Millennium Force overhauls

Brakes?!?!? No way!!!! Don't even mention it. MF is perfect the way it is. If you're "blacking-out", please don't ride.

MS was wickedly rough, thus brakes were added. Unfortunely, they took the "mean" out of Mean Streak in the process. Ho hum...

Though I didn't ride Mean Streak before the brakes were added, I still thought it was quite "mean".

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How dare you vanquish the Steel Phantom without his consent? Fear the Phantom's Revenge.

If they do add brakes to MF, they will have to be where there is straight track. The only two places where it could happen is in the 2nd tunnel and before the final overbank (ie where the brackets are). I feel they won't do it because if it's like the brake on S:ROS-SFDL, it's not retractable and will always be on. We've all seen how slow the trains go on early mornings. With brakes on the course, the possibility of a rollback in the final overbank goes way up.

However, I do agree with Rideman about a change on the brakes after the overbank. A system to allow variation in the force of the initial brake run would be a good idea.

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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

It doesn't need straight track. Mantis' trim off the descent, straight?? Magnum's trim into the pretzel is banked. Mean Streak's descent trim. It's nice to have a "trim station" but it is not a dire need. Brakes can be put just about anywhere. I'm not totally sure how MF's brakes work but I think that anything could be worked around and brakes could be put just about anywhere. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE THOUGH!!!!!

Yeah, I was just going to say that the track didn't need to be straight. Some people might say the track needs to be straight for the on-ride photo section, but it doesn't as on MF, it just needs to be slanted so it is uniform with the track.

Just because they CAN brake MF doesn't mean that they WILL; I'm sure that if they needed to add a trim they could find plenty of places to put one though.

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A bad day at CP is better than a good day at work.

The track does have to be straight. Unlike the friction brakes on the other rides you mention, the magnetic brakes on The Force must pass through a very narrow gap between magnets. If the pitch of the blade changes while passing through the magnets (as it would if the track was curved) it would strike the magenets.

Furthermore, Intamin anticipated the potential need by placing brackets at the locations Scott mentioned, to avoid having to re-engineer any track sections.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 43
*** This post was edited by Jeff on 9/20/2000. ***

Jeff is right; also I think we need to remember what is meant by "straight" track. Mantis' first drop brake is indeed on a segment of straight track. It's pointed downward, but it is straight. Magnum's trim brakes are indeed on a curved segment, which is okay for the friction brakes, but no good for magnetic brakes as Jeff pointed out. Magnum's braking section is also twisted to the left a little, but the twist is not in the braking section...the brakes are all in a single plane. There is no curve left or right for the braking section.

Straight does not necessarily mean flat and level.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

My bad, I was just getting to the point that you do not need a whole "station" to have trims like on Raptor or Mantis, all you need is a time when the car will be straight as it passes through the brakes. MF could have brakes down a hill then if needed. Once again I hope this doesn't happen.

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Trim brakes-a necessity???

...as is the case at Darien Lake. Not level with the ground, but on the straight downside of the final bunny hop.

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Every coaster has to be built with the option of adding a trim here or there

As for MF overhaul, it would be like taking your car to your mechanic before your cross country trip to CP. Checking all the vital parts, etc

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Brian Z.
Hometown parks: Kennywood, Cedar Point!
Feel the Force NOW!!

...Except that the off-season overhaul for a roller coaster is significantly more exhaustive than the mechanic's inspection. It's not uncommon for roller coaster cars, for instance, to be completely disassembled, tested for structural flaws, reassembled, and repainted in the off-season.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Kings Island shops in January, while they had all their coaster cars torn down. They're not easy to recognize when it's just a chassis sitting there...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

CP can add one more set of breaks on to the track if they really want to. If you notice on the straight away coming into the final turn there are two big beams sticking out the sides of the track, these are mountings for more breaks. (as mentioned earlier) CP decided not to put them on for fear that people wouldn't like the ride because of too many "brakes in the action." Now they are trying to figure out how many to put on because of some incidents that happened earlier in the year. (EX: Trains colliding 3 seperate times.) Yes, the trains actually hit each other. I know this for a fact because I was there when all 3 happened, so now CP is seriously contemplating the idea of adding more brakes, and I believe that they will be in place within the next year or two.

Trim brakes or block brakes?

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A bad day at CP is better than a good day at work.

Millennnium Force crew 2000-I'm not being mean, I just think you should know that CP could add "brakes" not "breaks" Just a little constructive critisism. Thanks

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Trim brakes-a necessity???

They could also place a trim just before the second tunnel. Not sure if you can see the brackets or not from the ground. They were easier to see before they built the tunnel.

The problem as I see it is that if the train is fully loaded and the kicker wheels in the retractable brake run are wet, the train can slide. It wouldn't be a catastrophic collision, because the brakes will at least slow the thing to a crawl.

Trims are not the answer because we've all seen that thing crawl home cold and empty. Not only that but who wants to hit that last turn slowly?

I don't remember if there's any more straight track on the brake run, but another set of brakes might do the trick in that line.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 45