Raptor Wheel Fell Off 7/9/05

*I was at the point on Saturday and I was in line waiting for raptor, when around 6 or so one of the wheels fell off and made an incredibly loud sound. I guess it was the same wheel that had allready fallen off this season, becasue the ride ops were talking about it. Along with the wheel came like 2 pieces of metal, and they shut down the ride for a while. Kinda Crazy

The kicker wheels in the station? Or the wheels on the train?

The kicker wheel.

:P I love it, these rides are so technologically advanced, and one of the worst problems they encounter is a wheel falling off... mechanics can be so unreliable...

Ryan L said: I guess it was the same wheel that had allready fallen off this season,

Huh?

That sounds like one of those rumors that start flyin as soon as a ride goes down.... for one I haven't heard anything about it this season (on PB and such), and two there's nothing on rideaccidents.com about anything like that (as of now).

Also, you said "a while." It was up in the same day? Sorry to sound skeptical, just seems like it'd take them longer than "a while" to fix a wheel and these "two pieces of metal."

I remember hearing something about the same type of problem earlier in the season (maybe May?). As for rideaccidents.com, why would it be in there? Stuff breaks all the time. Unless someone gets hurt, it's not really newsworthy.

It does seem like maybe it's something that should be getting inspected and maybe it isn't. I mean the wheels don't usully just fall off cars twice in two months if you take care of your car! :)

Maybe that is why Raptor is being rougher this year.

A simple mess up like that wouldn't be on ride accidents. Yes there was talk about it earlier this year, no its not a big deal. Where did you come to the conclusion a kicker wheel would somehow affect the ride?

What a piece of crap...you don't hear about things like this happening on Magnum, and it's 5 years older. ;)

Hey raptor isn't a piece of crap. It's a high quality ride that is sweet. I think Raptor is better than Magnum.

Maybe you missed the wink.

Sounds like cedar point needs to invest in some cotter pins.

Duct tape! I say, duck tape would do the trick.

This is rare thats for sure to see Raptor closed. It's also rare hearing that a wheel falls off on Raptor. I can see it happening to Dragster because it goes so fast, but Raptor? NO WAY! And all of you who thinks Raptor is rougher, you guys must be in lake erie because that ride is so smooth. The only rought spot I feel is on the last turn, thats it.

It had thouroghly been discussed here earlier in the year that a drive (kicker) wheel had detached from the station track and fallen to the steel floor below with a loud "bang."

There was actually a picture going around that showed the mechanics fastening it back on. It did happen before, and was not a wheel off the train. It's true, and if it happened again, I wouldn't be too surprised.

Nothing to really worry about.. but an interesting event nonetheless. =P *** Edited 7/12/2005 4:04:27 AM UTC by Grovite18***

Shawn Meyer said:I can see it happening to Dragster because it goes so fast, but Raptor? NO WAY! And all of you who thinks Raptor is rougher, you guys must be in lake erie because that ride is so smooth. The only rought spot I feel is on the last turn, thats it.

First off never suspect anything. This could have happened to any of the coasters. After all, Raptor's not invincible. Its wheel system (or whatever you want to call it) is much different than Dragsters or Millenniums or any of the other ones. Although I'll say that it is less likely to happen to Dragster or Millennium because they have some heavy duty wheel systems to compensate for their high speed. Plus speed isn’t the only factor to a wheel falling off. Don’t forget that the layout of the coaster would also play a role in this, as would other factors.

And second, Raptor is rough at other spots too. Not just its final turn. (we discussed this not too long ago in another topic)
But hey!, it’s still one of the best coasters in the park.:)

Well, I don't think the high speed of Dragster or Millenium is going to cause any problems with the kicker wheels (the ones that look like car tires, not the polyurethane ones that are on the trains) falling off.

Raptor is just in a unique position because it's kickers are above, and thus provide somewhere for it to fall that everyone can see. It's not really that big of a story.

Dang. I wish we'd had something like this back in 1976. We were stuck with the old-fashioned "sneaker-net" method of info distribution. It was considerably less efficient!

I'm heading to the Point for the first time since 1978. What should be on my "not-to-be-missed" list? I'm a Merchandise survivor, knew a lot of folks in Live Shows, and am my extended family's acknowledged Coaster Queen. Gotta get hold of a neurosurgeon & see if my neck fusion job can stand up to today's coasters! I know better than to take it on the WildCat.

I've found a AAA discount for tickets. Can y'all think of any creative ways to cut costs? It irks the stuffins out of me that I'm going to have to pay to get in. I've never done it before, and it rankles. You'll see -- it becomes *your* park after a couple of seasons!

Anyone interested in checking out some CP-related antiques Sunday, 07/17/2005?

-- Sandy (not-really-the-blacksmith)

Yeah, see now that is where I got confused. Since I'm still kind of new to coaster terminology, I didn’t know that a kicker wheel was the wheel(s) under/above the track that pushes the trains (I figured it was some other kind of name:P). Hey, it's like I always say "We learn something new everyday."

But my point remains the same on the matter.

I used to be a repairman for UARCO and if things didnt break, I wouldn't have had a great job.If its mechanical,it will break sooner or later.