Mean Streak Makeover

I talked to my supervisor at work whose husband works constuction for CP and he told her that the Mean Streak will be re-boarded for next season.

as it is to a point each and every season....Now do you mean retracked or reboarded??

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
mf laps = 100! No More No Less!!

Its re-tracked every year too

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Number 1 And Only Cedar Point.

not totally Magnum2G3..I wouldn't go that far...

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
mf laps = 100! No More No Less!!

Mean Streak is perpetually retracked and repaired year-round by its six carpenters. All of the wood structure coasters are carefully looked over every winter and hundreds of board feet are replaced. Happens every year.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 50

"You never stop building a wood coaster."

--Ollie Lindon, Director of Wood Coaster Maintenance, Kings Island.

Ollie may work for Kings Island, but his comment is true for any well-maintained wood coaster anywhere. And believe it or not, that includes Mean Streak.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

And we all know he came up with that line after trying to keep SOB open for more than a day or two at a time.



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"Sorry, we've done last call. Please come back in May" - Rich Prenzlin Red Garter 2000

What problems does Mean Streak have? I mean.. why do they have to have the brakes.. and why did it even get built if it had to have brakes?

Seriously, what is the point of building a monster like this, then shackling it's power? CP baffles me on this one. If the trim brakes were added to keep MS from destroying itself (which has been the number one reason for doing so, according to everyone else) and they're still having to replace structure pieces and track every year, then what does that tell you? It appears to me that the only thing the trims are good for are to continually fuel a fire of how bad they suck!


*** This post was edited by Superstew on 10/25/2000. *** *** This post was edited by Superstew on 10/25/2000. ***

Here's a question: Why is it that the Mean streak needs those brakes but the Texas Giant doesn't? They're very similar, especially the beginning.

Yes, but Texas Giant is rough as hell. That's what MS was like before the brakes were put on. I liked the roughness, but many people didn't. Although, it certainly wasn't as rough as The Beast, SOB, Vortex, or pretty much any other coaster at PKI.

Didn't they completely overhaul the Texas Giant last year? I hear it's a lot smoother now!!!

Cedar Point---PLEASE call up CCI!!!!

I've heard the the Texas Giant also has trims now. Don't know for sure, never riden it.

I rode Texas Giant for the first time last month. I wouldn't call it smooth but it's better than MS was prior to brakes. I've never, however, ridden a coaster that was such a different ride from the front to the rear of the train! Wow,the back is wickedly rough! Especially the last half of the ride where the train seems to be continuously gaining speed. But it's worth trying once. My neck and I will stick with the front of the train, thank you. And yes, there are brakes on the plateau mid-way through the ride, similar to MS. Didn't notice any others. During TG ERT, there was talk about the brakes being turned off later in the evening. I pooped out before then, but that would have to be quite a ride!

Mean Streak makeover:
Gasoline and a well placed match!
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??

Let's get straight which brakes do what now, shall we?

Mean Streak has six sets of brakes.

#1: To park the train in the station. I think we can all agree that these brakes are necessary.

#2: To park the train on the transfer table. These serve as a block safety as the train passes, and also make it possible to transfer trains on and off. Again, I think these are clearly necessary.

#3: At the base of the lift hill to better match the train speed to the lift motor speed. I don't see how that could affect anybody's ride apart from the absence of whiplash when the lift chain engages.

#4: Above and uptrack of the station are two groups of brakes which serve as a trim/safety and a ready/safety so that two trains can be stopped uptrack of the station. This is the end of the ride, and again, probably beyond reproach.

#5: At the mid-course of the ride, at the wide end of the structure. These are block brakes, and the second half of the ride, from the block brake to the station, is engineered from the assumption that the train is at a dead stop in that brake. So if that brake is left open, the train will in fact be running *too fast* through the back half of the course. People like to complain about these brakes, but at least they are part of the coaster's design!

#6: Multiple calipers positioned on the first drop. This is, of course, the absolute worst place for a trim brake, and it causes the Mean Streak to ride like the Toothchipper down its first drop. THESE brakes are the ones that were added last, and have turned the entire first half of the ride into a real snooze-fest. It is these brakes that most desperately need to be removed from the ride. The difference in the way the thing runs with those brakes off is truly phenomenal.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

THANK YOU DAVE! and very well said I might add. Do you think it will happen? Are those things going to be nothing more than a bad memory, here soon?

No, they retrack it all the time. A majority of it in the off-season and where ever it needs it during the season.

I understand that they retrack it whenever it needs done, but what does that have to do with them removing the trims(first drop)? They're not helping anything as evident.

I always thought that the only people who noticed the trim brakes on the first hill were coaster buffs, like most of us on this board. But last summer when I was at the point with a few co-workers, all of them agreed (with no convincing from me at all) that the ride was indeed, "painful, boring, and really slow." My bet is that if the ride quality continues this downward spiral that it will eventually be demolished in the next 5-8 years because of low ridership