rcjp Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 ^What kind of wheels does it use? Did you say tires?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 ^ Yep. Inflatable rubber tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 ^^Here's a good look at the tires on Hypersonic XLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 I had no idea that was a thing! No wonder the ride loses so much speed quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 If I remember right, they had to use those because the normal polypropylene wheels in use at the time would melt and "burst" at the acceleration and speeds they were aiming for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_s Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 ^^-- no I think it was just for a smooth ride. When Hypersonic was in its original prototype state before being installed at KD it had giant drag car slicks for the back tires!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoinItForTheFame Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 ^What kind of wheels does it use? Did you say tires?? They are pneumatic filled aircraft tires. They are the same ones used on Hypersonic XLC, and in , Kevin O'Brien talks about the tires at . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singemfrc Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Regarding Cedar Fair parks getting any RMCs, at West Coast Bash on Sunday, Knott's VP of Maintenance and Construction, Jeff Gahagan, mentioned the only reason Cedar Fair didn't go with Topper Track on GhostRider was because they wanted to keep a classic woodie at the park. I took this to mean that Cedar Fair is not against using RMC, its they just haven't seen the right opportunity yet. Unlike Six Flags, who seemingly has decided wooden coasters should not exist (except El Toro), it seems that Cedar Fair has a respect for where their industry has come from. Also Cedar Fair CEO Matt Ouimet has said that they want to always keep GhostRider as original as possible due to it being one of the last rides Walter Knott helped design. Boy am I glad they did. I think it's perfect the way it is right now. I never got a chance to ride it when it was originally great, so I always imagined how great it used to be, but I had no idea until I got on it this month. Also, isn't Jeff Gahagan fascinating to listen to? He is very tight lipped during group Q&A's, but if you get him one on one or in a small group he is just a wealth of fascinating stories and details. But sometimes, parks can Gather Certain Information from the condition of their wooden coasters and decide to go another route in order to keep a classic wooden coaster feel. No thank you. See above paragraph. You really should try Ghost Rider. I don't know how many parks would be willing to invest the time and money like KBF did to really overhaul the whole ride like that but GCI sure proved they can do it and do it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 ^^-- no I think it was just for a smooth ride How'd that work out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 ^^-- no I think it was just for a smooth ride. When Hypersonic was in its original prototype state before being installed at KD it had giant drag car slicks for the back tires!!! There was an S&S documentary that went through the development of the launch coasters of the time and this was the reason they gave, including images of the polyurethane wheels they'd tried before! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenbowl Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Regarding Cedar Fair parks getting any RMCs, at West Coast Bash on Sunday, Knott's VP of Maintenance and Construction, Jeff Gahagan, mentioned the only reason Cedar Fair didn't go with Topper Track on GhostRider was because they wanted to keep a classic woodie at the park. I took this to mean that Cedar Fair is not against using RMC, its they just haven't seen the right opportunity yet. Unlike Six Flags, who seemingly has decided wooden coasters should not exist (except El Toro), it seems that Cedar Fair has a respect for where their industry has come from. Also Cedar Fair CEO Matt Ouimet has said that they want to always keep GhostRider as original as possible due to it being one of the last rides Walter Knott helped design. Boy am I glad they did. I think it's perfect the way it is right now. I never got a chance to ride it when it was originally great, so I always imagined how great it used to be, but I had no idea until I got on it this month. Also, isn't Jeff Gahagan fascinating to listen to? He is very tight lipped during group Q&A's, but if you get him one on one or in a small group he is just a wealth of fascinating stories and details. But sometimes, parks can Gather Certain Information from the condition of their wooden coasters and decide to go another route in order to keep a classic wooden coaster feel. No thank you. See above paragraph. You really should try Ghost Rider. I don't know how many parks would be willing to invest the time and money like KBF did to really overhaul the whole ride like that but GCI sure proved they can do it and do it right. But how long is it going to last? They didn't take care of the original ride. Some GCI's have gotten super rough. And I have heard Boulder Dash is pretty bad now. And I am more confident in RMC throwing in crazy, intense elements where GCI is more gentle. Just a personal preference. Well the 100% retrack and new trains should help the smoothness last a while at least... Too bad GhostRider is noticeably less forceful/fast/intense than with the PTC's it was designed for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseeker4552 Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Regarding Cedar Fair parks getting any RMCs, at West Coast Bash on Sunday, Knott's VP of Maintenance and Construction, Jeff Gahagan, mentioned the only reason Cedar Fair didn't go with Topper Track on GhostRider was because they wanted to keep a classic woodie at the park. I took this to mean that Cedar Fair is not against using RMC, its they just haven't seen the right opportunity yet. Unlike Six Flags, who seemingly has decided wooden coasters should not exist (except El Toro), it seems that Cedar Fair has a respect for where their industry has come from. Also Cedar Fair CEO Matt Ouimet has said that they want to always keep GhostRider as original as possible due to it being one of the last rides Walter Knott helped design. Boy am I glad they did. I think it's perfect the way it is right now. I never got a chance to ride it when it was originally great, so I always imagined how great it used to be, but I had no idea until I got on it this month. Also, isn't Jeff Gahagan fascinating to listen to? He is very tight lipped during group Q&A's, but if you get him one on one or in a small group he is just a wealth of fascinating stories and details. But sometimes, parks can Gather Certain Information from the condition of their wooden coasters and decide to go another route in order to keep a classic wooden coaster feel. No thank you. See above paragraph. You really should try Ghost Rider. I don't know how many parks would be willing to invest the time and money like KBF did to really overhaul the whole ride like that but GCI sure proved they can do it and do it right. But how long is it going to last? They didn't take care of the original ride. Some GCI's have gotten super rough. And I have heard Boulder Dash is pretty bad now. And I am more confident in RMC throwing in crazy, intense elements where GCI is more gentle. Just a personal preference. Just because the original ride was unbearably rough does not necessarily mean Knott's didn't take care of it. The park is open 364 days a year, and the ride has been operating more or less consistently every day since it opened in 1998. Taking this into consideration, along with the fact that the ride has an extra stiff structure due to seismic specifications in CA, it's almost impossible to keep the ride smooth. That being said, I'm also very curious about how long this restoration will last due to these very reasons. Gold Striker just finished its 4th season of operation and from what I've heard, it's still just as great as ever. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisco Woody Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 The GCIs from after 2004 or so tend to stay very smooth, as they were designed with the modern Millennium Flyer trains, and were never designed to accommodate PTC trains and their longer wheelbase and resulting shifting/shaking. It's probably only a matter of time until major parks stop ordering new PTC trains all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasBaby Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 The GCIs from after 2004 or so tend to stay very smooth, as they were designed with the modern Millennium Flyer trains, and were never designed to accommodate PTC trains and their longer wheelbase and resulting shifting/shaking. It's probably only a matter of time until major parks stop ordering new PTC trains all together. Even though Ghostrider runs more cycles than any woodie in the country, I'm sure that Knott's will continue to maintain it. They didn't spend all that money on new trains and re-tracking just to have it deteriorate in a few years. The switch to MF trains, along with the re-profiling of certain areas and the use of Brazilian Hardwood, should keep GhostRider running smooth for many years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickflipbacktail Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 The GCIs from after 2004 or so tend to stay very smooth, as they were designed with the modern Millennium Flyer trains, and were never designed to accommodate PTC trains and their longer wheelbase and resulting shifting/shaking. It's probably only a matter of time until major parks stop ordering new PTC trains all together. Even though Ghostrider runs more cycles than any woodie in the country, I'm sure that Knott's will continue to maintain it. They didn't spend all that money on new trains and re-tracking just to have it deteriorate in a few years. The switch to MF trains, along with the re-profiling of certain areas and the use of Brazilian Hardwood, should keep GhostRider running smooth for many years to come. Does it really rub more cycles than any other wooden coaster in the country? That's pretty interesting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 ^ one could argue that fun spot in Orlando has a woody that runs all year, quite a bit as well. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterlvr Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 The GCIs from after 2004 or so tend to stay very smooth, as they were designed with the modern Millennium Flyer trains, and were never designed to accommodate PTC trains and their longer wheelbase and resulting shifting/shaking. It's probably only a matter of time until major parks stop ordering new PTC trains all together. Even though Ghostrider runs more cycles than any woodie in the country, I'm sure that Knott's will continue to maintain it. They didn't spend all that money on new trains and re-tracking just to have it deteriorate in a few years. The switch to MF trains, along with the re-profiling of certain areas and the use of Brazilian Hardwood, should keep GhostRider running smooth for many years to come. Does it really rub more cycles than any other wooden coaster in the country? That's pretty interesting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk i think it's assumed because Knott's is open year round. but i'd only believe it if i saw some true statistics. i'd think there's gotta be some wood coasters out there that run more cycles total in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Does it really rub more cycles than any other wooden coaster in the country? That's pretty interesting. Yep. They rub lots of cycles out with that woody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheoB Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 The GCIs from after 2004 or so tend to stay very smooth, as they were designed with the modern Millennium Flyer trains, and were never designed to accommodate PTC trains and their longer wheelbase and resulting shifting/shaking. It's probably only a matter of time until major parks stop ordering new PTC trains all together. Even though Ghostrider runs more cycles than any woodie in the country, I'm sure that Knott's will continue to maintain it. They didn't spend all that money on new trains and re-tracking just to have it deteriorate in a few years. The switch to MF trains, along with the re-profiling of certain areas and the use of Brazilian Hardwood, should keep GhostRider running smooth for many years to come. Does it really rub more cycles than any other wooden coaster in the country? That's pretty interesting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk i think it's assumed because Knott's is open year round. but i'd only believe it if i saw some true statistics. i'd think there's gotta be some wood coasters out there that run more cycles total in the year. Wodan and T Express are probably up there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knaiwear Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 ^Yeah there are probably a few internationally that are more, but I can't think of anything else in the US. Knotts is open 364 days a year, which is about 3x as many days some of the seasonal parks. I would guess Fun Spot doesn't need to run as many cycles. I don't think there are any other daily-op wood coasters now that Gwazi is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 That's probably an accurate statement. As far as I know the only wood coasters in America that operate daily on a year round basis are White Lightning and Ghostrider so I think it's definitely safe to assume that they probably run more cycles than any other wood coasters in the country per year. It should be noted though that White Lightning frequently runs one train so I think assuming Ghostrider is #1 is pretty safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenbowl Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 That's probably an accurate statement. As far as I know the only wood coasters in America that operate daily on a year round basis are White Lightning and Ghostrider so I think it's definitely safe to assume that they probably run more cycles than any other wood coasters in the country per year. It should be noted though that White Lightning frequently runs one train so I think assuming Ghostrider is #1 is pretty safe. Giant Dipper San Diego runs year-round too, probably as much as those two (goes down to 5 days/week during off-season). And it doesn't close for months out of the year like GhostRider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 Good catch. I totally forgot about that one. I was about to bring up Coastersaurus but apparently Legoland isn't open daily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFOG1991 Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Boardwalk Bullet runs year round I believe, but not daily. Cheetah at Wild Adventures used to run daily when the park operated every day of the year except Christmas Day. It really showed because just a few years after opening, the ride was a rough mess. It's fine now that GCI retracked it and the park cut its hours wayyyy back to mostly just summer and weekends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KootenaiJoe Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Sorry, I posted on the wrong New in 2017 thread. Opps. Anyway, there are rumors going around that some T-Rex track has been spotted on-site at Silverwood. I don't mean to be a tease but I can't say more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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