DoinItForTheFame Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 Stratosphere Tower was going to have an Arrow-built coaster that would have dropped right out of the tower and gone up a 415-foot tower across the Las Vegas Boulevard. It was never built due to complaints from neighboring properties. If built it would have been the tallest coaster in the world by a long distance and would have likely kept that record to this day. The second tower alone is as tall as Dragster. Not going to lie, I would have rode it, even if it was going to be made by Arrow. It looks awesome! Isn't this why X-Scream was built? It was the replacement for this coaster. Stratosphere still wanted to provide the thrill of a coaster going over the edge of the tower.
Nrthwnd Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 I would have ridden it, even if it meant giving up several of my "nine lives," lol.
LuminousAphid Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 What I don't understand- starts at 750 feet, but the ascent is only 415? Does the train reach terminal velocity or something, or did they plan to put brakes in? Seems like it would fly off the top with that much speed
Nrthwnd Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 ^ Well, for the sake of "fantasy safety," let's add brakes there, near the top of that spike.
DoinItForTheFame Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 What I don't understand- starts at 750 feet, but the ascent is only 415? Does the train reach terminal velocity or something, or did they plan to put brakes in? Seems like it would fly off the top with that much speed Maybe that is the real reason the coaster never got built. Arrow had no idea what they were doing, and the trains were going to just fly off the end of the track every time they were dispatched.
gerstlaueringvar Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 ^ Pretty sure Alan Schilke was one of thnbe best designers back then and he knows exactly what he's doing. With a speed that high, more energy would be lost for heat and both fraction and air resistance would get really high.
pagemaster_b Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 ^ Even with those factors, that 415 foot ascent would still be too short, in my opinion. That car will pick up a lot of energy during its decent, and Newton's Laws of Physics says its not going to be easily stopped. Those brakes would have to be perfectly maintained. I'd hate to see a brake failure on that thing, let alone be the poor fool in the car when it happens. I would say another hundred feet would be a bit more realistic. Of course, I'm not really factoring in the push against gravity as the car climbs upwards, mostly because I only understand the simplest of the concepts. That's the kind of math that hurts my brain. Still, I can't help but wonder the kind of G-forces that car will pull once it reaches the bottom . . .
Pirate Posted March 5, 2016 Posted March 5, 2016 ^ Also, it'll take forever to make the car come to a complete stop.
larrygator Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 Seriously! Descent = drop Ascent = rise Descends from Stratosphere Tower, THEN ascends up the second tower
pagemaster_b Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 I thought that was what we're talking about: the ascent on the second tower. Did I miss something obvious?
gerstlaueringvar Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 ^ Even with those factors, that 415 foot ascent would still be too short, in my opinion. That car will pick up a lot of energy during its decent, and Newton's Laws of Physics says its not going to be easily stopped. Those brakes would have to be perfectly maintained. I'd hate to see a brake failure on that thing, let alone be the poor fool in the car when it happens. I would say another hundred feet would be a bit more realistic. Of course, I'm not really factoring in the push against gravity as the car climbs upwards, mostly because I only understand the simplest of the concepts. That's the kind of math that hurts my brain. Still, I can't help but wonder the kind of G-forces that car will pull once it reaches the bottom . . . Regardless, it will work if they designed it like this. Or they put trim brakes on the drop, like a "fake drop" on Blue Fall, trim, and then big drop. Or they could probably do it multiple times. This could be Arrow's approach to the Intamin first gen drop tower.
thrillseeker4552 Posted March 6, 2016 Posted March 6, 2016 ^Agreed. I imagine that if this concept were to ever get built (which it won't), they would trim the heck out of that initial drop. The amount of speed, air resistance, friction, and g-force at the bottom of that drop would be astronomical. Regardless of the tech specs, it's a pretty neat concept to think about. Wasn't there supposed to be a 700-foot coaster (advertised as taller than the Seattle Space Needle) similar to Superman: EFK? I remember seeing Superman mentioned on some documentary and they mention a larger version to come soon.
805Andrew Posted March 7, 2016 Posted March 7, 2016 This thread is asleep now, I suppose.... I'm sure it will awaken. It's a great thread.
Nrthwnd Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 Shhhh. We're all sleeping, and dreaming of more attractions that were never made.
PixelRush Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 Stratosphere Tower was going to have an Arrow-built coaster that would have dropped right out of the tower and gone up a 415-foot tower across the Las Vegas Boulevard. It was never built due to complaints from neighboring properties. Where the hell do you get off or how does it get back up xD
Nrthwnd Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 ^ Maybe that's the two things that stumped them from building it.
SixFlagsAstroworld Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 ^That and I don't know how the car won't fly off the end of the track and crash
coaster1000 Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 Hmm... On a 700 foot drop, wouldn't the train reach terminal velocity at some point due to air resistance and friction? I imagine it would stop accelerating after 500 or so feet, in which case the shorter ascent makes sense and wouldn't need brakes...? I'm just putting this out there and it might be stupid, please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm terrible at physics.
SixFlagsAstroworld Posted March 8, 2016 Posted March 8, 2016 I'm just glad they didn't build it. If they did, Arrow would realize their mistake after having the car crash into the tower and the street
SixFlagsAstroworld Posted March 9, 2016 Posted March 9, 2016 I'm surprised no one brought up the original Dudley Do Right where the log splits in half
Gav Posted March 9, 2016 Posted March 9, 2016 ^That and I don't know how the car won't fly off the end of the track and crash Trim brakes at the bottom?
Themonerd Posted March 10, 2016 Author Posted March 10, 2016 I'm reading this really good Universal Studios history book(seriously it's really good). Shameless praise aside, there is a paragraph referencing the canned Jurassic Park jeep ride. ''Originally Universal intended to build an attraction based around the jeep ride that would be featured heavily in the movie. However Goddard(one of the men behind islands of adventure) felt this would work. In his words, I noted that our T-Rex was not going to be able to chase the jeep or tear thorough trees or jungles''.
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