Mean Streak 2011

Anyone for some 20th aniversary trimless rides at CoasterMania? That would be nice.

I'm glad everyone is also enjoying the crew this season. I tried to keep them upbeat and what not all the way though training week, I'm glad its paying off. =D

Hmmmm...so are you guys saying that it's impossible to have a trim-less MS ride, period?

Now I'm wondering if I'm going crazy... I had a new person riding with me, and I told them all about Mean Streak's history and how they added a trim brake to the first hill for maintenance issues. I told him how he'd clearly feel a grab down the first hill, and I ate my words when it never came. I was shocked, and I've ridden the ride nearly every visit since it opened, so I know that feel so well. Very odd.

I figured since it was a cold, windy, rainy day with no weight, the trim automatically kicked off to prevent a valley...but perhaps there is no such system in place?

It's certainly possible, but it has to be maintenance' doing and not the ride crew.

Of course, things may have changed over the years. There might be some weird criteria where they don't use it. Mean Streak does have a potential to valley, so I'm sure they guard against that.

Similar to Beast, I find the break is less noticeable the farther back in the train I am.

I'm certainly not saying you are lying. To me the trimless Mean Streak ride is as elusive as a Dragster roll-back. I absolutely loved MS when it was brand new, and I remember the disappointment when the trim brake grabbed for the first time...long before there was a forum here to complain about it. :)

Tell you what. Unless someone does before me, I'll see if I can pick the brain of the operator and the crew next week sometime.

Someone here must know. :)

Here is some good info from 2 years ago...

http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/24403.aspx?page=2

Seems like there would be more reports of "trimless" rides if all this were entirely true. It might be that the first train after an empty one simply gets "less" trim than others. I'm not sure how sophisticated the computer system is that keeps track of interval times.

You want to be, on the nth fully loaded train following a nearly empty train, where n is he number of trains running. The idea is you want to be riding right after the same traiwent "too slow" so that the controller will allow you to go faster.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Excellent info. I can confirm that I was among the first Mean Streak trains sent out for the day, as I rode it right at open. I'll have to experiment in the future.

Regardless, the trim brakes are clearly not changed this year, and I'm sorry if I mislead or disappointed anyone.

I know I"m jumping in the middle of this conversation, but I was just curious if they have added the Green train for Mean Streak yet? When I went on Sunday, the train was sitting outside of Mean Streak.

They probably won't add it. It wasn't added last year at all.

Although, conceivably, if ridership improves dramatically with all the work done to smooth the ride over the winter it could be justified.

Does anyone know why the green train is still not running?

I would imagine it is for a variety of cost saving reasons. CP keeps a log of how many trains they are running and the number of people that ride each day. They probably determined it was worth the cost savings to only run 2. It might mean longer waits on crowded days, but I'm sure they have taken that into consideration.

Unlike Gemini and Mantis, I don't believe Mean Streak has a short interval to hit to keep 3 trains running efficiently. So I would guess that is not the reason.

I was at the park Thur and Fri. Rode MS in the early afternoon on Thur and it was cooler and wet out. We rode in front train. It's running smoother and faster than I can remember and I've ridden it every season its been there. Friday we rode it in the afternoon and it was hot and the sun was beating down. Sat in the back seat of the train this time. The ride was just as good. Fast and a lot less chatter. I've always like this coaster do I might be a little bias, but its better than ever. The green train is in pieces to the right of the lift hill as you're going up. Someone said it valleyed before the season started and it was dismantled right off the track and that's where its been since. You know rumors, though. The only thing I can confirm is the green train is sitting outside of MS with the seats all pulled out and in shambles.

The first big turn was extremely smoother but other than that not much has changed.

I also saw the green train sitting dismembered.

So if I read all this correctly, in order to get a trimless (or less-trimmed) ride, I should try to be on a more heavily loaded train just after an empty to near-empty train?

Would new trains help make the ride smoother?

They've just been completely refurbished by PTC

Riding the Blue Streak I noticed those had been completely refurbished as well. But only saw two trains. That makes me wonder if the green train was even done. Just the red and gold.