Six Flags Over Texas (SFOT) Discussion Thread

[Fooz]

Three overbanks in a row!

[chadster]

112 degrees, hmmm, that's also how hot it will be there in August. Can't wait until March.

[willh51]

This is the craziest damn think I've ever seen. Seeing these pictures reminds me of driving by an under-construction Islands of Adventure and seeing the Hulk partially constructed. I remember thinking how insane the maneuvers looked back then and haven't had the same feeling again until now.

[megalyte]

In one of the new pictures on SFOT Facebook, you can see what looks like the whole train sitting on the transfer track!

Edited December 9, 2010 by megalyte

[Zingoman]

^ That 's sitting in the storage track area where I posted photos of it a few pages back (http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=49813&start=1510). As of Sunday there was no chain on the lift so I'm thinking that is the next big step before we see cars getting pulled or pushed. Maybe not.

 

I don't remember if I ever posted it before but I'm certain that the new chain for Giant has been hiding under the platform for La Vibora all season. There are massive amounts of chain down there that look to be brand new. I have some pics somewhere.

[BrandonR]

^ That 's sitting in the storage track area where I posted photos of it a few pages back (http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=49813&start=1510). As of Sunday there was no chain on the lift so I'm thinking that is the next big step before we see cars getting pulled or pushed. Maybe not.

 

I don't remember if I ever posted it before but I'm certain that the new chain for Giant has been hiding under the platform for La Vibora all season. There are massive amounts of chain down there that look to be brand new. I have some pics somewhere.

 

Hmm really? Seems like an awfully strange place to store the Giant's lift hill, given it's not that close to the ride, not to mention all the maintenance shops and warehouses are much closer to the Giant than La Vibora.

[chadster]

considering they use the area around titan for old rides, parts, and two of the Giant's old trains, I don't put it past SFOT to place things wherever they can.

[Zingoman]

I do agree it's really random but Giant chain or not, that stuff is down there. haha. I check for it almost every week. If you stand in the exit on the platform and look through the track you can see piles and piles of it down there. I tried to dig up the photos but I think they were so bad I didn't bother keeping them. If it's still down there this weekend I'll be sure to get some pictures.

[Stephen G]

From what I have seen they still have to add the walk way next to the track, At least in all of the models Rocky Mountain have made, show there being a walk way along the track and I am sure there is still much electrical/Compy work to be done before they can let her rip, like fixing all those gaps and kinks we have seen in the past.

Also I was up at SFot Saturday picking up more of my Haunted house junk I had stored and they seemed to be replacing many of the more deteriorated timbers which I suspected that they would be doing a lot of work on the older support frame. I cant wait till this beast opens. "I wonder if they will let a dead clown be a test dummy?" need to call boss...

[texcoaster]

they seemed to be replacing many of the more deteriorated timbers

 

I was wondering about that. There is a lot of that structure that looks to be in poor shape, and as long as the ride is down anyway, it makes sense to go ahead and replace it now.

 

Since the track has been installed, however, it would seem that this is going to be a board here, a board there, rather than scrapping large chunks at a time. That means that there's a good chance that they can still do test runs while they are updating the structure. Not running trains while pieces are missing, but in between. Replace a board, then run a few test trains while the crew locates and moves to a new area.

[texcoaster]

I know we're all geeked up on seeing the first test run videos... but I'm wondering if SFOT will hold off on that until after Jan 2. With all this attention focused on the project (even from the GP), a non-successful test run - along with the dozens of videos of it that would surely end up on YouTube - could be pretty bad press.

Wait till the GP is out of the park, send out some trains, if everything goes well then SFOT posts the video to facebook. If it doesn't go well, then just sit silent until things get fixed and THEN post vids of a test run.

[Tmcdllr]

I haven't been following this thread but I just looked at the pics and the first drop is crazy!

 

And all I can say for that sideways turn is OH MY!

[robeclay]

I visit the park on a weekly basis. I've talked to one of the mechanics building the Giant right now. He says they are currently installing the brakes and drive wheels for the final break run and station. They also are planning on starting testing by the first week of January, but he said do NOT count on it being during park hours or while the GP are in the park. There are concerns of the trains valleying also because the Gerstlauer trains are heavier than expected. Hopefully RMC and Gerstlauer worked together to make this project run cohesively and smoothly.

On another note, the park has outdone themselves for HitP this year. There is a fantastic Dancing christmas lights show in the trees outside Yosemite Sam's Gold River Adventure. At night, the whole area flickers like a christmas themed dance club. Hopefully next year we'll get some sort of Christmas parade and fake snow more widespread around the park instead of just Santa's Village.

[rcfreak417]

^It's kind of hard to believe the trains could valley with the difference in height between the first drop and the rest of the track. But hopefully that doesn't happen. I just imagined this thing flying through the course.

[cedarpointfangirl]

^^ I will be heading out to HIP this Saturday, defintely looking forward too it! It seems to get better every year. Can't wait to see the TG, I haven't had the chance to get to the park all year. I have been seeing the progess when I go over to the ballpark.

[texcoaster]

There are concerns of the trains valleying also because the Gerstlauer trains are heavier than expected.

 

In my experience, a train full of riders runs a circuit significantly faster than an empty train, due to the added weight of the people.

 

If the trains are heavier than expected, I'd expect them to worry about having to trim it, not winch it out of a valley.

[texcoaster]

There was a LOT of activity involving cranes yesterday, (12/8) according to SFOT's cam. Perhaps this is them replacing worn timbers in the structure.

 

On a related note, the big crane is inside the helix. How do they get that thing in/out of there, drive it through the creek?

[chadster]

I'm sure they get it in there like in most bridge construction projects, it breaks down to next to nothing.

[Zingoman]

^ I thought I had an idea of how that crane got in and out at first when they had the gap at the base of the first drop, but now that the entire circuit is closed I have no idea how they do it.

 

The mention of the train valleying due to too much weight definitely makes no sense. First of all, there is just no way this thing could valley in the first half at least. haha. Just no way. Second half... maybe if a wheel falls off after stopping in the block brake.

 

Second of all, a heavy train definitely runs faster. Simple physics. More weight means more momentum to keep her truckin. 7 summers of working at parks and seeing how trains behave you just can't tell me otherwise. I would think the weight concerns would cause problems with, what most of us have been very curious about all along, the structure.

[kgbishop15]

uhh well what about lifting the crane out with another crane?

[robeclay]

I don't wanna argue, but the valleying comment comes from a VERY CREDIBLE source at SFOT. The same issue comes up on Mr. Freeze all the time. The tower may be almost 250 feet, but that overbanked turn, combined with the weight of the train causes Mr. Freeze to valley multiple times a year. I am not claiming to be a professional at designing coasters, but my friend certainly is. He's the one working on the coasters at SFOT year after year, not the people who argue on the site... I was just relaying what I heard from a professional in the industry. End of story!

[Houston Thrills]

Freeze valleys for many reasons, but the train being too heavy isn't one of them, unless it was so incredibly heavy that it caused an undershoot.

[ScottBrown]

^ I thought I had an idea of how that crane got in and out at first when they had the gap at the base of the first drop, but now that the entire circuit is closed I have no idea how they do it.

 

The mention of the train valleying due to too much weight definitely makes no sense. First of all, there is just no way this thing could valley in the first half at least. haha. Just no way. Second half... maybe if a wheel falls off after stopping in the block brake.

 

Second of all, a heavy train definitely runs faster. Simple physics. More weight means more momentum to keep her truckin. 7 summers of working at parks and seeing how trains behave you just can't tell me otherwise. I would think the weight concerns would cause problems with, what most of us have been very curious about all along, the structure.

 

Heaver trains will run faster true but they will also loose much more speed going up a hill as well which is also simple physics

[jawharp1992]

Train weight, reputable sources, none of this matters to me at the moment. I could honestly care less about the specifics to that detail. Personally, I'm going to just sit it out and wait until they start testing to make a comment on if it will valley or not

[GLund]

I know one things for sure, if you launch 2 coaster trains at the same speed and one of them is full of people and the other is empty, the empty one will go much higher than the one full of people.

 

Objects fall at the same speed regardless of weight, but how it goes up the hill is a whole 'nother story.

 

I wouldn't worry about the train valleying until it does. It seems like an issue as simple as a heavy train would come to fruition over the course of its installation, but the thing hasn't even run yet. Maybe it will run much slower than we all envisioned?