Mean Streak trim location confirmation/question

So, yesterday on one of the wood coaster groups on Facebook - someone was talking about 1999 or 2000 when Mean Streak first got its trims, and saying they were located at the bottom of the drop. IMO, that seems like a really bad idea, so I can't imagine it actually being true. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

thing is, I've been going to the park a lot since 2000 (can't believe it's been 15 years I've been spending my weekends there) and I always remember them being at the top from the moment they were added.

Anyone have a different memory than I?

The trim is still at the top

I thought the trims were added in 1994

Someone posted yesterday about Mean Streak trims being off on one cycle he rode (but not necessarily others). Anyone else ride it recently, and are the trims indeed off?

thedevariouseffect said:

The trim is still at the top

That was not my question. My question was that I have always known it to be at the top, but someone is saying they rode it with the trims at the bottom of the hill. I called them out on it, but wanted to verify.

Thabto said:

I thought the trims were added in 1994

The date they were actually added is irrelevant to the topic, because the person in question *swears* he rode it in 2000 with the trims at the bottom of the hill. He claims the ride got to full speed, but was promptly slowed down in the valley. I called him out on it, because I'm positive it's always been at the top, but again, verification.

And ScottyF - I believe the trims operate based on the speed (or weight or some factor) of the previous train, so if you get a ride after an empty train just cycled, they will be off. I can't recall exact details anymore, but I'm sure I could with a little effort.

I've ridden Mean Streak since its birth, and while I honestly cannot recall the exact year it was neutered, I can tell you from my memory that they have always been at the top. Of course I don't have the blueprints to "prove" it. Then again, our minds do funny things and memory can be pretty fluid, but I would certainly place all my chips on "always been at the top" and let 'er ride.

And ScottyF....Ask Rideman!

They were never at the bottom. I can't think of a worse place to precisely control speed than when it's at its fastest.

I remember a ride before the trims were installed and at the bottom of the first drop was this crazy jackhammering of the train. I seriously thought the train was going to bounce off the track and it was so painful.

Jeff said:

They were never at the bottom. I can't think of a worse place to precisely control speed than when it's at its fastest.

This is exactly what I said. I don't understand why they would ever put them there, if not just from a wear and tear perspective.

The problem is, people create false memories like this all the time, and trying to talk them out of it is like trying to convince someone the sky is not blue. All it takes is one small nudge of positive reinforcement (like one of their buddies saying "yep...I remember that too!") and it's sealed. Good luck!

:)

Got into an argument with my sister about the Witches' Wheel. She swore it went backwards. I couldn't get her to change her memory of it.

^ Did you beat the living snot out of her?

I almost left her in Sandusky. Lol

e x i t english said:

thedevariouseffect said:

The trim is still at the top

That was not my question. My question was that I have always known it to be at the top, but someone is saying they rode it with the trims at the bottom of the hill. I called them out on it, but wanted to verify.

Thabto said:

I thought the trims were added in 1994

The date they were actually added is irrelevant to the topic, because the person in question *swears* he rode it in 2000 with the trims at the bottom of the hill. He claims the ride got to full speed, but was promptly slowed down in the valley. I called him out on it, because I'm positive it's always been at the top, but again, verification.

If you're positive it's always been at the top then isn't this thread irrelevant? :P

If you'd continue to read the rest of the sentence, I wanted verification - because that's the right thing to do. I like to make sure I back up my disagreements with more than my own memory.

You guys are all wrong. The trim is about 1/4th down the hill. There are two sets of brakes. So you will feel the train accelerate and then you'll feel the trim. If you are in the front of the train that means you'll feel that deceleration almost halfway down the hill, which is probably why someone could insist that the brake is at the bottom of the hill. ;)

In all seriousness, the trims were added in '94 and the second and third hills were reprofiled to accommodate that. There are pics on RCDB.com that were taken in '95 and you can see the new wood on hill 2 and 3 and the trim towards the top of the first drop, never at the bottom.

~Rob

e x i t english said:

If you'd continue to read the rest of the sentence, I wanted verification - because that's the right thing to do. I like to make sure I back up my disagreements with more than my own memory.

I don't disagree with your method. I was giving you a hard time for your editorial commentary regarding what is "relevant" to the conversation.

I believe that when the ride was new, there were two additional mid course brake locations, but I can't for the life of me remember where they were, and the photos I have from 1991 do not show them. Those were both blocking locations, and both were eliminated for 1992 in favor of adding an additional safety brake uptrack of the final brakes at the end of the ride. Can you believe there was actually a time when they were *removing* brakes from Mean Streak?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

No more unbelievable than the video of people getting off it when it was brand new calling the ride smooth.

Well, I rode Mean Streak on opening day in 1991 and it was smoother than a steel coaster, really silky smooth. It lost that in just a few weeks.