC still offers the single-position lap bars, but they're out of favor now due to past incidents with them and many parks would rather have the individual ratcheting lap bars, more for the safety side. They can still make a brand new train for GASM from the ground up if PTC really wanted to. Those trains with the single position lap bars are actually pretty dangerous. I feel like I could stand up and get out when the lap bar is locked (I'm not going to, of course). The lap bar stops at the top of my chest, when I was a little younger it was almost to my chin. I do like the 3 benches per train, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivtim Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Sky Screamer was topped out yesterday: Source: http://www.facebook.com/sixflagsovergeorgia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krandor Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Sky Screamer was topped out yesterday: Source: http://www.facebook.com/sixflagsovergeorgia nice. Hopefully it will open up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aceattack52 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Hey why don't we have a SkyScreamer or WindSeeker thread, like the Outlaw Run or Iron Rattler and the Gate Keeper and YOLOcoaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simaticable Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Testing should begin in a couple of weeks then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Those trains with the single position lap bars are actually pretty dangerous. I feel like I could stand up and get out when the lap bar is locked (I'm not going to, of course). You are not supposed to stand up. Sure they are dangerous if you stand up. A street is also dangerous if you go stand in the middle. Unfortunately, the American legal system doesn't consider arguments for common sense. The opposite case can be argued as well; there have been some accidents on coaster with ratcheting lap bars that probably would NOT have happened if the ride had (or still had) one position buzz bars. Follow rules. If you see someone not following rules on a ride, notify a ride op or someone in charge. People doing stupid things on rides is THE REASON we have all these redundant ratcheting lap bars, individual seat belts, seat dividers, etc. etc.... oh yeah, add 3 layers of 20 foot high fences around rides. Rides are HUGE powerful machines. If you do not respect them and follow rules, they will not respect you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyw4ua Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Do you think Friday, March 29, the first day of spring break days, will be very crowded...say compared to the following Saturday and Sunday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aceattack52 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 ^ Saturdays and Sundays are usually pretty bad. I think the Friday in question looks really good. That Friday is a school day, so I would expect a low turn out. If you do go, report back to us and let everyone know how crowded it was and what the latest happenings were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josephcissell Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 ^^ That Friday looks good and compared to the Saturday or Sunday, I expect it to be pretty light. I may actually be at the park that day as well, depending on some other plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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