Magnum reprofile.

Just to share, I know we've mentioned at some point around here that Magnum was reprofiled in '89 I think to tone down that drop into the pretzel. Well, if you check the new off season Magnum photo I posted in the gallery (Magnum section, "Second tunnel (2)"), you can see how low the track used to dip. Look at the lower cross members of the support structure and you're there. I looked at the old POV video, and it does appear to be kind of violent.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

Where can we get the old POV video??

Yeah, can you post it as a quicktime download!?!

Is this the old POV at this address:?

http://play.rbn.com/?dcionline/dcionline/demand/exp/rollercoasters/magnum56.rm

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Brian Z.
Greensburg PA
Hometown parks: Kennywood, Cedar Point!

Yep. That's it. You can tell because the track goes even at the entry and exit points of the pretzel.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

That drop used to be a real back breaker in the back seat. It was reprofiled during the winter of '89-'90.

For those of you who have the America's Greatest Thrills in 3-D Volume 1, watch the POV of Magnum. It was shot after the '89 season and on the way down from the thrid hill you can see how bright the new track is compared to the rest of the track.

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Daniel J. Haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
Is it May yet?
www.popworld.com/dan

Actually I think neck breaker might be closer. It sure was fun though. (At least until June of '89 when they put awful breaks on that hill and wrecked the ride).
The Discovery channel used to have an old video file of Magnum, but that seems to be gone. I have a very old POV on video tape that still has a crane standing next to the ride. Did anyone ever get a copy of the video they showed at coastermania this year?

Not a *watchable* copy, though I confess I had the camera rolling while the videotape played. There was entirely too much light in the ballroom, though, so I hacked that part out. I did ask about getting a copy of that tape (mostly because of some of the historical footage on it (really like the bit with the first test run...dead silence until the train clears the second hill, then deafening cheers!) and was informed that because of the hodgepodge of copyright ownerships involved in that reel, even Cedar Point only had one copy. --Dave Althoff, Jr.

Didn't CP also switch to a style of track with a larger backbone? Mee thinks that you can actually spot the two transtion joints into and out of the newer track while riding if you look close enough.

You can clearly see it in 'Turn-around (3)' by following the exit track (on the left) down to the first scafolding support. Right there is the transition back to the smaller diameter backbone. *** This post was edited by ACEerCG on 12/22/99. ***

Wow... you're right. I never noticed that before, and it's less than subtle!

The other thing that I find interesting about the second half of the pretzel is the "bumping" wear on the track. The paint isn't just warn off in a continuous stripe, but in patches between, or maybe in line with, the ties. You can feel every bump when on the ride.

Yikes... we're really getting to coaster geekdom now.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

Your not close, your there pal.

Maybe its bumpy because the designer designed it differently, ie the Magnum layout.

They did indeed switch to a track with not only a larger backbone, but also thicker wall tubing. THAT change was not made as part of the 1989-1990 reprofile, though. That change was made some years later, I believe for the 1995 season. I know it was before 1996; it may have been 1994. Anyway, they replaced the entire pretzel from one track segment beyond the first transition point to one track section before the second transition point. The result was more than a little disasterous, in that the transition into and out of the replaced segment was extremely rough, with a nasty lateral kick because something didn't work quite right. On the day after CoasterMania, Magnum closed for a week or two. Two additional track segments were replaced in order to fix the transitions into and out of the new pretzel. A part representative said at the time that the ride was going down so that they could fix those spots because of "excessive wheel wear." A friend commented that it was also causing a problem of excessive *rider* wear! --Dave Althoff, Jr.