car weight

It was my understanding that the reason for the high weight of the car had everything to do with the riders. A full train of 36 larger adults, say 250 pounds weighs 9000 pounds. However, a trainload of school kids may average only 120 pounds for a total of 4320 pounds. By making the train very heavy, you reduce the difference (percentage wise), hence making the engineering variance much smaller.

The best way to reduce the variation in run times is to use evil trim brakes. When it's colder out or the trains are less loaded, then the brake aren't used; however, when it's warmer out, and there are overloaded, then the brakes get use. One difference is that the course has to be designed more intense, which isn't a bad thing.

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Millennium Force 03'

Well, the trains won't have 36 people on this ride, but your point about the weight variance still stands.

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What is most anticipated event of 2003? the debut of Dragster, the release of Metallica's new album, the release of Terminator 3, or the release of Matrix:Reloaded...tough call.