Other work on Dragster

It looks like while Dragster is down for this extended period, there is other work going on that may help improve operation if the coaster is able to reopen.

When I was at the point last night, there was a mechanic installing new sensors on the track. Supposedly, the sensors that have been in use have not been as reliable as expected, and they are exparamenting with other ones.

I think having a mechanic at the ride doing something visible while the park is open is a good (though costly) PR move, since it shows guests that there is work going on trying to get the ride running again, and working to improve operation.

-Sam
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

They also decided yesterday was a good time to replace many of the drive tires throughout the unload section. Tires were laying all over the platform in various places.

Other workers were also grinding various sections of rail and tightning bolts here and there.

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James Draeger
"But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do"
*** This post was edited by Draegs 6/28/2003 7:35:50 PM ***

I don't think the mechanics are going to cost them extra for being there, I always saw them walking around the park going to various rides. It looks like something off of Roller Coaster Tycoon I would almost say, they show up to a ride,check it out, and than they leave. Somebody has to be there to fix the rides when they break down mid-day.

But it does feel good to know that they are definitely "working around the clock". To me it is not as much as a good PR move than a mandatory act if they want this ride to open again.

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Life has it's ups and downs, might as well make it on a coaster!

Yes, its a good reassurance to the visitors at Cedar Point to know that they are actually trying to fix it, unlike Six Flags :P, anyways, I am sure this is frustrating for Everyone from the ride operators, to the concession stand operators, to the park visitors themselves, lets hope that this all works out!!!

So I just just got home from the park and got to see a lot. First off, there was a crane and had a cable lowered into the hydraulic building. I stayed around for a while and saw that it looked like they were putting in new valves and lowering them into the hydraulic building. From what it looked like it was a valve, and they had been doing that for about 3 hours and still was when I left. It also looked like they had a bunch of tanks sitting beside the building. I wonder if there was hydraulic fluid in them? I did get pictures but havent got them developed. I most likely will host them at at www.thepointofcedars.tk thanks to Josh. I will post that link in this reply when that happens. I also did notice at the staging area they were welding brackets in the center of the track to hold up were the catapult is. All the kicker wheels throughout the station,unload area were all off and sitting on the platform. There were also some belts that were used for the kickerwheels sitting in the station. They looked brand new. When we were riding Paddlewheel Excursions I looked over at Dragster and they had a gate and the door open and you could see in at the hydraulic room. That motor and drum are massive. The size of this thing is not captured by those photos on CP's site. I did try and take a picture but it was kind of dark so I dont know if they came out. Thats all of what I saw at the park today.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 5
Millennium Force: 17
Trips to the point: 14
*** This post was edited by fat chris 6/29/2003 11:45:00 PM ***
*** This post was edited by fat chris 6/30/2003 12:09:52 AM ***
*** This post was edited by fat chris 6/30/2003 12:13:17 AM ***

Hmmmm....fascinating. I'll let you post your pictures on my site when you get them back.

I hope they can really wrap this up, because it would be a bummer if they couldn't have it up by July 4th.

-Josh

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The Point of Cedars - Pointing you in the right direction!
http://www.thepointofcedars.tk
http://www.thepointofcedarsforum.tk
*** This post was edited by Top Thrill Dragster 6/29/2003 5:54:44 PM ***

Some insight to what is going on behind those tarps at the uptrack end of the launch...

First of all, the reason for the tarps tied to the fence was obvious to me. It isn't to conceal the work being done, but rather to keep from blinding the audience, as they were doing arc welding on the ride during park operating hours.

By the time I looked, the welding was finished. New brackets and supports have been attached to several of the uprights between the catchwagon track and the bottom of the track assembly. These are NOT supports for the catchwagon. Their purpose became obvious to me when the two mechanics present started fitting a brake fin bracket in between the new supports: the new supports are guides for new brake fins to be mounted in the center of the track at the start of the catapult. These are similar to the brake fins in the center of the track at the end of the catapult.

My guess is that the idea here is to provide a set of brakes for the catchwagon for when it returns to reset the ride for the next launch. Previously, the catchwagon would launch, then catch on the magnetic brakes at the end of the launch, then those brakes would drop and the catchwagon would rewind, slowing near the beginning of the launch track and then literally crawling to the launch position. By putting brakes at the start of the launch, those brakes can be raised and the catchwagon thrown into reverse and allowed to go at high speed until it hits the new brakes (looks like 3 or 4 fins) then pull into position. That should make it possible for the catchwagon to reset faster.

Or at least, that's my theory, based on what I saw today. I didn't talk to anybody about it. But clearly Cedar Point is using this extended mechanical downtime to their advatage, doing a lot of updates to the ride of the type we'd normally expect to see them do over next winter.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave, do you have an idea as to why they had all the kickerwheels and belts off of the assembly for them? Was it most likely a simple change of tires and belts, because to me they shouldn't need replaced already, however im not a specialist in that kind of work.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 5
Millennium Force: 18
Trips to the point: 15

The kicker wheel work has me confused as well. The only thing I can think is if they're doing something strange like changing gear ratios or something to make the trains move faster...Unless they are making design changes to those assemblies, I can't think of any reason why they would have them apart.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave,

As usual you are most likely right. In theory we were supposed to see trains launch as quickly as every 30 seconds. Unfortunately in reality is has not happened yet. It should be interesting to see what the new elements will change in the operation.

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Blue people fly sideways when it rains....

Maybe, they took out the kickers just to get them out of the way of the welding. Slag will set the tires on fire.

Dave's theory makes the most sense to me, as well. With Xcelerator, the launch interval range is much wider. Therefore, a slower return is/was tolerable. Could be that this wasn't considered to be a problem until it was "field tested". Man, there are some bright people on these boards. I used to think I was smart. I need to quit hanging around in here. I'm getting a complex.

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If I win the lottery, I promise not to quit my job. Although, it may not take very long for me to be fired.
In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!"

That would make sense to move the kickerwheels out of the way by the launch were they are welding, but all of them are off through the station and the unload area.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 5
Millennium Force: 18
Trips to the point: 15

Ok, see? I noticed some of them laying around, when I was there. But, i didn't pay too much attention to how many.

Yep! It's, definitly, a complex.

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If I win the lottery, I promise not to quit my job. Although, it may not take very long for me to be fired.
In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!"

Here are two links to pictures I took Sunday at the park while maitanence was working on TTD.

www.geocities.com/the_point_of_cedars/dragsterwork1.jpg

www.geocities.com/the_point_of_cedars/dragsterwork2.jpg

Thanks to Josh for letting me host them on his site.

EDIT: Copy and Paste Link's if they dont work.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 5
Millennium Force: 18
Trips to the point: 15
*** This post was edited by fat chris 6/30/2003 8:53:51 PM ***
*** This post was edited by fat chris 6/30/2003 9:05:30 PM ***
*** This post was edited by fat chris 6/30/2003 9:09:22 PM ***
*** This post was edited by fat chris 6/30/2003 9:10:32 PM ***

They are saying "unavailable", Chris.

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If I win the lottery, I promise not to quit my job. Although, it may not take very long for me to be fired.
In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!"

They worked fine for me - thanks - great pics

Thanks Tom, I also forgot to mention that in Pic 2 , the arrow is pointing to one of the new brackets they welded on.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 5
Millennium Force: 18
Trips to the point: 15

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RideMan said:
The kicker wheel work has me confused as well. The only thing I can think is if they're doing something strange like changing gear ratios or something to make the trains move faster...

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I saw a bunch of new belts also. It could be possible that the drive pulley diameters are being changed to make the trains move faster, similar to a higher gear on a bike.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.

There are trains on the tracks now. Could they be testing out the new kicker wheels?

where do you see trains on the tracks, I see them standing in the same position they were when i was there.

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- Dennis
When I die, They'll read this And say a genius wrote it.
http://drinkduff.com/