LaRondeQC Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Do you ever worry when you ride certain wooden coasters that are known for 'bouncing' off of the track or being really rough & shaky & fast.. Sometimes I worry that the wood is going to reach a certain stress level and just..... snap.. Or sometimes I feel like the car will derail on really sharp turns. Is it just me or do you guys worry about that, too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiburkesurfjay Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Cyclone at SFNE was jumping the tracks coming into the brakes the last night. It was like it was running too fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 There really is nothing to worry about unless the coaster is very poorly maintained. Wooden coasters are structured with a lattice design. This is meant to put less stress on every single beam, and ensure the train can make it back if one or a couple of beams fail. Even a beam failing mid-operation is pretty much unheard of because it is a rare occurrence. Most errors or failures are detected/fixed during morning inspections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Hero Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Ever heard of the "Rattler Bend"? There's a reason they converted it to Iron Rattler (It's on youtube, and I think you'll be surprised when you see it!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewesker Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Look up "Son of Beast wave" while you're at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcoaster10 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Cyclone at SFNE was jumping the tracks coming into the brakes the last night. It was like it was running too fast. Wait.. what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 That's a surprising amount of give for a coaster. Still, it is something that maintenance would know about and keep an eye on. Structures are designed to move around a little bit because without bending, it would break. It's the same reason why Wicked Twister and TTD's towers shake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Cyclone at SFNE was jumping the tracks coming into the brakes the last night. It was like it was running too fast. Wait.. what? Yea this confused me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Force Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Look up "Son of Beast wave" while you're at it. Or "The Rattler Wave", before the RMCing it had a massive bend after the first turnaround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiburkesurfjay Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Cyclone at SFNE was jumping the tracks coming into the brakes the last night. It was like it was running too fast. Wait.. what? Yea this confused me as well. It was stopping quickly, causing the middle to pop up a little and slam back down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaRondeQC Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 On Le Monstre, after the first drop, you come to the little airtime painful hill and the train on track 2 feels like it comes up off of the track and literally slams back down onto the track, that spot is SOOO painful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceBoarder Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Large structures like that can have a ton of "flexibility" designed into them... As mentioned, it's to dissipate energy and reduce stress... No different than a tall skyscraper like the Empire State Building or Sears Tower swaying in the wind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaRondeQC Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 Large structures like that can have a ton of "flexibility" designed into them... As mentioned, it's to dissipate energy and reduce stress... No different than a tall skyscraper like the Empire State Building or Sears Tower swaying in the wind... Wouldn't that be dangerous, though? You have a fast moving train filled with passengers and each full train varies in weight (people's weight + the trains original weight), couldn't the moving structure possibly sway more than it is supposed to and just collapse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Calculations like that are taken into consideration in the original designs. Engineers take the maximum weight a train will hold and design the structures based on that and the forces the rides produce. This way there is a bit of a safety margin (the structure will not collapse even if put through maximum conditions). It's also a reason why some coasters close in high winds. Not only are there worries of rollbacks or stalls with launching coasters, but their towers will be swaying more than normal as well. I know that example is a steel coaster, but the same principle applies to any large coaster that is high in the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Cyclone at SFNE was jumping the tracks coming into the brakes the last night. It was like it was running too fast. Wait.. what? Yea this confused me as well. It was stopping quickly, causing the middle to pop up a little and slam back down. Wicked Cyclone isn't a wooden coaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaRondeQC Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 Cyclone at SFNE was jumping the tracks coming into the brakes the last night. It was like it was running too fast. Wait.. what? Yea this confused me as well. It was stopping quickly, causing the middle to pop up a little and slam back down. Wicked Cyclone isn't a wooden coaster This. Wicked Cyclone is a hybrid coaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanobieFan Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 When the SFNE Cyclone was wooden, there were some worries. First off, on the first drop, you could see the back car (slightly) lift a bit off the track. Obviously it was fine, just the main wheels of the back car. Most coasters do this when there is a snap or strong curve on an airtime hill. After, going into the turns, the structure swayed relentlessly. Pretty scary, similar to the dance rattler did when the trains went up that ridiculous hill. The turns on Cyclone yelled as the train slowly went through them, leaving me to think the train would stall. The turn after the third drop slammed you and it made me scared the train would come off the track. When the first trim was off, the drop where the double reversing banked airtime hill is today would slam you and make a funny noise as if the trains were failing to make the drop. The hill after where the second trim brake was if it was off would make a loud bang and you could see the front wheels lift a bit from the not banked track. Cyclone was a scary ride to watch and ride if you were in the front and back. Similar to Rattler, there's a reason it's now Wicked Cyclone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaykethekid Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 On wooden rollercoasters, specifically ones that use PTC or Morgan Trains, there is a slight gap between the bottom of the track and the up-stop wheel. When ever there is airtime, the train wants to accelerate downward at the rate of gravity, but when there is an airtime hill that isn't perfectly 0 g, say it is at -0.1g the track wants to accelerate the train down faster than gravity. There for the top wheels lift up, and the bottom wheels come in contact with the bottom of the track. There for there is a sensation of the train jumping the tracks. This always messes with the GP. Not only that, it can damage the train and track if it changes from negative gs to positive gs very quickly. It is a very common thing for wooden coasters. So no worries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Hero Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 ^There's a closeup picture out there of El Toro's train on the RT hill, and you can clearly see that NONE of the top wheels are even touching the track. It's of course designed to do that. That's why El Toro's airtime hills are loud as heck, because the upstops are slamming up against the track! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP Maverick Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Honestly, the scariest coaster I've been on is Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake Park. No height or speed, but man does it look like it is ready to crumble! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejot Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Blue Streak is just fine! I've ridden it a few dozen times last year and this past weekend and was completely comfortable. They're even rebuilding the roof that collapsed, have recently done some trackwork, and are working on the lead car. Or at least taking it all apart. The train bounces like nothing I've ever seen but the structure is at least several years away from actually collapsing. I kid, it's safe. Here's some pics from last Saturday: Relax, it's just a handrail. There's a lot of layers for backup so we're good here. Fixing the roof. Fixing the train. Look how many pieces of wood they have nailed on there, it's not going anywhere. The thumbnail is so small... trackwork... I think.... Lil sketchy here but hey, all good. It works. This hill is pretty sexy all freshly retracked. The through-the-woods feeling is very real here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Farmer Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 ^Pepsi has their work cut out for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP Maverick Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I'm glad they're giving it some attention. The lines for Blue Streak are pretty crazy for their Halloween events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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