Intamin Smoothness

I remember reading a post from Jeff/Dan a while back after they went over to Darien Lake for a little MF preview on S:RoS. The only thing I remember was that it said something about RoS not being B&M smooth, but that it was definitely by *no* means rough. And it was made clear that this was a good thing (I agree for any hyper).

Having not ridden RoS myself could someone who has compare its smoothness to another coaster's? I'm thinking that its similar to Magnum's?

Sorry about the somewhat lame topic, but I'm bored and there are still more than 2 months to go. :)

Actually I'm pretty sure it will be a lot smoother than Magnum, mainly because of the track design and how the wheels grip the track so tightly insuring that there is no sliding in any direction.

If you look at the track on the Magnum, Blue Streak, Gemini, and Mean Streak, the side wheels witch keep the trains on track when truning, are griping the track on the inside. Then if you look at hte track on the Raptor, or the Mantis it has the wheels gripping the out side. When the wheels are in the inside they have a harder time turning, witch will make the ride very bumpy. But if the wheels are on the outside of the track the rid will be smoother around the turns.

S:RoS does feel very B&Mish, only a lot quieter. If you haven't checked out the point-of-view video of Superman, check it out on this page: http://www.guidetothepoint.com/thepoint/rides/mftour1.asp

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

Uhhhhh...Alex... Consider the geometries here. The position of the guide wheels inboard or outboard of the rail makes absolutely *no* difference in terms of train performance. Some trains with guide wheels on the outside track better than some trains with guide wheels on the inside, but it has more to do with details of the car articulation and the precision of track fabrication than with guide wheel position. I don't really touch on the inside vs. outside issue in "How Coaster Cars Work (or don't)" but you might find it interesting anyway... http://capital2.capital.edu/admin-staff/dalthoff That said...Intamin uses independent wheel assemblies and I believe they use sprung guide wheels as well. The use of a trailered train also makes for a smoother ride in that there are no wheel seats. But the real key to providing a smooth ride is in getting the track fabrication right. If you don't believe that, take a ride on the Tenessee Tornado at Dollywood. Its train configuration is exactly the same as that on the CP Corkscrew, but it is a much smoother ride because of some enhancements in the track bending technology. --Dave Althoff, Jr.

I think Magnum's problem is that it needs new wheels, or at lease have the present one's rotated. :) When you look at Magnum's track, there is a lot of greese and dirt build up that could be contributing to the problem. ( not to forget all of the seagull poop) A lot of people said it was considerably smoother when it first cmae out than it is now. Maybe it's time to clean of and repaint the track.
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"CP is very good value!" -- A RCT Guest at CP

A lot of it has to do with the actual track design as Dave stated above. Maybe he'll have more to add about Magnums track.

Uhhhh... Magnum is rough???
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-Dave Kochman
Thinking that MAgnum was the smoothest, high speed coaster ever designed by Arrow...Oh well...
*** This post was edited by DaveTKoch on 2/28/00. ***

Thats what I was thinking Dave!

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"Its 242.9 miles to CedarPoint. We've got a full
tank of gas, half-pack of cigarettes, its night,
and we're wearing sunglasses!"
Corey

Magnum has wheels replaced almost daily. Happens all of the time.

Magnum is rough in the turns for a number of reasons. The first is that the non-parabolic turns just happen. Since the guide wheels (inside of track) do not make constant contact with the track, they smack in to these turns and tend to bounce off of them a bit. Couple this with the track design. Since the ties are often too far apart, the rail in between tends to bend a bit. This is best seen on the pretzel, where you can see warn paint streaks in intervals that match the distance between the ties. You can kind of see this on "Turn-around (6)" in the gallery at http://www.guidetothepoint.com/thepoint/gallery/default.asp?section=magnum

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

I found S:ROS to be very smooth, and very fast. The first drop was better than Magnums, but I find Magnum overall to be better. I look at the layout for MF, and I think it's much more exciting than S:RoS. I noticed that the superman lift was very, very fast, and the MF list will be even faster, which is ok, but I hope they slow it down a little at the top.

Jman

Why do people insist on rides being so smooth? I can understand to a point where Mean Streak is too rough for them, but Magnum? I mean, common. I think Magnum's pretty smooth, but then again I don't really notice stuff like how smooth a ride is.

actually the ties on Magnum are alot closer to each other than on the Viper at SFDL. It makes you wonder if Arrow is guessing with the details, I know they invented the steel coaster, but you should be able to figure that one out.
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"Meesa okee day"- Jar Jar Binks
Does that mean lotsa people scona die?"-Jar Jar Binks

Jeff i dont think they replace the wheels every day. That would be a lot of money. Just to get 8 wheels for mt skates cost about $75, and there not een close to being the same size of roller coaester wheels.

When you've been on the ride a few hundred times in one season and take road trips with a couple of the crew members you get to know how things work. Yes, wheels (usually one at a time) are replaced almost daily. The wheels are sent to a firm that applies new polyurethane (or whatever exotic polymer they're using these days) and replaces the bearings.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

Jeff i still dont think they would replace the wheel and the bearings every couple of days on any coaster. That would cost about $10,000 a month for wheels and bearings for all the coaster in Cedra point. Bearings are more espence of then wheels. I can see them haveing two pairs of wheels for each train, and have them being changed every month or even week, and while there not on the train they could be getting cleaned.

Do you think I'm making this stuff up? How many times did you ride Magnum last year? Do you think I'm just making stuff up?

Magnum is a special case with wheels, as they wear out more frequently due to the speed. The other coasters do not require constant replacement. Even if it did cost $10,000 a month in maintenance, so what? The combined salary of Mean Streak's six union carpenters adds up to more than that a month, and that doesn't even include materials! Hell, Magnum's crew making just a little over minimum wage costs more than $10,000 a month.

$10,000 is a drop in the bucket. It's no money.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

But i still think its dumb and i dont beleive you. But looking at your magnum pictures of the wheels it looks like the had been on that train for a while.

Man, Respect his Authoritahhh! (In the words of Cartman)

Jeff knows what he is talking about.

And if you don't believe him, ask a Magnum ride op perhaps in the Employment section of CP Place. *** This post was edited by CP_genius on 3/2/00. ***

Thank you! Do I have to get Dan "I'm 21 today and rode Magnum 801 times last season, dammit" Haverlock to confirm what I'm saying?

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"