Mean streak trim brakes

I noticed at the top of mean streak they added trim brakes. It kind of seems like they ruin the first hill. when and why did they add them?

I believe they were added around the '94 season maybe a little later. The second and third hills I think were modified in order to allow the train to clear those hills.

I'm sure Rideman could provide even more details.

~Rob

The trims have been there since around '94 or '95 (I may be wrong, but that's what I'm thinking at the moment), and yes, they do ruin the drop. They were put there because the ride was literally shaking itself apart, especially on the first drop and the sections immediately following.

If you think Mean Streak is bad you should ride Beast at KI. Holy crap.

Uhm, Beast is still one of the best wood coasters ever designed. The fact that you even compared it to Mean Streak is disappointing.

He's not the only one who thinks that. I prefer Son over Mean Streak and Beast. I don't know what they did to Beast, but its become worse than Mean Streak if you ask me.

EDIT: Nevermind, I didn't realize he was just talking about the trims. I still find it a less exciting ride than Mean Streak, and worse in terms of roughness. Those trims do really kill the pacing of the ride, though.

I know it is one of the best. Thus why I am going to KI tomorrow over CP. I love Beast and is one of my favorite coasters, wood or steel.

I didn't compare the rides; I compared the amount of trim breaks it has.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBd3ug7BlI8

From 1:48 to 1:55 there are trims that were not there when the ride opened. Almost making it come to a stop. There are many other trims throughout the ride. Still, beast is one of my favorites. Just think how fun it would be without trims.

Trims have been on the Beast since the first year they opened. They used to be skid breaks, but were changed to magnetic breaks a few years back. Now the stop is more sudden, and the mag breaks actually work in the rain/dew but the Beast runs faster with the mag breaks then with the skid breaks (when they worked.)

If you are going to KI, be absolutely sure that you do a night ride on the Beast, its the best night ride I have been on.

There were never any kind of brake's on the beast's drop into the helix untill about 4 years ago.

Yes there was, skid breaks were on the drop into the helix, you just did not notice them because they slowed your decleration down over a longer time.

Here is the famous Discovery Channel POV video pre mag breaks mid 1990s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBd3ug7BlI8

Pause the thing anywhere between 3:30-3:34 youll see the skid breaks.

A trip to KI is nothing without a Beast night ride!

I guess there were....my bad.

But the old skid breaks did not slow you down nearly as much as the new ones do. If you look at the video, you can see that when the train speeds up the 2nd lift hill, the lead car makes it past that little platform on the right before it catches the chain. Now it barley even makes it to the platform.

Same thing with the drop into the helix and the mid course brake shed. It looks much faster in the video than it does today.

I honestly think that in 20 years, the time period between the John Allen woodies and the first CCI woodies will be called the "wooden coaster depression". By then, Beast will be the only one left.

Touchdown said:

Here is the famous Discovery Channel POV video pre mag breaks mid 1990s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBd3ug7BlI8

Hey Touchdown, thanks for the video, and be prepared to shake your head over my nit-pickyness, nerdy-ness, etc, but I'm pretty sure that video is from 2001 or 2002. The 4th Generation Grand Caravan that appears on the left from 0:36 - 0:38 in the video tipped me off to it. :) On top of that, there was a major banking adjustment done to the turn at the bottom of the first drop sometime over the 2001 off season. The linked video is after the banking adjustment.

As far as my feelings on the magnetic brakes, I understand the need for them, I just wish the stops weren't so abrupt. As far as the overall speed of the ride, it hasn't changed from when I first rode it in 2001 to even 2009, with the exception of the brief period in 2003 when Beast ran without trim brakes on the first drop. (I actually think they appeared the morning after Beast Buzz). They keep the ride running somewhat controlled but still fun.

Now Mean Streaks trim brakes on the other hand, they made the ride boring. I'll ride it once a year just to say I've done it.

~Rob

^I dont know about any banking adjustment but the Dodge "bubble" minivans appeared in 1996, my family owned one of the first models.

As for why I put it at mid 90s, I distinctly remember a Beast POV on one of those Discovery Channel "Thrills Chills and Spills" Memorial Day Weekend marathons, which I watched before I ever went to KI in 2000 and was how I learned about the Beast.

Back in June one of the ride attendants got talking with me because of my ancient MS T shirt. I was asking about the trims and he was grinning & shook his head. When we returned back to the station, he said to come back a little later, he would try to get the ride op to turn the trims off..."If you think it's bad now, you don't know what you're in for with a trim-less ride."

I never said I thought it was a bad ride (please don't crucify me because I like it), I'd just heard it was smoother with the trims off. He was the first one I heard to say it's not. Not sure if he had one of them turn the MCBR way down but it didn't seem to catch as hard there...I didn't notice a difference anyway.

On this topic...does anybody remember the older woman riding MS in a yellow rain sliver on one of the DIscovery shows? She was in her mid-late 60's. This had to be back in the first few years MS was running. I can't imagine a senior on it now.

Dude, Beast and Mean Streak isn't even comparible. That is disappointing, Zach.

Touchdown said:
^I dont know about any banking adjustment but the Dodge "bubble" minivans appeared in 1996, my family owned one of the first models.

Pretty sure Rob is correct. The 4th generation as a distinct body crease beneath and running parallel with the windows. Plus, the rear bumper projects noticeably further out in this generation as compared to the previous gen. Finally, the rear window has a steeper rake on the 4th generation.

How's that for nerdy? :)

Rumor has it that years ago the ride ops had control over the first drop trim brake. Later, when maintenance/supervision learned that they were turning them on/off at their discretion, the ride was changed to remove their control of the brake.

Thanks for clearing that up, now I know it's out of ther control ;)