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19-06-2008, 06:20 AM
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#1
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The wood coasters from 2000
It seems that the past eight years haven't been very kind to many of
the ten wood coasters that opened in the U.S. in 2000. With the
latest news of Villain being sold to a scrap dealer, that puts the
number of these coasters that have had a rough history at five.
Thunder Eagle ran only a couple of years before losing its home in
Pigeon Forge, and the two relocation attempts (Quebec and Mexico) have
so far proven unsuccessful.
Pavilion's Hurricane met the same fate that seems to be awaiting
Villain, demolition.
Mega Zeph has sat idle since Hurricane Katrina, its future uncertain.
Son of Beast had its incident a couple of years ago and had its
signature feature, the loop, removed.
Let's hope the remaining five woodies from this class enjoy much
better futures.
Ken Simmons
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19-06-2008, 07:10 AM
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#2
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Re: The wood coasters from 2000
On Jun 18, 4:20*pm, "kat...@aol.com" <kat...@aol.com> wrote:
> It seems that the past eight years haven't been very kind to many of
> the ten wood coasters that opened in the U.S. in 2000. *With the
> latest news of Villain being sold to a scrap dealer, that puts the
> number of these coasters that have had a rough history at five.
>
> Thunder Eagle ran only a couple of years before losing its home in
> Pigeon Forge, and the two relocation attempts (Quebec and Mexico) have
> so far proven unsuccessful.
>
> Pavilion's Hurricane met the same fate that seems to be awaiting
> Villain, demolition.
>
> Mega Zeph has sat idle since Hurricane Katrina, its future uncertain.
>
> Son of Beast had its incident a couple of years ago and had its
> signature feature, the loop, removed.
>
> Let's hope the remaining five woodies from this class enjoy much
> better futures.
>
> Ken Simmons
Yet the best always rise to the top. I'd have to say Boulder Dash and
HW Legend were the two best rides from the class of '00.
Pretty amazing though as far as what has gone down over just the past
8 years.
-Mark
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23-06-2008, 05:48 AM
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#3
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Re: The wood coasters from 2000
Now we just need to get some PTC's on The Boss and we will be all
set. Did wonders for Legend.
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23-06-2008, 07:36 AM
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#4
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Re: The wood coasters from 2000
On Jun 18, 4:20*pm, "kat...@aol.com" <kat...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> Son of Beast had its incident a couple of years ago and had its
> signature feature, the loop, removed.
>
> >
> Ken Simmons
_______________
What exactly preceded the removal of SOB's loop? Now I'm not a
looping fan(not high enough or fast enough for me - and way overrated
by the coaster-mentaries on Discovery) but I thought it was good usage
of one.
-CC
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25-06-2008, 07:44 AM
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#5
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Re: The wood coasters from 2000
ChrisCoaster <ckozicki@snet.net> wrote:
: On Jun 18, 4:20*pm, "kat...@aol.com" <kat...@aol.com> wrote:
: >
: >
: > Son of Beast had its incident a couple of years ago and had its
: > signature feature, the loop, removed.
: > Ken Simmons
: _______________
: What exactly preceded the removal of SOB's loop? Now I'm not a
: looping fan(not high enough or fast enough for me - and way overrated
: by the coaster-mentaries on Discovery) but I thought it was good usage
: of one.
Oddly enough...
Two of the support posts in the first helix actually broke, allowing the
rail to bounce up and down as the train went through. I forget where it
was, but I've read the State of Ohio report on the incident. On the
ride, the problem spot was about halfway up the right-hand side of the
big helix as seen from the low spot...so about halfway up, past the
fastest part of the helix. The track bounced so bad that the ride sent
a dozen people to the hospital for examination.
Now, that first helix has been nothing but trouble since the day the
ride opened. The hill leading into the helix is 'way too tall, meaning
that as the train climbs into the banked curve that leads into the
helix, it loses so much energy that the last few cars can't stay stuck
to the outside of the curve, so gravity takes over and slams the back
cars hard to the right as they literally fall off the curve. Then the
helix was not built to withstand the pounding that it got from those
miserable trains, and Kings Island responded by stiffening up parts of
it to try and keep it rideable. Eventually, unable to flex to handle
the load, part of the ride finally just broke.
It stands to reason, then, that the obvious fix is to patch up the
helix, and completely remove the vertical loop, which is the only part
of the ride that ever worked right, and was the only part of the ride
that never appeared to have any real problems. The argument was that
by removing the loop they were able to use a lighter weight train (they
are now running a shortened, modified Gerstlauer train with 2-bench
cars) in order to preserve the helix.
Personally, I'd have ripped out the first helix completely and replaced
it with an out-and-back run down behind Adventure Express and the Racer,
down into the valley near the river, put a big turnaround down there and
then come back up the hill to the mid-course brake and leave the back
half of the ride alone. That would have fixed the ride's real problem,
made it a more interesting ride, and preserved the vertical loop. But
of course, nobody asked me...Oh, that's right, I even have a picture of
it:
http://capital2.capital.edu/admin-s...at/sobfixed.jpg
But then, that would not have been a cheap fix by any means...
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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