Big Slick Tire Falls Off

Did they run TTD today (Monday) with the remaining tires still on the trains? My guess is no. Not until they figure out just what happened and why. That would be the safest option.

MrScott

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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

I know it's not a good way to look at this, but the only way you figure out something is wrong is for it to actually have a problem. Now that a tire has fallen off, I'm sure they'll either reinforce the tires even better, take them off, or just get lighter weight ones. LOL at MrScott's signature. I know it's been your signature for awhile now, but I think it applies perfectly to what's been happening to the Dragster vehicles lately. Maybe it's better they aren't going any faster because we don't need the vehicle to blow apart. So far they've lost a tire and a metal piece. What's next? Any guesses?

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and remember, if you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter

I was in the queue right when it happened, but was not looking at the trains coming back, so I didn't see it happen.

Luckily, none of us in line got hurt. We did finally get to ride by around 1 am, and the ride-ops were pretty friendly considering they had to be there. When I thanked one of the ride ops for staying to let us ride (even though I knew she had to be there anyway), she was very nice and said something like "Thank you for your patience."

I again thank the ride-ops of the ride for working all those long hours, and hope their job only gets easier.

-Sam
Who had to wait 3 hours just so he could brag about riding 15 coasters in 1 day :-)!

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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

Today, Top Thrill Dragster did not open until about 2:30. The entire mock engine chasis was removed from every train this morning, which was why it opened so late. Needless to say, the trains looked rather "naked", but when the ride finally opened, things started to move quite smoothly.

I apoligize if this has been mentioned already, but they have also improved the capacity of the five train operation by cycling the trains in such a way that there are always two trains on the loading platform, as opposed to the fifth train entering the loading platform on its own.

Yes I was there today too, and they did take the wing,engine and wheels off. The had a crane back by the electrical building to take it all off. But I waited in line and we were the 4th train of the day. :)

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 2
Millennium Force: 7
Wicked Twister: 7

How was the engine taken off? Was there a large, empty space on the back of the train? I hope all this unluck doesn't go on for too long.

edit: I hope somebody got pictures of the naked trains.
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Egg nog... how'd they think that up?
"I want to get a little drunk... but I also want some pankcakes."
*** This post was edited by pagoona 5/26/2003 7:36:49 PM ***

The engine and spoiler were all one large piece - a single accessory. It was removed from each train by a small crane in the area of the safety brakes. The back of the train is now essentially just a flat metal platform - If you didn't know any better you would assume that two seats belong there. Obviously, it didn't look that great - but the ride itself is of course still outstanding.

Wow, I must have just left before this happened. I believe I got off at about 11 PM last night and then headed out. I do remember watching the blue train hit the brakes while I was in line and seeing its back right wheel moving at around 10:30 or so.

Anyway, last night marked my first ride on TTD and all I can say is wow. New #1
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America's Rockin' Roller Coast

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neo said:
...Maybe it has to do with the "Made in China" tag on each train??
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To be continued.
11.07.03

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Uh...I thought everything was made in Switzerland.

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How do you spell FASTEST? I-N-T-A-M-I-N. That's how. (my GTTP sig)
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Only 1 more week of Space, my favorite nightclub of all-time! (my universal sig)

I think the made in China comment was just a joke, don't take everything you see here seriously.

I'm not surprised they removed the whole setup. It's probably easier to work on everything over in the Amazement Shop during the day rather than while it's on the trains at night. CP seems pretty determined about the theeming on this ride, so I expect to see it all come back as soon as they can do so safely.

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-Chris Woodard
"If you're standing in an uncomfortable position, that means you are in the right position because you are riding Mantis!" - Mantis ride op doing spiels on closing day.

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neo said:
"The train slowed down, but the tire kept going.."a
LMAO. In all seriousness, I am starting to wonder about TTD overall. Yes, it fell off at the brakes, but what about the metal piece that fell off and hit the brake run on Thursday? That was from at least 300 ft in the air. Maybe it has to do with the "Made in China" tag on each train??
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To be continued.
11.07.03

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jeez people. have a little faith in the ride. it is new. it has some bugs to work out. please stop whining. please.

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"it's like eating in the kitchen of a delightful italian stereotype!"
Trips to Cedar Point: 2
Dragster: 3 Millennium Force: 41
Raptor: 30 Wicked Twister: 13

"Made in china" come on NEO stop whinning about TTD .i dont think you have ever said anything positive about that ride, its all negative from you,and because you have said all this negative stuff, it makes me wonder if you have even ridden TTD. Please spare us all of the whinning and build up enough courage to get in line and ride TTD, then lets hear all the negativity...o wait there wont be any, because TTD is the greatest ride ever built, big freakin deal if it is closed for 3 days boo hoo ;)

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TTD=4(frontseat=1)absoulutely amazing
WT=32
MIlle=61

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Ralph Wiggum said:
If anything, we will probably see fake Goodyear tires show up made of fiberglass (just like the mock engines) or some other light weight material.

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Having spent some time around drag cars, I know that drag slicks are not especially light when mounted. After seeing the renderings of the trains, I figured that TTD's "tires" would be fiberglass from the start! However, racing nut that I am, I really like the looks of the real drag slicks and I'm confident that CP can find a way for them to "work."

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Rich Genthner / PTC99 & TL-Guest Services Y2K

Now im not a very smart person but this idea came to mind. What if they mounted a plate on the axle of these, and then bolted the tire to the plate, like with lugnuts on a real car.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 3
Millennium Force: 8
Wicked Twister: 7

I'm very surprised that all of this has happened. It doesn't seem like getting a tire to stay on a train is that big of a task!

I was the "friend" on the train directly following the accident. We got very lucky, one more pair in front of us for front and they would have waited for me all that time. But I was definintly freaked out when pulling into the unload station. We had to sit there for about two min. before the ride ops remembered to let passengers out. Does anyone have pictures of the train and launched tire? I know they exist, half a dozen people got pictures before they shooed us to the midway.

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"Enjoy your day at America's Rockn' Rollercoast!"

Here's my theory as to why the tire fell off and what needs to be done to prevent this from happening again:

Anyone who's been on the ride (or has seen the POV video) knows that there is a LOT of vibration going through the train during the launch. Since they used very heavy tires mounted on a thin axle, chances are the vibrations transfered to the tires, causing them to "wobble" back and fourth, and in the process, "bending" the axle back and fourth over and over where the tire connects to it. Now, when metal is bent over and over in the same spot enough times, it will fatigue, eventually causing it to break, which I surmise is what happened with the axle when the tire fell off. Even if they replace the real tires with lighter fiberglass ones, there's still a chance it could happen, but much later. The only way they can keep this incident from happening again is to mount the tires (or fiberglass ones) on a thicker, tubular axle, or mount them on several "axles" arranged in a circle around the wheel rim. Either solution would prevent the tire from wobbling and causing the connections to fatigue and break off.
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Cedar Point - where SBNO is not an option! (my GTTP sig)
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Only 1 more week of Space, my favorite nightclub of all-time! (my universal sig)