Rumored Maverick Retracking

So, this video is a couple weeks old, so apologies if this has already come up, but I didn't see any discussion on it. Of course this should be taken with all the grains of salt, but according to ElToroRyan, Maverick may be getting track replacement in the relatively near future.

The video below goes into more detail, but the basic gist is that due to Maverick effectively having two trains per dispatch, the cumulative number of train cycles has reached the point where it now has more wear and tear than MF (and of course more than the late WT and TTD 1.0), and thus is in need of having some of its track replaced. This apparently comes from a trusted source, but, well, you know... It would explain (and this is mentioned in the video) why Maverick has yet to receive a new coat of paint, since it wouldn't make sense to do so if much of the track was going to be swapped out.

He further speculates that this may result in the return of the famed heartline roll, but this seems like a bit of stretch, since I would imagine that would require a substantial amount of modification of the supports and possibly the rock work along that stretch. But who knows?

I don’t see how having twice the amount of trains is an issue. The trains are half as long as millennium force. Still the same amount of wheels passing over the tracks.

There is a HUGE difference (in both time and money) in just replacing sections of track with a 1-1 equivalent and re-engineering sections of the ride (which would then lead to re-checking everything).

I don't really see this happening though as it was taken out because it was too rough on the riders not the trains. Though maybe in the years since they have found a way to fix that but my guess is that it would require new trains as well as new track sections.

Am I the only one that has no interest in this guy's Youtube videos? I know a lot of folks consider him one of the good ones, but I always see nothing more than click-bait and random "what ifs"

Plague on Wheels:

I don’t see how having twice the amount of trains is an issue.

I'm not an expert, but the idea presented in the video, which does make sense to me, is that it's an issue of cyclic loading. Yes, Maverick's trains are shorter, but they're still damn heavy, and each time a train is sent out on the course, track sections and supports are placed under load, elastically deformed, etc.. So there's a load cycle with each train, and there are twice as many trains per dispatch compared to MF.

Again, I'm not saying this shouldn't be treated with a very high level of skepticism. But, heartline roll aside, it's not that outlandish. And I have been wondering why they haven't given Maverick a fresh coat of paint when it has clearly needed it for a bit now, and the park is generally pretty good about keeping things looking nice, and this would explain why. And to be fair he was correct about Zamperla working on TTD2.0, which as I recall was a pretty "out there" claim at the time, so who knows?

Plus, it's the offseason. Not a lot else to discuss. :-)

^Agreed, and I wouldn't say these are random what-ifs. He presents it in the video as information passed along from a source that has historically been pretty reliable. So I would not rule it out, if they are in fact replacing track anyway.

I think with a support re-design and a re-thinking of the element, they could probably come up with a solution that wouldn't cost substantially more than just doing a 1:1 replacement. And given that it's just one element of the ride, it likely wouldn't take that much R&D to develop it, especially now that they definitively know what didn't work.

djDaemon:

I would imagine that would require a substantial amount of modification of the supports and possibly the rock work along that stretch.

Not to mention lagoon maintenance.

Is it too much to ask to get the damn fog in the tunnel first?

Track replacement due to wear and tear is not unheard of; but what about Raptor that cycles even more trains than Maverick and is way older? Or has track been replaced on that (or is it just different)? Same with Banshee/Mantis/Rougarou.

Like I said, maybe track has been replaced on those rides in places.

All that said, if they did add the heartline roll back somehow, the hype among coaster nerds would be epic. All over a piece of track, the original of which is out decaying in a field.

The roll will be cheap to install back in. Just grab it out of that field in Mansfield and run a few sanders with high grit over it to get the rust off.

To transport it up to Sandusky on the cheap we can get a few uhauls and rig up something for sure, use the country roads to avoid obstacles and the law in the way up. Move at night to skirt OHSAA regulations and Ohio State Patrol. Hire cheap labor and call in a few favors to have enough strong dudes waiting on the peninsula to unload.

I worry about the lagoon maintenance being cost prohibitive as it may require the state to come out and perform a wildlife analysis on the freshwater basin. But, I’m not a wildlife expert so I defer opinion here to someone with more prestige.

I presume that if they did restore the heartline roll, it would be a redesigned version of the element based on the successful implementation on Velocicoaster.

And, the original removed track was cut up and sold as souvenirs.

Quite reasonable IMO, if they are going to do track replacement anyway, then why not?

I would think its a relatively cheap way to drum up some excitement, especially if its a year when we're not getting a new attraction.

I completely forgot they sold off chunks of the track. Not that they would use the old piece anyway.

They could self fund the track replacement by cutting up pieces of the current track and selling them. “Yes we’ve bought a piece of one track, but what about second track?”

I was looking up this site involving Easter Eggs at Carowinds. I haven't been there, but I stumbled on this.

There is a disclaimer on the bottom middle of the sign.

I don't know if this sign is still there...

You have been able to buy that sticker/magnet design at Cedar Point for years. It's also one of the billboards on the Cadillac Cars. The little inside joke about the heartline roll has been there since the design was created.

Please list all of the Intamin rides with the truss track that have required track replacement.

A New Point of View:

I was looking up this site involving Easter Eggs at Carowinds.

That same image, complete with disclaimer, can be found on one of the billboards along the Cadillac Cars track. You can see it from the path that connects the main midway with the marina gate.

Jeff:

lease list all of the Intamin rides with the truss track that have required track replacement.

Same could be said about B&M before Hulk.

Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time.

And anything could happen once, so leaning on that to lend credibility to a rumor is pretty silly.

Not leaning on that, not convinced that the rumor is credible, just making a counterpoint.

The only thing I think is potentially credible is the part about restoring the heartline element, *** IF *** retracking is in fact done, and assuming that the element is redesigned.

Please list all of the roller coasters that have had an element removed after only having 1 rider experience it, and then have that element, albeit in a modified form, added to the coaster.

Sorry - couldn't resist

In the video, they talked a lot about the weight of the train wearing out the track. I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I thought that wear on the track had more to do with the force each wheel (or wheel assembly) put on the track more so than the entire weight of the train. I have no reference for how much more Maverick's trains weight than Millennium Force.

Is it possible that the theorized re-introduction of the roll would coincide with a control system update? Millennium Force got a control update for its 25th anniversary. Maverick's 20th anniversary is just over a year away. Could Cedar Point be planning a control system update with a re-introduction of the roll?