Extended Closure

Yea, they were very picky with the TT2 questions. As such, there was no useful info about it. However, silver train is almost completely reassembled so, hopefully, continuous testing is imminent.

1-2 am they were setting them off.

^ Yes. I’ve seen pictures floating around of what appears to be a possible independent inspector.

Another round going on.

For all the talk about and I told you so’s about Zamperla it is a stretch to say Intamin or B&M would have pulled this off without any hiccups. Sure, B&M’s are generally reliable but how much experience do they have with a triple launch 420’ LSM coaster? And Intamin, really? Cedar Point has already had to remove 3 of the 5 rides installed by them in the past 24 years so yeah, great track record there!

Testing again last night at 1:30am: https://x.com/topthrillstat...85621?s=46

Not sure if it’s black and silver trains or just one. Two thoughts:

Does American Testing Services on site mean anything? Would they reopening with only 2 trains?

It was 2 maybe all 3 trains. They launched pretty rapidly at some points to not be 1.

Last I heard blue train had nothing done to it and was still sitting there with the wheels off, apparently silver is the only one ready to test. Since they do not have to worry about loading, unloading and restraints I would imagine they could cycle one train fairly quickly. I haven't been there personally since Wednesday though so this is all heresay. Anyone at the park that can confirm?

Either way it is good news to hear of this progress. Now the question will this be the alleged testing only for the purpose of designing a permanent fix, or is this actual testing of the permanent fix that could lead to opening? Fun to speculate but only time will tell.

Well, if that testing company is on-site as alleged, I think that points to testing of an intended final fix.

Or they could just be gathering data from the test runs needed for the engineering of a permanent repair. If one of the rumors is true the electrical work and seat removal seen on one of the trains last week was to install sensors and other devices to gather data. Again, I have absolutely zero inside info and am just hearing what some other folks are saying.

I don't think a third party inspection team would be on site yet if they weren't testing what they believe to a permanent fix, or at least an interim fix to get them through the season. Otherwise I would buy into the data gathering / incremental testing hypothesis.

A quick Google of American Testing Services shows that they do non-destructive testing, metallurgy, and calibration. That does not seem like a third-party ride certification company.

Well, if a ride needs modifications to its design because the wheel assembly didn't function as intended and needed to be removed from service because of alleged unanticipated wear or fatigue or whatver, I would think that any certification of a revised design might require some metallurgy experts and non-destructive testing before return to service.

From the homepage of the ATS website:

"...to test and confirm the safety and stability of your products and infrastructure."

I don't disagree that their type of testing is not important. I just don't see them being the outfit that gives the proverbial thumbs up and says put people on it.

Wouldn't the state of Ohio have to recertify the ride, as it does for every ride before opening day?

My guess is the state would probably need to recertify, but I would think that would be the last step. And CP did say in their initial "extended closure" release that there would be third party testing before reopening IIRC.

Was silver and black train running. Doubt they'll be going again tonight with rain in forecast.

Shades:

I just don't see them being the outfit that gives the proverbial thumbs up and says put people on it.

They are however the outfit that Cedar Point's insurance would want to give the proverbial thumbs up that the modifications were done correctly.

As for the State of Ohio being involved, would they need to sign off on the ride again? It was already cleared to open and nothing accidental happened to close the ride down. How much of a modification needs to be done to a ride for the state to consider the original approval void? I'm thinking Dave is the only one here that might have that answer.

One of the big selling points of the Lightning trains was much less NDT being needed since there are less welds and it is more of a solid piece. So much for that.

There's a difference between needing less NDT on a milled unibody, versus needing NDT on a redesigned wheel bogey. In fact I would expect that the wheel assemblies would need periodic testing even without the apparent design flaw. Less required maintenance and inspection doesn't equal no required maintenance and inspection.