Extended Closure

A lot of folks still think this issue was the launch system so I wouldn't listen to much on social media. They have only altered 1 train and at this point it seems most likely that they are proving out the ideas they have come up with to fix the issue. I hope that this last round of testing yielded positive results and we soon see some work on another train. There is the possibility that they only use 2 trains for the remainder of this season but even at that we are still weeks away from re-opening.

Until we see work on the 2nd train (or all 3) and testing that happens while the park is open I would not get too excited about riding TT2 anytime soon.

Kevinj, that's the question that's been going through my brain since they started testing at night. I remember them doing a great deal of testing during the late winter and into spring, likely to just get laps on the ride. The park was closed, so they could do it all they needed to. Do those same processes need to play out in the same quantity with limited time?

Separately, does Cedar Point pull a Busch Gardens Tampa (Iron Gwazi) and opt for a 2025 opening instead of late 2024?

No testing last night but there appeared to be lots of track inspection all over the ride. A person at the park said they saw "bare metal and torches", so take that for what it's worth.

Jeff da Beat:

Separately, does Cedar Point pull a Busch Gardens Tampa (Iron Gwazi) and opt for a 2025 opening instead of late 2024?

Halloweekends is such an insane moneymaker and driver of attendance for the park I would imagine they would be more than happy to have a chance to get the ride open for all (or even part) of fall season if the ride was a bust for summer season. Outside of the fact that it's the big shiny new ride, having the ability to open means having a giant queue to put 2,000 or so people to stand in line and help make a tiny dent in the madness that is the CP midways during Halloweekends.

If by “ bare metal and torches” they meant inspection with flashlights then yes. That would be accurate…

^torches... maybe the guy was British.

^^^ I hope so lol. I was picturing welding at the top of the tophat.

If Cedar Point gets the green light to re-open this thing on October 23rd I’d place a large bet they’d open it. If it’s deemed safe and ready timing doesn’t matter.

I’m at the park again today because why wouldn’t I be. Anyway, no signs of any welding, burning or grinding anywhere on the track which makes perfect sense. There’s nothing wrong with the track. That being said I did hear a rumor that the issue with the trains might be exaggerated by the lateral sway on the approach and down side of the top hat. Maybe we will see some additional supports installed on the columns in that area. Only time will tell but at least there’s rumors flying again!

Looks like there was some kind of welding. Also ropes on the tophat

https://x.com/realkingcorgi/status/1817641223819293032?s=61

https://x.com/realkingcorgi/status/1817641232879034800?s=61

https://x.com/realkingcorgi/status/1817641268618706992?s=61

Still not seeing any signs of welding or hot work. The paint would be removed in a larger area around the welds and there would be heat marks, those look clean line the rest of what I saw. They are using “rope access” aka repellers to inspect the track on the top hat. Much easier and cheaper than using a crane.

After being at the park this weekend there is no doubt they are doing a very thorough inspection of Top Thrill including the supports and track. Even if a few touched up welds show up I wouldn’t read too much into it, look at Raptor as there’s fresh welds in numerous spots. No one really makes a fuss if a few boards are changed out on The Beast or Steel Vengeance.

JUnderhill:

Still not seeing any signs of welding or hot work. The paint would be removed in a larger area around the welds and there would be heat marks, those look clean line the rest of what I saw. They are using “rope access” aka repellers to inspect the track on the top hat. Much easier and cheaper than using a crane.

After being at the park this weekend there is no doubt they are doing a very thorough inspection of Top Thrill including the supports and track. Even if a few touched up welds show up I wouldn’t read too much into it, look at Raptor as there’s fresh welds in numerous spots. No one really makes a fuss if a few boards are changed out on The Beast or Steel Vengeance.

Good to know. As I sure as heck don’t

I’m just saying what I see and hear, for all I know a crane could show up tomorrow and start dismantling the ride! From everything I saw going on this weekend at TT2 nothing supports any of the doom and gloom I have seen being discussed online. I also saw nothing that gives me a lot of hope it will be opening anytime soon. I’m just happy to see any activity versus the nothing of the past several weeks even though we’re still guessing what’s going on with the ride.

TTD 120mph:

so take that for what it's worth.

All the attention on the track/towers at this moment suggests, to me, they're inspecting and purposely looking for any possible problems. I can't imagine there wasnt discussion, amongst engineers and the park, about how the trains would or could affect the tower and existing track. As with anything though, things could have exceeded what they thought would happen.

So I guess I wouldn't be surprised if we see some additional supports in certain areas.

When I heard about welding, inspections, etc., that was my first thought as well; but it all seems counter-intuitive. I get that the train (at least in its initial new form) is/was whipping over the top-hat at a greater clip with greater forces the humans feel, but shouldn't these new lighter trains be subjecting the track and the structure to less stress overall, leading to reduced wear and tear?

What makes most sense to me (as a dummy with no engineering background) is that the launch track would be experiencing the most of these new forces.

I'm no engineer but this is how I've come to think of the possible problem. Dragster would sway every launch. It was never anything crazy but it was there. I always thought it was weird to not have any sideways bracing on the longer vertical supports for the launch. Maybe it was factored into design but it also wouldn't be the first time Intamin built a structure that didn't have structural issues. Regardless, the ride ran for almost 20 years with that not being a problem.

Fast forward to TT2 and now we have a new dynamic with a different train design, going 100+mph backwards and forwards for longer durations......every cycle. I could imagine any lateral sway in the launch track and accent up the tower being compounded by this. There was probably enough time between each launch on Dragster where the track could settle down and thus wasn't really an issue. But now there's a train going super fast, multiple times, in a short amount of time. Basically, the track is still swaying left and right between the 2 main launches and each pass makes it sway more. This, in turn, causes the train to hunt more and more which also puts more stress on the enormous wheel bogies.

Again, I'm not an engineer.....so this could make no sense what so ever. And I can't imagine it wasn't something that the engineering team at Zamperla didn't think about.

True that Junderhill. I would love it to open mid August but my expectations are definitely tempered. I Appreciate the perspective

I don't know that whatever the train issue is would necessarily be tied to the track and structure, but there isn't any definitive evidence either way.

That said, I think Adam brings up a more interesting point. Everything down track from the launch was not initially designed to accommodate a dynamic load in both directions. I would assume that this was considered regardless, but in the pull-out, the track was supporting a horizontal push more than vertical. Now it's both. Again, I don't know that it would even matter, but that's what engineers do.

[Deleted because I erroneously thought the writings on the TT2 columns were on the top hat and "new" -- apparently they are not]

The writing and scratches in the pictures linked above are on the spike structure not the top hat. I have been told by a few people who visit the park frequently that both the writing and scratches have been there since it was built as the spike was never re-painted. Some of the paint looks to me like it was scratched by lifting straps, most likely when the structure was being fit together during final assembly. I have pictures that show some of the scratches from opening weekend but nothing in the area where the writing is at. I honestly never paid that much attention to the structure so I personally cannot say when the writing showed up.